Christmas Day 2021: Take Joy!

There is nothing I can give you, which you have not; But there is much, very much, that while I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within reach, is joy. There is a radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see, and to see we have only to look. I beseech you to look. Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly, or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel's hand that brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me that angel's hand is there; the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing presence. Our joys too: be not content with them as joys. They, too, conceal diviner gifts. And so, at this time, I greet you. Not quite as the world sends greetings, but with profound esteem and with the prayer that for you now and forever, the day breaks, and the shadows flee away.

--Fra Giovanni, 1513 

December 24 2021: Midnight

And then at midnight, the priest comes out from behind the screen, and whispers to the person standing there; who passes the news on in a whisper, which spreads like flame in dry grass, like ripples across water, through the expectant crowd: 

 
"Christ is born.

Christ is born.

Christ is born."







Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
"Now they are all on their knees,"
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in hearthside ease.

We pictured the meek mild creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen,
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling then.

So fair a fancy few would weave
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve,
"Come; see the oxen kneel

"In the lonely barton by yonder coomb
Our childhood used to know,"
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.

--Thomas Hardy

Christmas Eve 2021

I. Organ Prelude

II. Adeste Fidelis

III. Invocation

IV. Gloria, Mozart

V. Hymn

VI. Scripture St. Luke 1:5-45

THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. 23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible. 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

VII. Magnificat (St. Luke I:46-55)

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;

55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

VIII. Scripture St. Luke 1:56-67

And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

57 Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.

59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. 64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. 66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying

IX. Benedictus (St. Luke 1:68-79)

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

X. Scripture St. Luke 1: 80; 2: 1-9

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 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.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 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.

XI. Annunciato Angeli (St. Luke 2:10-12)

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

XII. Scripture St. Luke 2:13

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

XIII. Gloria (St. Luke 2: 14)

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

XIV. Scripture St. Luke 2:15-28

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. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; 23 (As it is written in the law of the LORD, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

XV. Nunc Dimmitis (St. Luke 2:29-32)

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

VI. Scripture St. Luke 2:33-40

And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. 40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

XVII. Gloria Patri

XVIII. Apostle's Creed

XIX. Collect and Festival Prayer

XX. Hymn

XXI. Epistle

XXII. Offertory

XXIII. Lord's Prayer

XXIV. Te Deum Laudamus

XXV. Benediction

XXVI. Postlude

 I have never thought of Christmas Eve as a time for a sermon.  Putting the sermon at the center of every worship service is a very Protestant idea, but even Protestants love the Service of Lessons and Carols of the Anglican Communion, and it eschews a sermon in favor of almost sola scriptura.  And there's the Lutheran v. Reformed split in Protestantism all over again:  the emphasis on liturgy in worship, v. the emphasis on the intellectual presence of God's word.  I stand uneasily with a leg in both camps, and whenever I led a Christmas Eve service I found it hard at first, and then easier later, to leave the sermon out.  But tonight....

This is what we have stayed awake for; and probably we will be asleep again when it happens.  This is what we were supposed to go out into the dark for; and probably we will stay with the sheep and attribute the angel's song to too much wine and too many late nights.  We will stay in and stare at the lights of in our house rather than at the lights in God's sky, and we will miss the notice, busy as we will be worshiping the work of our own hands.  Even if we saw the star, even if we recognized it, would we set out, leave everything behind, find out what it meant, discover the new king, we who don't believe in kings at all anymore?  Would we fall down and worship, would we seek the home in Bethlehem, the feeding trough in the home invaded by smelly shepherds coming late at night to tell us what they heard, sounding drunk and foolish and illiterate and not at all the right sort of people to be there.

Would we be the right sort of people?  Would we feel comfortable with the peasants in Bethlehem?  Would we wonder if we should have brought a gift, standing with the magi and their treasures?  Or would we just stay home, and stay asleep while wide awake.  If Joseph had not slept, would he have dreamed?  If we dreamed like Joseph, would we listen?  Or sleep in later that morning?

