Carrington Event

There are much noisier displays out there -- about 25 years ago one home in Madison expanded their electrical service to be able to handle all the lights -- but in our neighborhood these folks are the loudest. (Yes, a lot of that is blinking.) It's a bit of a tradition -- an event -- to drive by on Carrington Drive to see what they've added this year.

Carols

A joyful Christmas to all! And if joy isn't the first thing in your thoughts (a friend died yesterday--the doctors were pretty accurate as to how long he had), Jesus has been there too.

Thinking about carols: we all know that Joy to the World isn't a Christmas song, but we sing it then anyway. Some of the old favorites have grammar that confuses children (I was one) thanks in part to fashions for making English poetry work like Latin. But they are fun; they help us celebrate; they help us remember.

I got to thinking--is there a lack in the Christmas carol collection?

In the Christmas story we have John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Mary, Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna, inspired directly by the Holy Spirit.

We have Joseph and the magi, indirectly informed by the Holy Spirit in dreams.

We have Mary and the shepherds, informed by angels sent from God.

I can't think of any Christmas hymns devoted to the Holy Spirit. They all point to Jesus, and perhaps reference the Father. Perhaps that's appropriate, but it seems a little odd.

Christmas in Singapore

From Plough

Rising and descending between Venice and The Shoppes amid the rootless evergreens, I realized that I was witnessing a colonization of sorts – but it was not the imposition of Western or Christian values on the world. The West itself had been the first to fall to this new empire without realizing what had happened, leaving behind caricatures of itself and expensive retail chains. Political philosopher Patrick Deneen coined the term “anticulture” to describe this colonizing force – not a nation-state but the unspoken ideology of those currently running our nation-states – that drives global commerce and government, uprooting local traditions in order to sell us newer models of ourselves. Weaken the ties of family, faith, community, and culture, of the particularity that roots us in time and place, and nothing remains but homo economicus, whose only fixed identity is to consume.

I like this one

Magus

Eliot probably did it better, but if I'm supposed to worry that others say things better, would I ever say anything at all?

Merry Christmas

AVI had some thoughts about the oddity of "Merry Christmas" as an offense, which if you haven't read you should. The phrase is antique. When did you last hear, or read in a recent work, the word merry used in another context than Christmas? Across the pond they say "Happy Christmas," which means the same but with common words--though sadly it doesn't roll off the tongue as neatly as Happy Holidays.

For tradition's sake, I like to say "Merry Christmas", but sometimes I go for "Merry Christmastide" or "Happy Holy Days". Although what with the Corvid Years and work-from-home I don't get out as much.

At any rate, although it's been said many times, many ways--May you have joy in this season celebrating the birth of our humble God.

Alfred Burt

"Starting in 1942, Alfred Shaddick Burt continued the family tradition of sending Christmas carols as cards, a tradition which was begun by his father, Bates Gilbert Burt in 1926."

You may have heard of some of them. I'd heard of 4, including Some Children See Him. Alfred died at 33, with The Star Carol the last thing he wrote.

If I can mix my metaphors a trifle, 4 famous songs out of 15 is an amazing batting average. 12 of the songs are here.

Showing love

Love came to Earth as someone who needed to be loved. His first gift was an opportunity for us (in the persons of Mary and Joseph) to love.

Christmas history

From a review of a book:

By 1800, Christmas was in bad shape, associated largely with working-class drunkenness and violence. But in the early 19th century, Christmas "revivalists" like Washington Irving and Charles Dickens began recasting it as a generically religious, culturally wholesome, and family-centered holiday.

Christmas Music 24x7

A local station goes to 24x7 Christmas music after Thanksgiving. I generally don't listen to it in December, unless I need traffic reports or something like that. I snaffled this afternoon's playlist, representing from 11:30 to 6, and counted up the contents. Some songs had different singers, or even instrumental versions--I counted them all the same. (The same singer/song combo appeared several times, e.g. "Holly Jolly Christmas" with Ives.)

Since this is an ancient Christian celebration, I thought I'd see if the songs were explicitly Christian, as opposed to referencing the trappings (bells, etc), but I refrain from further comment. Except: "Do They Know It's Christmas" isn't explicitly Christian but it seems to fit the season. I've never heard it.

Count	Title	Religious?
4	A Holly Jolly Christmas
4	All I Want For Christmas Is You
1	Ave Maria	religious
1	Baby It's Cold Outside
1	Believe
2	Blue Christmas
2	Carol of the Bells
1	Caroling, Caroling
2	Celebrate Me Home
1	Chipmunk Christmas
2	Christmas Canon (instrumental)
2	Christmas Eve in Sarajevo
2	Christmas Time Is Here
2	Do They Know it's Christmas	*
2	Do You Hear What I Hear?	religious
1	Dominick the Donkey
2	Feliz Navidad
4	Frosty the Snowman
2	Happy Christmas
1	Happy Holidays
1	Hard Candy Christmas
4	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
3	Here Comes Santa Claus
1	Hey Santa!
1	I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
1	I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
1	I'll Be Home for Christmas
3	It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
2	It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
2	Jingle Bell Rock
1	Jingle Bells
2	Let It Snow
1	Linus and Lucy
2	Mele Kalikima
1	O' Holy Night	religious
1	O' Tannenbaum- O' Christmas Tree	religious
5	Please Come Home for Christmas
1	Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
2	Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
1	Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
1	Silent Night	religious
4	Sleigh Ride
1	The Christmas Shoes
1	The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
1	The First Noel	religious
3	The Little Drummer Boy	religious
1	There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays
1	Underneath the Tree
1	Up On the Housetop
1	Where Are You Christmas
4	White Christmas
2	Winter Wonderland
2	Wonderful Christmastime

Merry Christmas-tide

I hope this story proves true.