Celebrate The Birth Of The Christ

(Note to family and friends: The most recent update on Mr. AOW is here, updated December 12. Also see this post).

From Handel's oratorio The Messiah, with the choral score for sing-along if readers are so inclined (hat tip to Mustang):


The timeless message of the Incarnation:

And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Merry Christmas!
Recommended reading for this Blessed Season...The Carnival of Christmas 2009: Gloria!, personal perspectives on Christmas from all around the blogosphere and hosted at CatHouse Chat. I submitted this post for the carnival.

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The Obama Family Christmas Tree

(Note to family and friends: The most recent update on Mr. AOW is here, updated December 12. Also see this post).

The following is not a joke!

One ornament on the Christmas tree in the White House Blue Room depicts Mao:

Click on "Turn the page...." for a link to follow.

See this post at Infidel Bloggers Alliance for more details and more outrage, including photos of one ornament depicting legendary transvestite Hedda Lettuce and another depicting BHO as part of Mount Rushmore.

"Hope and change," huh?

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Weekend Humor: "Muhammad, The Night Before Christmas"

(Note to family and friends: The most recent update on Mr. AOW is here, updated December 12. Also see this post).

From this post at Feed Your ADHD, a little Christmas humor and satire on Islam. SPEW ALERT!

It was the night before Christmas and Muhammad was confused.

Should Muslims have fun holidays like the Christians and Jews?

8 days of Hanukkah or a fat Jinn in a red suit,

Who used reindeers not camels to carry his loot?

And what kind of presents would Muhammad think best?

Barbies in burkas and suicide vests?

It had to be something the kafurs would envy

Teddy bears named Muhammad or something trendy

But that’s too much work for a man who had fits

With angels who’d scare him out of his wits.

It would have to be simple and easy to do

And try not to get sick with that kafur swine flu

So he laid on his bed, the left side of course,

Couldn’t lay on his back considering the source

Of Sharia and Hadith and all those rules

Can’t have kafurs thinking we’re fools.

As he laid on his left side, trying hard not to sleep,

When in crept a dog without making a peep.

He said to Muhammad, such an idea I have

I’d tell you now, but we’re forbidden to laugh

Muhammad was startled by the sight of the dog

They’re considered impure if you read all the blogs

But with the crescent moon setting he had to decide

Listen to the dog or forget the yuletide.

So the dog said to Muhammad this has to be done right

Or the Sunni and Shia will start a big fight

And that damned winged horse that flew to the sky

That screwed up the prayers, is it 3 or is it 5?

But Muhammad disagreed; the dog be can’t be right

I’ve given them holidays for at least a few nights

Like Ramadan to starve them from sun up to sun down

A billion hungry Muslims all running around

A month of No sex, food, or water, from dawn until dusk

And then the celebration of Eid, where they can pig out and lust

They can eat lots of dates and wear all their best clothes

And visit a gravesite … before they’re blown up by their foes.

They can ask forgiveness and even pray for more wives

It’s all about sex, haven’t I given them good lives?

Plus, the angel Gabe descends with white clothes

For Muhammad’s grandsons, all dead, but who knows

We eat lots of food on all 3 days

And pay zakat to the poor but not if they’re gay

I have already given them this holiday you see,

But only when the moon is sighted by three

And it’s never the same time, so they have to remember

Like this year it fell on the 21 of September

And the dog said to Muhammad, 30 days of fasting, 3 days to overeat

If that’s the best you can do, they’ve got you beat.

The kafurs give presents, charity and good cheer

And it’s always the same month year after year

Besides, said Muhammad, for 1400 years it’s been a tradition

To make fun of the holidays of the Jews and the Christian.

