Entries by tag: holidays
Originally posted by 
bill_sheehan at Sunday Sermonette: Putting the Christ Back In Christmas
I’ve written about restoring the ancient traditions of Saturnalia to this blessed time of year (Io, Saturnalia!), but some people just have no sense of tradition. They just want me to put the Christ back in Christmas. Fine, I don’t want to cause offense by wishing anyone “Happy Holidays” when all they want is for me to validate their personal piety. So let’s get Christ into our celebrations.
Just who is this Christ anyway? Christians say he’s a person named Jesus, and we can learn all about him in the Gospels. Sure enough, in the first chapter of the Gospel attributed to Matthew, we find a lengthy (17 verses!) section of begats tracing Jesus’ lineage back to the ur-patriarch, Abraham. In the third chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we find fifteen verses of a reverse genealogy tracing Jesus back to Adam, and ultimately, God.( Read more...Collapse )
bill_sheehan at Sunday Sermonette: Putting the Christ Back In ChristmasI’ve written about restoring the ancient traditions of Saturnalia to this blessed time of year (Io, Saturnalia!), but some people just have no sense of tradition. They just want me to put the Christ back in Christmas. Fine, I don’t want to cause offense by wishing anyone “Happy Holidays” when all they want is for me to validate their personal piety. So let’s get Christ into our celebrations.
Just who is this Christ anyway? Christians say he’s a person named Jesus, and we can learn all about him in the Gospels. Sure enough, in the first chapter of the Gospel attributed to Matthew, we find a lengthy (17 verses!) section of begats tracing Jesus’ lineage back to the ur-patriarch, Abraham. In the third chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we find fifteen verses of a reverse genealogy tracing Jesus back to Adam, and ultimately, God.
It's not an infectious disease, its' a cultural phenomenon. Here on Kauai the decorations are everywhere. There are blow up santas at every commercial destination, and lit trees in the windows of homes, and bright lights on signs and rooflines. Island television is full of Christmas music and men wearing santa hats. There are Christian churches scattered over the island--the missionaries have been quite successful. The biggest Catholic church has a giant crucifix framed by palm trees. There are just a few alternatives--a couple of Buddhist temples and an LDS church in Kapa'a that was established in 1933. (According to some folks from SLC that we met, there's a "Mormon pipeline" by which a great many Hawaiian recruits end up settled in Utah. I wonder how long it takes them to realize their mistake.) The music in grocery stores is Hawaiian-style Christmas songs---to the tune of "I wish every day was Christmas because then peace and love would fill the world", and one about the grinch, and other songs unfamiliar to my ears. I want to know why it has to be Christmas to be peaceful and loving.
Headed north by train very shortly. I love traveling by train. I also like traveling on holidays. There aren't many people out, and those who are out have their silliness and joy on display.
There's a full moon and an eclipse tonight, to add to the charm of the longest night of the year. Here's an excellent NY Times article on the astronomy and cultural variations on celebrations of the solstice.
Sounds like cranberries may downregulate the body's natural processing of warfarin. Warfarin is also known as Coumadin, it is the blood thinner that is also used to poison rats. If you eat lots of cranberry sauce with your turkey and warfarin, you might bleed out. So be careful out there. Grapefruit is another food that can drastically affect your drug metabolism, so no grapefruit diets without first consulting your doctor, OK?
( The scoop straight from Denver Naturopathic update letter.Collapse )
( The scoop straight from Denver Naturopathic update letter.Collapse )
At 11:11 am on November 11, 1918, major hostilities of World War One formally ended. Tomorrow, in memory of that day, and in honor of the millions who served, we recognize Veterans Day. November 11 is celebrated around the world as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day. It was proclaimed a U.S. national holiday in 1938 with the words “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.”
Sunday the 16th, so they say, is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, back when Americans remembered how to protest. The problem is, protests of that magnitude have the capacity to spark a revolution, and we don't think we're ready for that. Are we?
( rEVOLution!Collapse )
( rEVOLution!Collapse )
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