SNOW IS GLISTENIN'

 

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

IT'S STILL CHRISTMAS - 5

Red-golden pheasant

On topic for a change today, I invite you to celebrate the fifth day of Christmas with five gold rings.  Ha!  I'll bet you thought the rings were jewelry.  It has been suggested by my Facebook friend James and other sources that the rings are pheasants, which makes sense if you consider that the first seven Christmas gifts in the song are birds, but for the anomaly of the five gold rings.  Still, if you prefer gold rings, then carry on.  Chacun à son goût.

Straight No Chasers sings the song not-so-straight in the video.

 

IT'S STILL CHRISTMAS - 4

 

Celebrate the fourth day of Christmas with me if you don't mind the gift of two doggies rather than four calling birds.  Pictured above is my daughter-in-law with Molly and Max.  Molly, who was adopted just before Christmas, is the newest member of the family.  She was found abandoned on the side of the road and taken to an animal rescue center.  I don't understand how could anyone could be so heartless as to abandon such a cute and sweet dog as Molly.

Max went to live with my son and daughter-in-law at Christmas time last year.  Max's elderly owner died, and he was abused by family members who did not want him.  He is yappy and excitable, but, considering his history, his behavior is understandable.  The family hopes that Molly will be a good example for Max.  He is already more contented when the humans leave for work now that he has a companion.

UPDATE: I should have said Molly is on the left and Max on the right. 

THE HOLY INNOCENTS

Why this feast on the church calendar so soon after Christmas?  Why the martyrdom of Stephen on the day after Christmas?  At times, I say, "Oh no!" to the church calendar.  How can I help but think of the holy innocents in Newtown, Connecticut?  And the firemen in Webster, New York, who were killed by the arsonist when they arrived to fight the fire?  And the innocents killed daily by gunshot here in the US?

Collect of the Day: The Holy Innocents

We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

No more words.

Picture from margaret at leave it lay where Jesus flang it.

UPDATE: From Andrew Gerns at The Lead.

Let us remember the 150th anniversary of the hanging of the Dakota 38.

On December 26, 1862, the day after Christmas, 38 Dakota men and two others were executed. The hangings were the result of the Dakota War of 1862, which was to end of the Dakota people from living in the state of Minnesota. President Abraham Lincoln, the freer of the slaves ironically, ordered their executions.

JUST IN...

 

...from howling at the full moon...

 

...out of she-werewolf mode...




...back to blogger mode. :-)

IT'S STILL CHRISTMAS - 3

 

Celebrate the third day of Christmas with me, if you don't mind the gift of two roosters instead of three French hens.  The roosters were intended to be laying hens by my daughter and her family, but the donors made it clear that they guaranteed nothing when they gave away the chicks.  By the time the family found out both chicks were roosters, they had fallen in love.

 

The roosters compete with each other to eat the dog's food.  It's obvious that the birds are familiar with humans, because they are gentle.  The pictures do a poor job of showing off their handsome colors.

 

There were humans at the Christmas gathering, too, but everyone was entranced by the birds.

We were under a tornado warning all afternoon, but, although it rained some, and strong winds blew, and scary-looking low clouds were all around, the weather never became dangerous.

FEAST OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST

Today is the feast of St John the Evangelist, the patron of my church. The Fathers of the Church believed John the Evangelist was the author of the Gospel, three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation, and the same person as John the Apostle and John of Patmos.  Later scholars suggest rather that a disciple of John the Apostle wrote the Gospel and three Epistles and that John of Patmos was a different person, because the writing style of the Book of Revelation is too different from the Gospel and Epistles.

Pictured above is the stained glass window at St. John's Episcopal Church in Thibodaux. If you click on the picture, you see (somewhat blurred) the detail in the glass which shows a snake coming out of the goblet in John's hand. According to legend, the emperor Domitian offered poisoned wine to John, but he blessed the wine and the poison came out of the goblet in the form of a snake.  A painting by El Greco illustrates the same legend.

Collect of the day

Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light; that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PEDRO AND HIS DATE

One beautiful December evening Pedro and his
girlfriend Rosita were sitting by the side of the ocean.

It was a romantic full moon, when Pedro said, "Hey, mamacita, let's do Weeweechu."

"Oh no, not now, let's look at the moon!" said Rosita.

"Oh, c'mon baby, let's you and I do Weeweechu.
I love you and it's the perfect time," Pedro begged.

"But I wanna just hold your hand and watch the
moon." replied Rosita.

"Please, corazoncito, just once, do Weeweechu with me."

  
Rosita looked at Pedro and said, "OK, one time,
we'll do Weeweechu."

 Pedro grabbed his guitar and they both sang....

"Weeweechu a Merry Christmas,Weeweechu a Merry Christmas,
Weeweechu a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

(NOW GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER)

UPDATE: Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

IT'S STILL CHRISTMAS - 2

 

A favorite passage from one of my favorite books is the quote below from Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte, two young Englishmen, meet at Oxford in the period between the two world wars. Charles is not a believer, and Sebastian is from an aristocratic Roman Catholic family. After they've been friends for a while, Sebastian brings up the subject of his faith and Catholicism. What follows is the dialogue between the two:

(Sebastian) “Oh dear, it’s very difficult being a Catholic!”

(Charles) “Does it make much difference to you?”

(Sebastian:) “Of course. All the time.”

(Charles) “Well, I can’t say I’ve noticed it. Are you struggling against temptation? You don’t seem much more virtuous than me.”

(Sebastian) “I’m very, very much wickeder,” said Sebastian indignantly.

(Charles) “… I suppose they try to make you believe an awful lot of nonsense?”

(Sebastian) “Is it nonsense? I wish it were. It sometimes sounds terribly sensible to me.”

(Charles) “But my dear Sebastian, you can’t seriously believe it all.”

(Sebastian) “Can’t I?”

(Charles) “I mean about Christmas and the star and the three kings and the ox and the ass.”

(Sebastian) “Oh yes. I believe that. It’s a lovely idea.”

(Charles) “But you can’t believe things because they’re a lovely idea.”

(Sebastian) “But I do. That’s how I believe.”

I love the passage, because Sebastian describes how I believe, too. It's very much the stories, the myths (not myths in the sense of something that's not true - myths in the sense of universal truths) that draw me into Christianity.

(Edited and reposted from 2007.)

IT'S STILL CHRISTMAS AT OCICBW...

The song may seem a little late, but you never know; Santa may still have a surprise or two waiting for you. The song, "Sittin' On Top 'a the Roof (Waitin' On Santa)", is by Paul Lemire and is included in MadPriest's super after-Christmas rockin' music mix, which is well worth a listen for this and other songs to keep you in the spirit of a rockin' Christmas.  MadPriest has a knack for finding little-known musicians whose work is deserving of a wider audience.

Paul Lemire performs live in the Los Angeles, California, area.