This writer has three children and, at present, one grandchild with one on the way. The oldest two children are adults now. Jennifer is 30, Edward is about to turn 29. Eddie's son is 2. Allison is 17. Jenny's son - her and Chris already know they're having a son - is due in April. Jenny and Eddie have told me, often, that I wasn't a tough enough disciplinarian. They are probably correct. I tried way too hard to talk to them when it came to right and wrong. I talked but I didn't enforce what I said. Both went through bad times when growing up - one more than the other, I think - and both believe I could've spared them those times were I to have intervened at important times with strong doses of tough love. Both think I need to dish out some tough love for their younger sister. The younger sister doesn't think so. The older two say that is precisely why I need to do it. My wife says my propensity for not being a disciplinarian even extends to the way I treat the two alley cats who live with us. And no, I don't try to talk to the cats. And when I say I talked to my kids, it wasn't a bunch of long lectures. It was more like, "don't drink and drive. If you do, you'll kill somebody, and it might be you." Or, "don't have sex, period. And if you can't avoid having sex, do not get pregnant or get somebody else pregnant." Both Jenny and Eddie got great grades right up through middle school. Jennifer behaved herself in school without being admonished about it. I told Edward that if he got good grades I wasn't going to get excited about a detention or two. Then, one day he came home and said he'd won an election to the student council but the school administration denied him the win because they said he screwed around too much. I marched up to the school all outraged, especially because Eddie said the girl who was awarded the elected position was a "teacher's pet" type. The principal didn't know too much about the girl the faculty person put in the elected position, but she sure knew about some of Ed's shennanigans. "And we'll find some constructive things for him to do with all of his 'energies,' " the principal said. So much for letting Ed be Ed.
I wanted to be involved with my kids' lives. To the degree they'd let me be involved, I was involved. But they didn't always want me involved. They didn't want to do all the things I wanted them to do. The youngest, Allison, started to push back far earlier than the other two. The jury is still out on how that will turn out. In the end, I accept that I am human and have made mistakes. But I also know I have tremendous love for all three. Ir is an amount of love that changes my life because when you love your kids as much as I love my kids your life is affected profoundly. Your life cannot be routine or anything close to normal when everything they do and say is taken directly to heart. Always. Only a parent understands what that means. Only a parent...
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Today we print the final part of the Real Christmas Story. The Real Christmas Story is the Christmas Story, verbatim, from the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke as those Gospels are recorded in the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible. We have concluded with the St. Matthew portion, because it is contained in far fewer verses than the account of Christ's Birth as it is contained in St. Luke. I said in my post of the day before Christmas Eve that I would get this post up on Christmas Day. I didn't make it and I should've known better than to say I would.
From the Gospel of St. Luke, Chapter 2, beginning with Verse 21: And at the end of eight days, when he was circumsized, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Verse 22: And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Verse 23: (as it was written in the law of the Lord, "Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") Verse 24: and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." Verse 25: Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Verse 26: And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Verse 27: And inspired by the Spirit (or, according to other ancient authorites, "And inspired in the Spirit,") he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, Verse 28: he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
Verse 29: "Lord, now lettest now they servant
depart in peace,
according to thy word;
Verse 30: for mine eyes have seen they salvation
Verse 31: which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,
Verse 32: a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to they people Israel."
Verse 33: And his father and mother marveled at what was said about him; Verse 34: and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
"Behold, this child is set for the fall and
rising of many is Israel,
and for a sign that is spoken against
Verse 35: (and a sword will pierce through your
own soul also),
that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."
Christmas Poems Continued: Today is also the final installment for this season of Christmas Poetry. In past installments we have printed Christmas Poems from Coleridge, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Frost, Stevenson and Longfellow. Today, there are poems by Rudyard Kipling and John Greenleaf Whittier.
Christmas in India
by Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)
Dim dawn behind the tamerisks -- the sky is saffron-yellow --
As the women in the village grind the corn,
And the parrots seek the riverside, each calling to his fellow
That the Day, the staring Easter Day is born.
Oh the white dust on the highway! Oh the stenches in the byway!
Oh the clammy fog that hovers
And at Home they're making merry 'neath the white and scarlet berry --
What part have India's exiles in their mirth?
Full day begind the tamarisks -- the sky is blue and staring --
As the cattle crawl afield beneath the yoke,
And they bear One o'er the field-path, who is past all hope or caring,
To the ghat below the curling wreaths of smoke.
Call on Rama, going slowly, as ye bear a brother lowly --
Call on Rama -- he may hear, perhaps, your voice!
