FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 22:



"Hail our dear old friend, Kris Kringle,

driving his reindeer across the sky . . . .

(Don't stand underneath while they fly by!)"



Tom Lehrer, "A Christmas Carol"

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 21:

Jesus of Nazareth dressed like a Jew, prayed like a Jew (and most likely in Aramaic), instructed other Jews on how best to live according to the commandments given by God to Moses, taught like a Jew, argued like a Jew with other Jews, and died like thousands of other Jews on a Roman cross. To see him in a first-century Jewish context and to listen to his words with first-century Jewish ears do not in any way undermine Christian theological claims. Jesus does not have to be fully unique in order to say something or do something meaningful.

To see and hear him in his historical context enriches the meaning of those all too familiar images and sayings. They become striking again, not just for their spiritual potential, but also for their social engagement. The kingdom of heaven is not, for the Jewish Jesus of Nazareth, a piece of real estate for the single saved soul; it is a communal vision of what could be and what should be. It is a vision of a time when all debts are forgiven, when we stop judging others, when we not only wear our traditions on our sleeve, but also hold them in our hearts and minds and enact them with all our strength. It is the good news that the Torah can be discussed and debated, when the Sabbath is truly honored and kept holy, when love of enemies replaces the tendency toward striking back. The vision is Jewish, and it is worth keeping as frontlets before our eyes and teaching to our children.

Amy-Jill Levine,

The Misunderstood Jew, pp. 51-52. 

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 20:

The hands that first held Mary's child
were hard from working wood,
from boards they sawed and planed and filed
and splinters they withstood.
This day they gripped no tool of steel,
they drove no iron nail,
but cradled from the head to heel
our Lord, newborn and frail.

When Joseph marveled at the size
of that small breathing frame,
and gazed upon those bright new eyes
and spoke the infant's name,
the angel's words he once had dreamed
poured down from heaven's height,
and like the host of stars that beamed
blessed earth with welcome light.

"This child shall be Emmanuel,
not God upon the throne,
but God with us, Emmanuel,
as close as blood and bone."
The tiny form in Joseph's palms
confirmed what he had heard,
and from his heart rose hymns and psalms
for heaven's human word.

The tools that Joseph laid aside
a mob would later lift
and use with anger, fear, and pride
to crucify God's gift.
Let us, O Lord, not only hold
the child who's born today,
but, charged with faith, may we be bold
to follow in his way.

*************************
A new favorite, written by Thomas H. Troeger 

in 1985. The suggested tune (at least at the hymnary.org website) is “Kingsfold,” aka “The Star of the County Down,” although the anthem setting by Daniel E. Forrest, which is heard at the link below, is lovely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2005BDOpZ2U.

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 19:

“The Twelve Days After Christmas,” by Frederick Silver

The first day after Christmas my true love and I had a fight, 

And so I chopped the pear tree down and burned it just for spite.
Then with a single cartridge, I shot that blasted partridge,
My true love, my true love, my true love gave to me.

The second day after Christmas, I pulled on the old rubber gloves,
And very gently wrung the necks of both the turtle doves,
My true love, my true love, my true love gave to me. 

The third day after Christmas, my mother caught the croup;
I had to use the three Frech hens to make some chicken soup. 

The four calling birds were a big mistake,
for their language was obscene.

The five gold rings were completely fake
and they turned my fingers green.

The sixth day after Christmas, the six laying geese wouldn't lay;
I gave the whole darn gaggle to the A.S.P.C.A.

On the seventh day what a mess I found,
All seven of the swimming swans had drowned,
My true love, my true love, my true love gave to me.

The eighth day after Christmas, before they could suspect,
I bundled up the eight maids a milking,
nine pipers piping,
ten ladies dancing,
'leven lords a leaping,
twelve drummers drumming
and sent them back collect.

I wrote my true love,
"We are through, love,"
and I said in so many words,
"Furthermore, your Christmas gifts were for the birds!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5jRRglJA2M

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 18:

"I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.”

“Many can't go there; and many would rather die.”

"If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides – excuse me – I don't know that.”

“But you might know it,” observed the gentleman.

****************************

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 17:


"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."


***********************

Let's be honest: Is there really anyone who grew up

with the annual broadcast of A Charlie Brown 

Christmas who can hear Luke 2:8-14 in the King

James Version of the Bible without halfway expecting

to hear Linus deliver today's quote just after the 

angels sing the most famous "Gloria" of all time? 

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 16:

"It hasn't snowed a single flurry,

But Santa, dear, we're in a hurry;

So climb down the chimney;

Put up the brightest string of lights I've ever seen.

Slice up the fruitcake;

It's time we hung some tinsel on that evergreen bough.

For I've grown a little leaner,

Grown a little colder,

Grown a little sadder,

Grown a little older,

ALL:

And I need a little angel

Sitting on my shoulder,

Need a little Christmas now."

+++++++++++++++++++++

Part of one of the most-performed songs from the musical Mame (and most-played on the radio), this often-omitted verse seems sadly appropriate in the light of recent events.

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 15:



"And what happened then . . . ?

Well . . . in Who-ville they say

That the Grinch's small heart

Grew three sizes that day!"

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 14:

"Bless the Beasts and the Children"

Bless the beasts and the children

For in this world they have no voice

They have no choice

Bless the beasts and the children

For the world can never be

The world they see

Light their way

When the darkness surrounds them

Give them love

Let it shine all around them

Bless the beasts and the children

Give them shelter from the storm

Keep them safe

Keep them warm

Light their way

When the darkness surrounds them

Give them love

Let it shine all around them

Bless the beasts and the children

Give them shelter from the storm

Keep them safe

Keep them warm

The children . . .

