Tag: Christmas

Quote of the Day – The Meaning of Christmas

Seawriter
Seawriter
56605
 

Your nativity, O Christ our God, has caused the light of knowledge to rise upon the world. For therein the worshippers of the stars were by a star instructed to worship You, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know You as Orient from on high. Glory to You, O Lord.

This is the first of three special hymns sung during the Divine Liturgy on Christmas Day in the Orthodox Church. I am not Skipskul or Jon Gabriel when it comes to explaining Orthodox Christianity, but I am very much of an Orthodox Christian. I thought to share this with you on the eve of Our Lord’s birth. This I believe is the true meaning of Christmas. That God caused the light of knowledge to rise upon the world.

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Christ Is Born!

Jon Gabriel, Ed.
Jon Gabriel, Ed.
1313
 

The Nativity Grotto in Bethlehem. The star marks the spot where Jesus Christ was born. It is part of the Church of the Nativity, built by the Roman emperor Constantine in 326 AD.

Behold a new and wondrous mystery.

My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

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Movie Review: Happiest Season

The Girlie Show
The Girlie Show
7691489
 

Harper Caldwell (Mackenzie Davis) takes her girlfriend Abigail Holland (Kristen Stewart) to spend the holidays with her family. Abigail is the name of a concept album from King Diamond, which itself inspired the name of a sex-crazed black metal band from Japan. That has nothing to do with the movie, forgive me. Besides, they call her Abby 99% of the time. Tension arises when Harper reveals her family doesn’t know she’s a lesbian and Abby will have to pose as her roommate until Harper feels comfortable coming out.

Hiding their relationship leads to what doesn’t rise to the level of antics, but is still well outside recognizable human behavior. There are the routine misunderstandings, awkward dinners, and close calls. The one interesting detail of the plot is that Harper’s parents aren’t bible-thumpers. Her father (Victor Garber) is running for mayor, and though his speeches include vague references to “family values,” Harper’s reluctance is due to fear of hindering his campaign rather than offending his moral convictions. When everything inevitably comes out, it turns out Harper’s two sisters also feel stifled by their father’s insistence on projecting an image of a perfect family. It’s about overbearing parenting rather than bigotry.

That doesn’t let the movie off the hook. A parent you were justifiably worried about coming out to wouldn’t have a change of heart overnight. The audience for Happiest Season wouldn’t have it another way. They’re the type to make sure romance stories have the HEA tag before jumping in. They want a cozy visit to a world where any relationship can be mended with a heartfelt speech. You may question then why I chose to watch this. I have no one to blame except myself, since the trailer was clear about what was in store. My judgment was clouded by the fact that not only does Kristen Stewart play a lesbian, but so does Aubrey Plaza. There was a chance the movie could save me the trouble of writing a hot fan fiction.

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Christmas Will Not Be Instagrammed

Jon Gabriel, Ed.
Jon Gabriel, Ed.
910
 

Five days before Christmas, I finally recovered. After coughing, wheezing, and hurling my way through a month of whatever plague spread across the country, it was finally time to decorate the house for the holidays.

First up: hit the local church lot and buy our belated Christmas tree. My teen daughters tagged along, but I insisted Dad was going to make the final decision.

I’m the breadwinner. The paterfamilias. The big guy who makes the important calls. And what’s more important than a photogenic pine I can upload to Instagram and impress people I’ll never meet?

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Member Post

FridayNightEcon
FridayNightEcon
2812
 

First, my disclaimer: As a Christian, Christ should be the fount and goal of all of our lives, and certainly of Christmas. Most Christmas media omit that, sadly. Yet I am glad when Christian virtues, which I believe all depend on Him and His presence in our world, are celebrated. So I rejoice in both […]
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What's Bugging Me

A Kevlar Christmas

02
Hosted by Dennis Kneale

Up this week from Dennis Kneale: Why are the media still ignoring #TheTwitterFiles? And… Silicon Valley sage Vikek Wadhwa accuses The New York Times and The Washington Post of telling lies in Kashmir, and best-selling author Natalie Pace on her life as a nomadic journalist..

Plus this: you think your Christmas dinner might get awkward? Hold Dennis’ beer: Our host must decide whether to sit down to supper with a person who recently was thinking of killing him—and this person owns six guns.

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The Dave Carter Show #33

A Christmas Show with Roman Genn & Ricochet VIPs

45
With guests Jenna Stocker, Rob Long, Roman Genn & Troy Senik

This year, Christmas finds Ricochet’s own Dave Carter enjoying life in Florida while savoring the memories of holidays on the bayou in his home state of Louisiana. Whether it’s childhood memories with his grandparents and great grandparents at Christmas, or stories of life in uniform, life on the road, or life in retail, Dave brings you center stage where you will experience events with him.

Roman Genn, whose extraordinary art regularly graces the covers of National Review, along with the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, the Library of Congress and the White House (to name only a few), joins Dave for a conversation that spans the globe. Born in Moscow, Roman’s political cartoons achieved a level of notoriety in the Soviet Union that resulted in his needing to leave the Workers’ Paradise and move to the United States in 1991. Informed by the perspectives of one who witnessed the machinations of a totalitarian state up close and personal, Roman has some thoughts to share on the Russian invasion of Ukraine that you may find arresting to say the least.  Oh yes, and you won’t want to miss Roman’s description of Christmas in Soviet Russia.