With our hymn-books and our psalters we appeal to other altars,
And to-day we bid "good Christian men rejoice!"
High noon behind the tamarisks -- the sun is hot above us --
As at Home the Christmas Day is breaking wan.
They will drink our healths at dinner -- those who tell us how they love us,
And forget us till another year be gone!
Oh the toil that knows no breaking! Oh the Heimweh, ceaseless, aching!
Oh the black dividing Sea and alien Plain!
Youth was cheap -- wherefore we sold it.
Gold was good -- we hoped to hold it,
And to-day we know the fulness of our gain.
Grey dusk behind the tamarisks -- the parrots fly together --
As the sun is sinking slowly over Home;
And his last ray seems to mock us shackled in a lifelong tether.
That drags us back how'er so far we roam.
Hard her service, poor her payment -- she is ancient, tattered raiment --
India, she the grim Stepmother of our kind.
If a year of life be lent her, if her temple's shrine we enter,
The door is hut -- we may not look behind.
Black night behind the tamarisks -- the owls begin their chorus --
As the conches from the temple scream and bray.
With the fruitless years behind us, and the hopeless years before us,
Let us honor, O my brother, Christmas Day!
Call a truce, then, to our labors -- let us feast with friends and neighbors,
And be merry as the custom of our caste;
For if "faint and forced the laughter," and if sadness follow after,
We are richer by one mocking Christmas past.
The Mystic's Christmas
by John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892)
'All hail!' the bells of Christmas rang,
'All hail!' the monks at Christmas sang,
The merry monks who kept with cheer
The gladdest day of all their year.
But still apart, unmoved thereat,
A pious elder brother sat
Silent, in his accustomed place,
With God's sweet peace upon his face.
'Why sitt'st thou thus?' his brethren cried.
'It is the blessed Christmas-tide;
The Christmas lights are all aglow,
The sacred lilies bud and blow.
'Above our heads the joy-bells ring,
Without the happy children sing,
And all God's creatures hail the morn
On which the holy Christ was born!
'Rejoice with us; no more rebuke
Our gladness with thy quiet look.'
The gray monk answered: 'Keep, I pray,
Even as ye list, the Lord's birthday.
'Let heathen Yule fires flicker red
Where thronged refectory feasts are spread;
With mystery-play and masque and mime
And wait-songs speed the holy time!
'The blindest faith may haply save;
The Lord accepts the things we have;
And reverence, howsoe'er it strays,
May find at last the shining ways.
'They needs must grope who cannot see,
The blade before the ear must be;
As ye are feeling I have felt,
And where ye dwell I too have dwelt.
'But now, beyond the things of sense,
Beyond occasions and events,
I know, through God's exceeding grace,
Release from form and time and place.
'I listen, from no mortal tongue,
To hear the song the angels sung;
And wait within myself to know
The Christmas lilies bud and blow.
'The outward symbols disappear
From him whose inward sight is clear;
And small must be the choice of clays
To him who fills them all with praise!
'Keep while you need it, brothers mine,
With honest zeal your Christmas sign,
But judge not him who every morn
Feels in his heart the Lord Christ born!'
And the lyrics of a favorite Christmas Carol. The final installment of this year's Christmas Carols is "The First Noel." According to Wikipedia, which has an excellent and quite sympathetic research analysis of the beautiful and moving song, "The First Noel" (also written as "The First Noël" and "The First Nowell") is a traditional classical English Christmas carol, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier. Noel is an Early Modern English synonym of "Christmas".
In its current form, it is of Cornish origin, and it was first published in Carols Ancient and Modern (1823) and Gilbert and Sandys Carols (1833), both of which were edited by William Sandys and arranged, edited and with extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert for Hymns and Carols of God. Today, it is usually performed in a four-part hymn arrangement by the English composer John Stainer, first published in his Carols, New and Old in 1871. Variations of its theme are included in Victor Hely-Hutchinson's Carol Symphony.
The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice, followed by a refrain which is a variation on that phrase. All three phrases end on the third of the scale. It is thought to be a version of an earlier melody sung in a church gallery setting; a conjectural reconstruction of this earlier version can be found in the New Oxford Book of Carols.
The Annunciation to the shepherds and the Adoration of the shepherds are episodes in the Nativity of Jesus described in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2). The Star of Bethlehem appears in the story of the Magi (the Wise Men) in the Gospel of Matthew; it does not appear in the story of the shepherds."