We can’t change it now, it’s gone on far too long

Plus Sharia forbids us from singing a song

But what of the treaty of Hudaibiyya, argued the dog with skill

Where you denied you were a prophet so you wouldn’t be killed

If you could fake it then you could fake it now

Say Happy Holidays to the kafurs and don’t have a cow

Tell Muslims to be tolerant or go back where they’re from

Or they’ll be eating the fruit of the Az Zaqqum

To celebrate life’s mysteries should be each human’s right

It shouldn’t be a reason for Muslims to hate or to fight.

Forget it said Muhammad, as they’ve ignored much that I’ve said

They follow their scholars and the Hadith they’ve read.

And they made up the Quran long after I was dead.

Good luck to you all, I’m going back to bed.

And that’s your Muslim winter holiday. And to all a good night

And of course we all know the dog was right.

The above was written by Az Zaqqum, Islamic scholar to the Kafurs. Visit his site to see more about the humor of Islam.

Is the ridicule too acerbic, too insensitive?

Well, apostate Ali Sina of Faith Freedom.Org believes that ridicule is key:

Why we must continue the campaign of humiliation and ridicule? It’s because we must destroy that false image of Islam to which the Muslims cling for their identity. That idol must be smashed. When that false image is destroyed there would be nothing left to cling to and only then the Muslims will be able to find themselves and recover their lost selfhood. The co-dependant must see that his narcissist, the object of his adoration, is not that great but a fraud, a loser, a clown. This can't be done through logical argumentations alone.

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When Friends Step Up

(Note to family and friends: The most recent update on Mr. AOW's recovery from the stroke he had on September 15 is here)

We had a special Christmas blessing Saturday evening when one of my former clients stopped by with her family.

They brought four meals of "soul food": fried catfish, fried chicken, mac and cheese, cornbread, greens, cabbage, rice, and green beans. Mr. AOW and I feasted and, bellies full, fell asleep early.

But the food wasn't the best part of the visit.
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This dear family also brought in Christmas decorations and decked out our living room. We have a tabletop fiber-optic tree and lighted garland over the mantel. Now when Mr. AOW looks around the room, it's festive for this Christmas season. Having proper Christmas lights means a great deal to Mr. AOW.

Our visitors also brought stockings stuffed with gift cards for grocery stores and take-out food.

In addition to the above, we were presented with a certificate for a laundry service which picks up the dirty linens and clothes and returns same a day later! I now see some respite from all the loads of laundry I've been doing since Mr. AOW returned home on November 25.

Saturday night was Christmas morning two weeks early!

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Merry Christmas!

(This post stuck here through Christmas Day)



Wishing all my readers a Blessed Season. I hope that you will join me in taking a break from politics during this Holy Time when our Lord became Flesh and the Word Incarnate came to a lowly stable so as fulfill the many prophecies of Redemption.

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Scroll down for my entry to the 2008 Carnival of Christmas — a free verse, Christmas acrostic. Although I hope that you, my readers, will like what I've written, I wrote the poem primarily for myself. What I tried to express doesn't lend itself to writing an essay, my preferred genre.

In any case, I hope that you will read many, if not all, of the entries to the 2008 Carnival of Christmas, hosted by CatHouse Chat on December 24.

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A Piano Christmas (2008 Carnival of Christmas)

A free verse, acrostic poem for Christmas (with much thanks to Warren for the above graphic):


All those years without a piano in the house!

People who don’t make music
In the touching of black and white keys
Allow others to make music for them and
Never know the same joy.This year,
Our house hears my music!

Christmas carols — the traditional ones — ring out.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, my favorite carol of all,
Reverberates and uplifts the soul.
I shouldn’t have waited so long to make the
Songs my own once again.
Too many chairs are empty now:
Mom, Dad, grandparents, cousins,
Aunts, uncles, friends — gone. But I coax the keys to
Sing, the circle made whole again in Christ Child timbre.