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Three Martini Lunch

Youngkin’s Ambitious Agenda, SCOTUS Stays Title 42, Christmas Die Hards

12
Hosted by Greg Corombos & Jim Geraghty

Join Jim and Greg as they discuss only good things today! First, Jim describes his wide-ranging interview with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin about his plans for the coming year, what issues matter most, and whether he’s thinking about running for president. They also welcome the Supreme Court issuing a temporary stay that keeps the “Remain in Mexico” policy in place until a formal decision is in place. Finally, they dive into why “Die Hard” is obviously a Christmas movie and share other thoughts about what makes it such a great film.

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Member Post

Qoumidan
Qoumidan
3013840
 

My Mother gave me a piece of furniture that used to belong to my paternal grandfather.  I am like her in that I have trouble disassociating items with people and assign too much sentimental value to inanimate objects.   She kept it in her garage piled with junk until one weekend I took my two oldest […]
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Christmas Trivia

David Pettus
David Pettus
54
 

Okay, let’s imagine that it’s the Christmas season and you want to write something that’s Christmassy (or Christmasy, or Christmasie, or…). Well, something with more of a yule flavor to it. So what do you do?

I went to Sunday School.

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Anna and the Barren Woman

Amy Schley, Longcat Shrinker
Amy Schley, Longcat Shrinker
10101557
 

Christmas is a tough time to be a barren woman. It’s a season of family gatherings, where sights of happy children and excited parents bring as much envy as the sight of grandparents delighted at one’s nieces and nephews brings guilt. There are the traditional Nativity pageants and the ubiquitous ads, commercials, specials, and movies all showing the Christmas spirit through the eyes of children and parents. And of course, there’s the reason for the season, in which a virgin manages what I, coming up on my twentieth wedding anniversary, cannot.

Which is why I find the story of Anna at Christ’s presentation at the Temple so meaningful. She was a widow and prophetess from the tribe of Asher. Her heritage is an important detail — the tribe of Asher was one of the wealthier tribes, and we see in her life the truth that a prosperous background is no guarantee of the “good life.” (In fact, she is the only prophet, male or female, known to be of Asher. There’s certainly a whole essay to be written on that observation.) Married only seven years of her 84, she undoubtedly spent half a century as a barren widow, one of the most lowly and pitiable positions possible in that time and place.

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A Beautiful and Important Christmas Message from France

Kelly D Johnston
Kelly D Johnston
771622
 

Eric Zammour/Getty Images

You’re forgiven if you’ve not heard of Eric Zammour. Head of the new “Reconquest” party, he’s polling around 14% currently in France’s 2022 presidential election. He’s often compared to Donald Trump (not kindly and not very accurately) since they seem to share the same general views on immigration – arguably an even bigger issue in France than in the United States. The proportion of America’s population (328 million) that is foreign-born (about 45 million, or 13.7 percent) is larger than France’s (a population of about 60 million with about 5.9 percent that is foreign-born).

Zammour is a proud French nationalist and ardent defender of Western Civilization. The left-wing media tags him as “far-right.” Funny, they never tag anyone as “far-left.” His Christmas message indicates suggests that he subscribes to French Exceptionalism, but it should inspire the citizens of any country that embraces our divine rights of life and liberty (see: Declaration of Independence). Americans, as Barack Obama suggested, are not the world’s only exceptional nation, even if he utterly and embarrassingly failed to grasp what made America truly exceptional.

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St. John Chrysostom on Christmas

Jon Gabriel, Ed.
Jon Gabriel, Ed.
66
 

I behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn.
The Angels sing!
The Archangels blend their voices in harmony!
The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise!
The Seraphim exalt His glory!

All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side the Sun of Justice.

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A Rush Listener Remembers

PostalSage
PostalSage
18111817
 

On Wednesday morning, Feb. 17, 2021, I remember turning on the radio to listen to “The Rush Limbaugh Show.” My wife was with me, and when she heard Rush’s wife, Kathryn’s, voice, she grabbed my hand and started to cry. Instinctively, she knew the news Kathryn was about to impart. I believe I was in denial, as I tried to reassure my wife that Kathryn was on to let Rush’s listeners know about his health status. It had been awhile since he had hosted his show, and I just knew his cancer treatments were taking a toll but that he would be back soon. To my dismay, my wife was correct.

Even though I knew that day would come, you can never prepare for such gut-wrenching news. In my world, “The Rush Limbaugh Show” was an almost daily occurrence. I counted on his wisdom and wit to help me repel the liberal, biased media bombardment conservatives endure. I took it for granted that he would always be there, advocating for traditional American values, shining light into the darkness and deceit in which liberals and progressives operate. With all the obstacles he overcame during his career and life, surely he could beat back his cancer. But God had other plans. His talent he loaned Rush was now due, and in God’s infinite wisdom, it was time for Rush to come home.

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Member Post

Manny
Manny
35207
 

Of course Christmas is an international holiday, and so it is. At one time the Puritans did try to turn Christmas festivities into a dour fast. We think of the Puritans as those pilgrims who celebrated Thanksgiving with the Indians, but festivities were not the Puritans strong suit. Once they took power in in 17th […]
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