THE LONGEST NIGHT OR BLUE CHRISTMAS

 

Tonight, many churches will celebrate "Longest Night" or "Blue Christmas" services. From Episcopal Life.

During these shortest days and longest nights of the year, many Episcopal Church congregations are offering services meant to bring comfort to those who struggle to find the joy of the Advent and Christmas seasons.

Often called Blue Christmas or Longest Night services, many take place the evening of December 21, the night of the winter solstice, and are designed for people who are coping with loss. Those people hear the Christmas song that describes "the most wonderful time of the year with the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you 'Be of good cheer'" but instead feel they are living the lyrics of the 1957 hit "Blue Christmas" when Elvis Presley sings "I'll have a blue Christmas without you, I'll be so blue just thinking about you."

 

We hold before God:
those for whom life is very difficult;
those who have difficult decisions to make , and who honestly do not know the right thing to do.

We hold before God:
those who have difficult tasks to do and to face, and who fear they may fail in them;
those who have difficult temptations to face, and who know only too well that they may fall to them, if they try to meet them alone.

We hold before God:
those who know that they can be their own worst enemies.

We hold before God:
those who have difficult people to work with;
those who have to suffer unjust treatment, unfair criticism, unappreciated work.

We hold before God:
those who are sad because someone they loved has died;
and any who are disappointed in something for which they hoped very much.

William Barclay

From Celtic Daily Prayer. 

On the one-week anniversary of the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. 

O God, whose beloved Son took children into his arms and blessed them: Give us grace to entrust the children and all those whose lives were taken yesterday in Newtown to your never failing care and love, and bring us all to your heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding: Deal graciously with the families of Newtown in their grief. Surround them with your love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness, and strength to meet the days to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer, p. 494 (The Daily Office)

YES I DID

 

TOTALLY

 

From someecards.

POOR JOHN BOEHNER

Yes, I do feel a bit sorry for Boehner, who now has something else to cry about. He thought he was the leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, but, though he should have known before now, he is not the leader of the GOP, because there is no longer a Republican Party to speak of, but only a group of individuals, each with his own agenda, who are responsible only to those who gave them money to get elected and feel no responsibility whatsoever to govern the country.  Charles Pierce says it best: 

There is no possible definition by which the Republicans can be considered an actual political party any more. They can be defined as a loose universe of inchoate hatreds, or a sprawling confederation of collected resentments, or an unwieldy conglomeration of self-negating orthodoxies, or an atonal choir of rabid complaint, or a cargo cult of quasi-religious politics and quasi-political religion, or simply the deafening abandoned YAWP of our bitter national Id. But they are not a political party because they have rendered themselves incapable of politics.

With whom does President Obama negotiate if and when talks about avoiding the fiscal cliff resume?  Obviously, Boehner cannot call the troops to order.  Is another Republican in the House capable of doing the job?  Anyway, Obama was giving away far too much in the deal, but the Republican members of the House did not have the good sense to appreciate their Christmas gift and and ended up saving the president and certain Democrats from themselves.  So it's probably off the cliff or the gentle incline - take your choice.  The Republicans really need to stop scaring investors, banksters, and financiers with their brinkmanship in this fragile economy.

Oh, and to change the subject, Obama nominated John Kerry as Secretary of State.  Kerry is an excellent choice, but he is likely to be swiftboated all over again (yawn), just as Susan Rice was swiftboated out of contention for the cabinet post, through no fault of her own.  

O ORIENS

Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Blackfriars in Oxford.

December 21

O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ:
veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light,
Son of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

Isaiah 9:2

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.

Text from Fish Eaters.

Collect of the Day: St. Thomas the Apostle

Everliving God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in your Son’s resurrection: Grant us so perfectly and without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found wanting in your sight; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reposted with editing from last year and the year before...

NO! IT'S MERRY CHRISTMAS

Tom and I received a Christmas ecard with the following message:

"First Christmas is not Happy Holidays.  It is Merry Christmas."

Alrighty.

Blah, blah, blah...accompanied by Christmas carols.

"So when someone says Happy Holidays, correct them by saying NO.  It's Merry Christmas."

The ecard is didactic from the first words.  Then the words that follow, complete with Scripture references, give a "historical" account of the  birth of Jesus.  So, if a person should happen to make a friendly gesture and wish us "Happy Holidays",  we are to say "NO" and correct them...all in the spirit of the season of peace and good will.  Nevermind the good wishes; give that person a lesson.

The final scene is a PC Santa Claus wishing us a proper Merry Christmas.

AND THE SHOOTINGS GO ON

New Orleans — The fatal shooting of a man in the St. Claude neighborhood Tuesday morning continued a four-day stretch of violence that has left five people dead in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, and several others wounded.