(The 2008 Carnival of Christmas is hosted at CatHouse Chat on December 24th)

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The Busiest Season

This afternoon, I'll be inordinately busy with last-minute Christmas preparations and taking my elderly aunt to the doctor.
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After The Maids came late Tuesday to do the Christmas deep clean, the tree is finally up, as of last night, but stands in the corner with only lights and the angel tree-topper adorning the branches. The tree skirt, brand new, is in place with a few wrapped presents from out of town sitting there to keep our three cats from rooting the velour material all over the room. Not a single ornament has been added to the tree yet!

I hope to finish trimming the tree tonight and tomorrow. Those touches may be delayed, however. Staying on schedule, albeit a delayed one, will depend on what the doctor says today about my aunt's chest congestion. I hope that this afternoon doesn't turn into a go-to-the-hospital nightmare. My aunt, nearly 93 years of age, has been sick for two weeks now. She is the last surviving family member of my parents' generation, and all of us in the extended family cherish this dear aunt and are quite concerned about her condition and the outcome.

In the meantime, scroll down to other posts, including a student's essay and political threads.

Later, my friends, and hopefully not too much later. Prayers appreciated.

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Our 2008 Moratorium On Christmas Gift-Giving

This year, my extended family has come to the decision of curbing the exchange of Christmas gifts. For one thing, all of us are having financial difficulties. In addition, at this point in our lives, we're suffocating in our possessions.



We will make a few exceptions in our adherence to this moratorium, for one, giving presents to my ninety-three-year-old aunt, the last survivor of her generation in our extended family. Although not wealthy, she certainly has almost everything that she needs and wants, in part because she grew up during the Great Depression and learned to make it last, fix it, and use it up. As usual, Mr. AOW and I will give her a new engagement calendar for 2008 and a gift with chocolate as an ingredient, and her granddaughter order flowers delivered as the grand old dame of the family takes great pleasure in the sight and fragrance of blooms, especially in the dead of winter. My aunt used to enjoy receiving magazine subscriptions and other reading materials; the ravages of glaucoma, however, have put an end to her being able to read standard type without a magnifying class.

Most of all, more than receiving any gifts, my aunt looks forward to the family gathering for a simple meal on Christmas Eve and the after-dinner caroling around the piano. This Christmas, we will celebrate the simple pleasures and the fellowship of getting together as a family — two benefits of an economic downturn. In fact, we gain a better perspective when we stop trying to meet the requirements of obligatory generosity. And I predict that we'll enjoy this Christmas as much as any previous ones, maybe more.

In the past, everyone in my family has enjoyed receiving gift cards. In fact, most of us have grown to prefer those cards so that we can go out to buy what we want, specifically, clothing that fits both our bodies and our style preferences. This year, however, giving gift cards is fraught with the uncertainty that many merchants might not still be up and running a few weeks from now.

The following is a partial list of merchants that we already know will be undergoing changes, yet many of these merchants are still selling the cards through the holidays even though the cards may well be of no worth whatsoever on January 1 (thanks to my best friend of some 40 years).

Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)

Ann Taylor - 117 stores nationwide closing

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, and Catherine's - closing 150 stores nationwide

Eddie Bauer - closing 27 stores and more after January

Cache - closing all stores

Talbots - closing specialty stores

J. Jill (owned by Talbots) - closing all stores

Pacific Sunwear (owned by Talbots) - closing all cores

The GAP - closing 85 stores

Footlocker - closing 140 stores; more to close after January

Wickes Furniture - closing all stores

Levitz - closing remaining stores

Bombay - closing remaining stores

Zales - closing 82 stores now and 105 after January

Whitehall - closing all stores

Piercing Pagoda - closing all stores

Disney - closing 98 stores now and will close more after January.

Home Depot - closing 15 stores, 1 in NJ (New Brunswick )

Macys - closing 9 stores after January

Linens and Things - closing all stores

Movie Gallery - closing all stores

Pep Boys - closing 33 stores

Sprint/Nextel - closing 133 stores

JC Penney - closing a number of stores after January

Ethan Allen - closing 12 stores

Wilson Leather - closing all stores

Sharper Image - closing all stores

KB Toys - closing 356 stores

Loews - closing some stores

Dillard's - closing some stores

Even if a particular merchant is not closing all stores, the inconvenience factor for the location of the remaining stores should be considered. Remember that the facility of returning and exchanging received gifts will also be affected.