The children . . .

The children . . . 

***********************

Although not a traditional Christmas text, the lyrics of this song by Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr, serve both as a prayer and as a reminder of the need for the strong among us to step forward and assist the most vulnerable, which is one of the central messages of Christmas.

Many of us will also recall the most popular recording of this song, featuring Karen Carpenter's lovely alto.

A Christmas Memory:




One year, my father took the three of us 
kids along with him when he did part of 
the Christmas shopping, and somehow my 
mother found out about it. I must have 
been about 8 or 9 at the time, and my 
sister, the next oldest, would have been 
about 6 or 7, so we understood that we 
weren't to tell Mama anything when she 
came round to pump us for information.



It was our baby brother who cracked. He 
was just about to turn 5 – his birthday is 
four days before Christmas  –  and so it 
wasn't that hard for Mama to get him to 
talk. He told her that Daddy was giving her 
a "bunny box."


Now, my mother has always been a fairly 
intelligent person, but – like you, I suspect – 
she had absolutely no idea what a "bunny
box" could be to a 4-year-old. What's 
more, she never did figure it out, no matter 
how hard she tried.

It was only when the gifts were opened on 
Christmas morning that all was revealed: 
one of the gifts Daddy had bought for 
Mama was a new toaster, because the old 
one was on its last legs, and it irritated her 
when the toaster wouldn't work.


What in the world did a toaster have to do 
with a "bunny box?" Well, you see, this was
long before the days when whole-grain, 
high-fiber breads came into vogue, and like 
most young couples with several small 
children, my parents would economize 
wherever they could. And so we ended up 
eating a lot of sandwiches made on 
Bunny Bread, which is what my brother 
remembered when questioned by our mother.

In other words, my baby brother spilled the
beans, but it didn't help Mama one bit,
because she didn't know what to do with
the answer.

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, 

# 13:

Jesus our Brother,

kind and good,

was humbly born

in a stable rude,

and the friendly beasts

around Him stood,

Jesus our Brother,

kind and good.

Robert Davis (1881-1950) apparently wrote the words that we normally associate with this tune in the 1920s. The tune, on the other hand, dates back to the 12th century, when it served as the setting for "Orientis Partibus," a song about the donkey that carried the Virgin Mary to Bethlehem just before the Nativity.

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 12:

THE PEACEABLE KINGDOM 

(Isaiah 2:4b-c; Micah 4:4; Isaiah 11:6-9)

. . . they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more;

but they shall sit, everyone under his vine and under his fig tree,

and none shall make them afraid;

for the mouth of the LORD . . . has spoken.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard lie down with the kid,

the calf, the young lion, and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall feed;

their young shall lie down together

and the lion eat straw like the ox.

They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD,

as the waters cover the sea.

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 11:


(An excerpt from Virgil's Fourth Eclogue)

Now the last age of the prophecy begins. . .

the great roll-call of the centuries is born anew:

now Justice returns . . . .

Only favour the child who’s born, under whom

any traces of our evils that remain will be cancelled,

and leave the earth free from perpetual fear.

He will take on divine life. . .

and rule a peaceful world with his father’s powers.

And for you, boy, the uncultivated earth will pour out

her first little gifts . . .

and the cattle will have no fear of fierce lions:

Your cradle itself will pour out delightful flowers:

And the snakes will die off, and deceitful poisonous herbs

will wither: spice plants will spring up everywhere.

The plain will slowly turn golden with tender wheat,

and the ripe clusters hang on the wild briar,

and the tough oak drip with dew-wet honey.

The soil will not feel the hoe: nor the vine the pruning hook:

the strong ploughman, too, will free his oxen from the yoke:. . . .

See the world, with its weighty dome, bowing,

earth and wide sea and deep heavens:

see how everything delights in the future age!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This poem, written most likely while the Roman emperor Augustus' first wife Scribonia was pregnant with Julia, their only child together, was believed by Christians to be a prophecy of the birth of Jesus for over a thousand years. The pioem is strikingly similar in wording and tone to passages in the Biblical book of Isaiah which speak of a coming era of universal  and cosmic peace extending to all creatures (e.g., the famous "Peaceable Kingdom" of Isaiah 11).

It is also probably one of the reasons Virgil appears as Dante's guide through Hell in the Divine Comedy.

The present translation is by A. S. Kline, and dates from 2001. 

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS QUOTES 2012, # 10:

I believe in a God
who restores all things. . . .
      
All that has been lost to us      
will be restored.
This is the gift of the Christ.    
Though life be lost    
and love      
and all that we hold dear,
it will be given back to us again
in him.

For God has allowed us

to know the secret of his plan,
and it is this:
that all human history
shall be consummated in Christ,
so that everything that exists

in Heaven or on earth

shall find its perfection

or fulfillment

in him.

The whole creation is on tiptoe

to see the wonderful sight

of the children of God

coming into their own. 

The world of creation

cannot yet see reality,

yet it has been given hope. 

And the hope is this:

that in the end

the whole of created life will be rescued. . . .

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I AM OF IRELAUNDE, by Juilene Osborne-McKnight, chapter 28 (a historical novel about St Patrick);

Ephesians 1:9-10, J.B. Phillips translation; and

Romans 8:19-20a, 21, also in the Phillips translation.