Five people dead in four days.  The local murders do not often make the national news, but they demand attention.  Clearly we must change our laws and our ways.

The names:

Nathan Johnson, 36
Devanta Thomas, 18
Joseph Wilfred, 56
Lawrence Burt, 18
Vivian Snyder, 56 

In addition to the homicides, New Orleans police are investigating several non-fatal shootings, including a robbery at a popular Uptown eatery that included gun play. Police were called out to “Dat Dog” restaurant in the 5000 block of Freret Street on Monday after an employee was shot in the arm during a robbery.
....

Police are also investigating a shooting near the intersection of North Claiborne Street and Iberville Streets that damaged a school bus. That incident occurred at about 4:37 p.m. The victim told police he was walking home from work when an unknown vehicle approached him and someone began shooting.

The victim was shot four times in the back and legs. A school bus carrying students from an Algiers high school was caught in the crossfire and had a window shattered. One child was hit by flying glass, but no serious injuries were reported.

Though New Orleans is the murder capitol of the country, killings by guns take place all over the land, and we pay little attention unless there is mass murder, and we, as a country, seem to accept this is how we must live.  As I've already said, the estimate of the number of firearms in the country is around 300 million, nearly one for each man, woman, and child in the country.  Will the guns at large be grandfathered in any gun legislation that passes?  That is if any sort of firearms legislation with teeth is enacted...legislation without loopholes large enough to shoot a cannonball through.

Even now, there is a sharp spike in the sale of guns, as there was when the president was first elected and when he was reelected, because, "Obama's gonna ban guns or take away all our guns."  What?  Do these folks plan a stand-off if or when the government comes to take away their guns?  And (Lord help us!) sales of armored backpacks for children are increasing.

The reaction to the Connecticut school shooting can be seen in gun stores and self-defense retailers across the nation: Anxious parents are fuelling sales of armoured backpacks for children while firearms enthusiasts are stocking up on assault rifles in anticipation of tighter gun-control measures.

So.  Will we have firearms legislation with teeth enacted any time soon?  I am not feeling optimistic, but those of us who think we can do better as a people to restore a measure of safety from gun violence should do all we can to pressure our legislators and the president to act.  However, a word of caution: We should not burden the president and Congress with responsibility to do the impossible...say to ban all firearms.  That will not happen.  We must urge action for the best laws possible now and hope to build on the laws later.  We must ban assault weapons and magazines that hold multiple rounds of bullets, and we must have better laws and law enforcement on background checks and better controls on the sale of guns.  Assault weapons are so-named for a reason; they are not defense weapons.  Nor are assault weapons for the purpose of hunting.  Any hunter who needs an assault weapon to kill game is one sorry-ass hunter.

UPDATE: I left out the link to another shooting in Florida:

ST. PETERSBURG — Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law has been cited in hundreds of cases. People have used it to justify shooting, stabbing, killing and maiming would-be intruders, romantic competitors and rival gang members.

And on Sunday, at a pizza joint in St. Petersburg, a man tried to use it as justification for shooting another customer who was yelling at workers because he wasn't getting his order fast enough.

Note: Post edited to correct information about The Globe and Mail.

O CLAVIS DAVID

Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Blackfriars in Oxford.

December 20

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel,
that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth,
come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

Isaiah 22:22

I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David;
he shall open, and no one shall shut;
he shall shut, and no one shall open.

Text of antiphon from Fish Eaters.

Prayer for Mission

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Reposted from last year, and the year before and....  The O Antiphons are now a tradition at Wounded Bird.

END OF THE WORLD?

So real people truly think the world will end Friday? Why not Saturday? Or tomorrow? What if Mayans miscalculated by a day or so? Or a year or so? After all, the prediction was made a long time ago before computers and calculators were invented. What if Mayans themselves don't believe the world will end?

FELIPE CARRILLO PUERTO, Mexico -- Mayan pilgrims often come here to a simple church with a thatched roof to venerate the "Cruz Parlante," or Speaking Cross, which gave their forefathers guidance during a 19th-century rebellion.

But priest Alfonso Ek says lately he's being asked by curious non-Mayans about something he says has nothing to do with his people or their beliefs: the end of the world.

His response: "The world will not end."

There you have it.

Image from Wikipedia.

BEFORE AND AFTER

BC:AD

This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future's
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.

This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.

This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.

And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect
Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.

(U.A. Fanthorpe)

Thanks to Charley F B for sending the poem as a Christmas greeting.

Tim Chesterton posted the video below by Bruce Cockburn, which I like quite a lot, so I'm sharing.