It's not my business to tell my readers what to do about gift-giving this Christmas. But this family isn't grieving over our cutback. Not at all. In fact, we've all said, "It's about time!" and we're avoiding giving any gift cards whatsoever.


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PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT: Participate in the Fourth Annual Carnival of Christmas! Guidelines here.

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Barney Frank's Mistake

According to this December 22, 2007 item in the "Religion" section of the Washington Post, Barney Frank regrets two of the votes he recently cast:

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says he was wrong to vote different ways on House resolutions recognizing Christmas and Ramadan.

Instead of voting for the Muslim holiday and abstaining on the Christian one, Representative Frank says he should have abstained on Ramadan as well....

In my experience, politicians don't make such admissions unless constituents have applied some pressure. Of course, it is possible that Representative Frank realized all on his own that his differing votes evidenced a double standard.

Why do I have doubts about his revised view, just in time for Christmas? I've become highly skeptical about the integrity of all politicians — the result of my observing politicians' ambivalence and their lack of integrity as they jockey for power and votes.

Returning now to the remainder of the item in the Washington Post, Representative Frank further explained about his change of mind:

Frank says he's Jewish and doesn't observe either holiday, but adds that he wouldn't support a Yom Kippur resolution, either. He says Congress should stay out of religious matters and let Americans worship as they wish. In the future, Frank says he'll abstain on all such resolutions.

I've never quite understood why politicians abstain from voting — unless, of course, they aren't educated enough about a certain matter to vote responsibly. Isn't our elected representatives' job to make decisions?

Why do politicians abstain from a vote, anyway? I look forward to commenters helping me to understand why politicians take non-positions on issues before them.

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Christmas 2007

(This posting is part of the 2007 Carnival of Christmas, hosted this year by CatHouse Chat. Please visit that site beginning on December 24 to read other entries.)

For as long as I can remember my favorite Christmas carol has been "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." It explains, in both words and melody, the spiritual significance of this Holy Season.

A Collection of Renaissance Nativity Scenes by Philip Scott Johnson (adapted by W. H. Cummings from Felix Mendelssohn's Festgesang for the Gutenberg Festival) uses my favorite Christmas carol in a choral arrangement as music for the slide show. I hope that you enjoy this rendition as much as I do!



YouTube link

Lyrics:

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Refrain
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

Refrain

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Refrain

The Lord of All took on human flesh and humbled Himself to be born in a manger for one purpose — to purchase our redemption through His blood, which covers our sins and gives us eternal life.

This Christmas, may you gaze upon the Light of the World and claim the Savior's promise:

...[Jesus] said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Mocking The Birth Of Jesus

Via this posting by JR of THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS:



YouTube link, which provides this blurb summing up the commercial:

We open on the nativity scene as the 3 wise men place their gifts inside the manger. There's a pregnant pause. Suddenly, one by one, the gifts are thrown out of the manger. The wise men look on in disbelief. Joseph and Mary look to each other with a blank expression.

Would any advertising company dare to design a commercial mocking Muhammad? Can't you just see the outrage which would ensue?

As JR of THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS sardonically stated:

Christians worlwide have of course gone on a rampage, trashed all the firm's stores and called for the beheading of all staff of the advertising agency. And the political Left have defended them for doing so -- saying that their feelings had been hurt and it was all due to poverty anyway.

The news article about the commercial is HERE.

No, this is not my Christmas posting! It will go up tomorrow when I post as part of the Carnival of Christmas 2007, hosted next week by CatHouse Chat. Bloggers interested in participating can find the pertinent information HERE.

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