Wikipedia provides three different sets of lyrics for The First Noel.
The versions compared below are taken from the New English Hymnal (1986) (which is the version used in Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer's, Carols, New and Old), The Cornish Songbook of 1928 and Carols Old and New, published in 1916.
New English Hymnal:
1. The first Nowell the angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep:
Refrain
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,
Born is the King of Israel.
2. They looked up and saw a star,
Shining in the east, beyond them far:
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night:
3. And by the light of that same star,
Three Wise Men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star whersoever it went:
4. This star drew nigh to the north-west;
O'er Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay
Right over the place where Jesus lay:
5. Then entered in those Wise Men three,
Full reverently upon their knee,
And offered there in his presence,
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense:
6. Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made heaven and earth of nought,
And with his blood mankind hath bought:
Cornish Songbook: The 1928 Cornish Songbook used a version written by Ralph Dunstan.
1. O well, O well, the Angels did say
To shepherds there in the fields did lay;
Late in the night a-folding their sheep,
A winter's night, both cold and bleak.
Refrain
O well, O well, O well, O well,
Born is the King of Israel.
2. And then there did appear a Star,
Whose glory then did shine so far:
Unto the earth it gave a great light,
And there it continued a day and a night.
3. And by the light of that same Star,
Three Wise Men came from country far;
To seek a King was their intent -
They follow'd the Star wherever it went.
4. The Star went before them unto the North West,
And seemed o'er the City of Bethlehem to rest,
And there did remain by night and by day,
Right over the place where Jesus Christ lay.
5. Then enter'd in these Wise Men three,
With reverence fall on their knee,
And offer'd up in His presence
The gifts of gold and frankincense.
6. 'Tween an ox manger and an ass,
Our Blest Messiah's place it was;
To save us all from bond and thrall,
He was a Redeemer for us all!
Carols Old and Carols New: Reverend Charles Lewis Hutchins's version in Carols Old and Carols New (1916).
1. The first Noel, the angels say
To Bethlehem's shepherds as they lay.
At midnight watch, when keeping sheep,
The winter wild, the light snow deep.
Refrain
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel.
2. The shepherds rose, and saw a star
Bright in the East, beyond them far,
Its beauty gave them great delight,
This star it set now day nor night.
3. Now by the light of this bright star
Three wise men came from country far;
They sought a king, such their intent,
The star their guide where'er it went.
4. Then drawing nigh to the northwest,
O'er Bethlehem town it took its rest;
The wise men learnt its cause of stay,
And found the place where Jesus lay.
The Book of Hebrews: It is called a literary masterpiece. Yet its authorship is, even officially, in question. Some pundits - if, indeed, Theologians and Bible Scholars can ever be called mere pundits - believe St. Paul is the author while others say the writing is far too good to be Pauline in nature. The very first chapter seems an attempt to settle a profound debate, but between who? It is a mystery for the ages. Since it is Christmas and since the debate is apparently between some who believe Christ is below the Angels - they would be who? - and others, like me, who believe strongly that Christ is God, part of the Trinity of God, the Triune God, three Gods as One God, I will print the first chapter of Hebrews and let the readers decide for themselves what, exactly, is meant.
From the Revised Standard Version, the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 1, Beginning with Verse 1: In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; Verse 2: but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. Verse 3: He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Verse 4: having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellant than theirs.
Verse 5: For to what angel did God ever say,
"Thou are my Son,
today, I have begotten thee"?
Or again,
"I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son"?
Verse 6: And again, when he brings the first-born
into the world, he says,
"Let all God's angels worship him."
Verse 7: Of the angels he says,
"Who makes his angels winds,
and his servants names of fire."
Verse 8: But of the Son he says,
"Thy throne, O God, is (or God is thy throne) for ever and ever,
the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy (or his) kingdom.
Verse 9: Thou hast loved righteousness and
hated lawlessness;
therefore God, thy God, has annointed thee
with the oil of gladness beyond thy comrades."
Verse 10: And,
"Thou, Lord, didst found the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of thy hands;
Verse 11: they will perish, but thou remainest;
they will all grow old like a garment,
Verse 12: like a mantle thou wilt roll them up,
and they will be changed (other ancient authorities add like a garment.)
But thou are the same,
and thy years will never end."
Verse 13: But to what angel has he ever said,
"Sit at my right hand,
till I make thy enemies
a stool for thy feet"?
Verse 14: Are they not ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?
This writer is by no means qualified to even begin to interpret that chapter. I hope your Christmas was happy.
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