Groovin' at Christmastime

Merry Christmas to everyone who reads or comments here!>

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Took a trip to Grandma's and Grandpa's. Kids enjoy having Hanukkah at home and Christmas here. They've been busy all day. The boy's trying not to kill himself on his heelys. The girls are playing with Cloe and Yasmine(2 of the Bratz kids that Grandma purchased). She agreed with the girls that they are "pretty."

As for me, I could really use a nap. The tryptophan is a killer.

Anyway, you all have a Merry Christmas.>

Merry Christmas. Christ is born; Glorify Him!

James Brown's death also stunned me.His music was so much a part of my childhood and teen years and he absolutely revolutionized black music and took us from being "colored" to "black"; psychological freedom .

anona>

Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one.

DH and I both agreed that this Christmas vacation is the best in recent memory. We kinda figured out the reason, too: By the grace of God, we're finally beginning to focus less on fleeting "Christmasy" feelings and more on Christ Himself, Who is the ultimate Christmas Present, 24/7, 365 days a year--and on into eternal life. Because of Christmas, everything is radically different for everyone. That's cause for celebration indeed.

Now on to my take on the links Rod posted:

Needless to say, I'm with Erin Manning on the Santa issue, even though my own kids were never that "into" Santa (by their own choice; we certainly never discouraged Santa-related stuff).

And, I must say, I'm tickled to death with some of the statements in the Mattingly piece. E.g., that Saint Nicholas of Myra is venerated by Eastern Christians "and some Anglicans." HeLLOOO! Saint Nicholas is on the Roman Calendar (December 6)--and he's very much part of our RC tradition, too, thank you very much. In fact, we even consider him a Catholic saint. ;) Heck, my kids even have an animated video about him, produced by a Catholic company: Nicholas: The Boy Who Became Santa. What can I say but...sheesh!

Then there's the de rigeur not-very-subtle slam at a Catholic bishop, with the implication that Catholics dare not traumatize little kiddies by assailing them with the Real Meaning of Christmas. Right. So, that Knights of Columbus "Keep Christ in Christmas" campaign--emblazoned each year on countless billboards coast to coast--that must be a figment of our imagination. And all that stuff the Pope says about the centrality of Christ in Christmas--that's just a smokescreen to conceal our essential secularism and Santa-Mania. ;)

But no matter. 'Tis the season of peace on earth (except, perhaps, on Mount Athos), so we will overlook these tiny nuggets of cluelessness in the Mattingly piece. We will focus, instead, on the Manning piece, with its celebration of children's play instinct. Fantasy and magic, ISTM, are integral to healthy childhood. And, unless I'm much mistaken, countless Christians of all communions have survived Santa-believing childhoods with their Christian faith intact. :)

But what can I say? I'm one of those philistines who believe that even the Easter Bunny will not corrupt our kids. Take it from whence it comes.

God bless us, every one. Happy FD of Saint Stephen Protomartyr (also on the Roman calendar, BTW ;))!

Diane>

Drop-kick Santa Claus, I agree. He's a product of Victorian Christmas-card and later Coca-Cola marketing.

Mattingly's view is one religious view of Christmas, and not the only one. Because before there was the commercialized Santa Claus, there was Father Christmas - the green-robed, sometimes brown-bearded, holly-crowned Lord of Misrule and the Yuletide. Dickens didn't invent him (incarnated as the Ghost of Christmas Present) - he recast him from older English material - and Father Christmas probably goes way back before Christianity as well.

While presents were an important part of the Roman Saturnalia (also a source of Christmas customs), Father Christmas wasn't initially a dispenser of presents, but rather an encourager of cheer, of partying, of dance and mirth. He went among the celebrators rather than sneaking down chimneys.

Many of these customs were lost in England as a consequence of the Puritan revolution in the late 17th century, which suppressed caroling and feasting and made it (in the words of CS Lewis, describing Narnia under the White Witch's rule) "always winter and never Christmas."

So perhaps it is necessary to give Santa the boot, and reinstate the ever-green Father Christmas.>

This has nothing to do with the topic, but Rod, you really need to do something about the editors at The Dallas Morning News. I can't believe the editor let the last sentence of this story get published!!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/122706dnmetchicken.4a250fe4.html

CHICKENS SHUT DOWN PART OF I-30
04:19 PM CST on Tuesday, December 26, 2006
By HOLLY YAN / The Dallas Morning News

Dead and wandering chickens closed all of westbound Interstate 30 just before First Avenue on Tuesday afternoon.

A tractor-trailer hauling chickens and crates overturned about noon, Dallas police Senior Cpl. Jamie Matthews said. Some chickens died from the wreck, while others wandered about.

Cpl. Matthews estimated about 2 p.m. that the mess could be cleaned up before the late-afternoon rush hour.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was not seriously injured. No other vehicles were involved, and investigators were trying to determine how the truck overturned.

Police did not know why the chickens crossed the interstate.>

Police did not know why the chickens crossed the interstate.


Hahaha - I nearly choked on my muffin :)>

If you lived in Dallas and/or were familiar with the shenanigans that have gone on in the Dallas Police Department over the last many years (fake drug arrests and fake evidence planting, police chief firings, extortion charges related to making businesses hire officers as security guards, etc. - which tend to get (un)covered by the alternative paper, The Dallas Observer, and not the DMN), you would understand why I found it unusual for the DMN to be poking fun at the Dallas police with that last line. Such a quip is more to be expected in the Observer than in the News.>

Hey Erin, if you are reading.

I want to make sure that I understand your position.

So it is St. Nicholas who makes a magic visit on Christmas Eve? And what is your family's stance on the secular Santa? Who is the man at the mall, in your view of things?>

Seriously, I just have to add, "I'll Take my Christmas without child exploitation, thank you" is an outstanding column. Thank you for your courage and perspective over the past year.>

Hi, Terry!

In my view of things, Santa Claus IS St. Nicholas, just pronounced differently. When my girls were very little, they thought of Santa and St. Nick as the same person. Reindeer and elves being necessary to help a saint in heaven with a job on earth also made (and still makes) sense to them.

These days, they are old enough to know that the man at the mall is just a helper, someone who can pass on the requests of very small children who can't write a note for St. Nick and leave it in their shoes on Dec. 6. In our house, the notes request one specific gift per child to be found under the tree on Christmas Day. St. Nicholas also has been known to leave a few extra surprises. :)

There is one very obvious secularism that my children reject--there is no Mrs. Claus. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this, but bishops aren't married in the east either, are they?

In my view of things, it doesn't really matter whether you use the mistranslation of Sinter Klaus or Saint Nicholas, as long as you're referring to a saint who listens to children and bring them surprises to help them celebrate the birth of Christ. For that matter, Father Christmas, La Befana, visits from the wise men or from the Christ Child Himself (all from different cultures) share one very important thing in common--all are done by loving parents as an act of unacknowledged generosity. To me, that's the crux of the matter, and the place where I see this Christmas playacting as a good thing, not as something untruthful and materialistic.

Merry Christmas!>