Christmas was once a public spectacle.  It still is for some churches:  word of the birth of the Christchild, of the first miracle of Christianity, is whispered from worshiper to worshiper at midnight.  Do we even bother to go out at midnight?  Isn't it too late, too cold, too much trouble?  We know how the service ends, do we really need to see it again?  Do we go to church on Christmas Day, even if Christmas comes on a Sunday?  Or do we stay home?  Isn't staying home easier?  Isn't staying asleep while wide awake easier still?

This time, for this occasion, we should wake up!  We should be fully awake!  We should run to the manger for the chance to see.  We should join our friends, not just our family, in worship and praise!  Christmas was once a public event, a spectacle, even.  The Puritans in England and then New England condemned it because it was kept in drunkenness and revelry, but at least it was still kept publicly!  Today Christmas is a family affair, a private matter, set around a tree and decorated with wrapping paper, or it is a failure and we despair.  Christmas is a time to be sad that you are alone, when the message of the gospels is that you are not alone, that none of us are alone, that each of us is our brother's keeper, our sister's friend, that there is nothing we need more surely and completely than each other.  What madness is it that we divide ourselves into units at this very time of year when we should be opening our doors to everyone, playing host to the world as we like to think we would have hosted the Holy Family so many centuries ago? It is Los Posados played all over again, a metaphor for our times.  We are all inn keepers, and none of us have any room for those we don't know.

So this Christmas take joy, and let your spirit walk out among your fellow men, and take the spirit and the season and even the reason for the season out to those you don't know, out to those you don't see, out to those whose cries you never hear.  Make this a Christmas you will remember, by remembering them.  Honor the journeys of Christmas, of the Holy Family, of the Magi, of the shepherds, by making a journey of your own.  It will take you to a strange and new and wondrous place.  Glory to God in the highest!

Amen.


The service is from the Evangelical and Reformed Hymnal.

Xmas Eve Follies

Food To Leave Out For God On Christmas Eve https://t.co/6fcK4HAgbp pic.twitter.com/P4t7GjdNU4

— The Onion (@TheOnion) December 23, 2021

One last trip to the grocery store.

New Study Finds Humans May Have Some Capacity For Compassion https://t.co/KCXQhbKrbV pic.twitter.com/b0zLF1TDkO

— The Onion (@TheOnion) December 23, 2021

Lawyers almost certainly not included.

Lawyer Explains That Just Because You Accidentally Kill Santa Doesn't Mean You’re Legally Obligated To Take His Place: https://t.co/Y0Zj3KjDr2 pic.twitter.com/zTnvGXjcY2

— The Onion (@TheOnion) December 22, 2021

Who would have standing to bring the wrongful death suit? Opinions differ, since it would be a case of first impression.

Christmas Eve 2021

We know from our studies of primitive cultures that trees remaining green in the winter have long suggested special godlike power....As Christianity supplanted older, pagan religions, the decorating of evergreens continued in various parts of northern Europe on many special occasions....The Roman Catholic church frequently banned or otherwise tried to discourage the use of the evergreen, but the age-old custom remained so deeply ingrained in the German culture that the tree eventually became transformed into a Christian symbol.

Although the veneration of the evergreen is firmly rooted in pre-Christian traditions, the Christmas tree has two interesting Christian traditions behind it.  During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries evergreens with apples hung from their boughs were know to have played an important role in the miracle plays presented in our outside churches on the twenty-fourth of December....In the early church calendar of saints December 24 was Adam and Eve's Day, the occasion for a play depicting the dramatic events concerning the fruit tree in the Garden of Eden.  In many cities, before the performance the actors paraded through the streets with the actor who would portray Adam carrying the "Paradise tree." In place of the winter-bare branches of a real apple tree, an evergreen decorated with apples was the usual substitute.  Since this tree was the only prop on the stage during the play, the image left a lasting impression associated with Christmas long after the medieval plays were no longer performed.  By the seventeenth century evergreens hung with apples were no longer considered strictly trees of temptation and were traditionally decorated each Christmas, though as late as the latter part of the nineteenth century people in northern Germany still bought little figures of Adam and Eve and the serpent to put on their "Tree of Life."

The Christmas tree also has Christian associations as old as the tenth century that link it to flowering or fruit-bearing trees rather than to the evergreen.  Throughout Europe there are records and folk tales concerning trees and bushes that mysteriously burst into bloom on Christmas Eve or Day.  Beginning in the sixteenth century references indicate that many Germans cut cherry and other flowering branches and took them into their homes on St. Andrew's Day (November 30). The branches were put in water in a warm room and "forced" in the hope of obtaining blooms in time for Christmas.

The oldest Christmas tree to be decorated standing in a parlor as we know the tradition today is described in a fragment of a 1602 travel diary left us by an unidentified visitor to Strasbourg.  The writer tells of fir trees set up and hung with paper roses of many different colors and with apples, flat wafers, gilded candies, and sugar. In early Christian art the rose was a symbol for the Virgin Mary, and the flat wafers are obviously related to the "host," the communion symbol for Christ. A tree decorated with such wafers or cookies with religious designs became known as a Christbaum.  By the seventeenth century, then, the age old, winter-defying evergreen was a common sight in Christian homes honoring the Christ Child each Christmas.

--Philip V. Snyder

Christmas Eve 2021: Morning Praise

 O God, open my lips,/and my mouth will declare your praise.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Antiphon:  No ear has heard, no eye has seen any other good act like this for those who trust.

Psalm 51

Have mercy, tender God,

forget that I defied you.

Wash away my sin,

cleanse me from my guilt.

I know my evil well,

it stares me in the face,

evil done to you alone

before your very eyes.

How right your condemnation!

Your verdict clearly just!

You see me for what I am,

a sinner before my birth.

You love those centered in truth;

teach me your hidden wisdom.

Wash me with fresh water,

wash me bright as snow.

Fill me with happy songs,

let the bones you bruised now dance.

Shut my eyes on my sin,

make my guilt disappear.

Creator, reshape my heart,

God, steady my spirit.

Do not cast me aside

stripped of your holy spirit.

Save me, bring back my joy,

support me, strenghten my will.

Then I will teach your way

and sinners will turn to you.

Help me, stop my tears,

and I will sing your goodness.

Lord, give me words

and I will shout your praise.

When I offer a holocaust,

the gift does not please you.

So I offer my shattered spirit;

a changed heart you welcome.

In your love make Zion lovely,

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Then sacrifice will please you,

young bulls upon your altar.

[silent reflection]

Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

    the world, and all who live in it;

for he founded it on the seas

    and established it on the waters.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?

    Who may stand in his holy place?

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,

    who does not trust in an idol

    or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the Lord

    and vindication from God their Savior.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

    who seek your face, God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, you gates;

    be lifted up, you ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

    The Lord strong and mighty,

    the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, you gates;

    lift them up, you ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory?

    The Lord Almighty—

    he is the King of glory.

[silent reflection]

Psalm 92

How good to thank you, Lord

to praise your name, Most High,

to sing your love at dawn,

your faithfulness at dusk

with sound of lyre and harp,

with music of the lute.

For your work brings delight,

your deeds invite song.

I marvel at what you do.

Lord, how deep your thought!

Fools do no grasp this

nor the senseless understand.

Scoundrels spring up like grass,

flourish and quickly wither.

You, Lord, stand firm for ever.

See your your enemies perish,

scattered to the winds,

while you give me brute strength

pouring rich oil upon me.

I have faced my enemies,

heard them plot against me.

The just grow tall like palm trees,

majestic like the cedars of Lebanon.

They are planted in the temple's courts

and flourish in God's house,

green and heavy with fruit

even in old age.

Proclaim that God is just,

my rock without a fault.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Antiphon:  No ear has heard, no eye has seen any other good act like this for those who trust.

Reading                                                                                      Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Of course you can't help thinking of my being in prison over Christmas, and it is bound to throw a shadow over the few hours of happiness which still await you in these times. All I can do to help is to assure you that I know you will keep it in the same spirit as I do, for we are agreed on how Christmas ought to be kept.  How could it be otherwise when my attitude to Christmas is a heritage I owe to you? I need not tell you how much I long to be released and to see you all again.  But for years you have given us such lovely Christmases, that our grateful memories are strong enough to cast their rays over a darker one.  In times like these we learn as never before what it means to possess a past and a spiritual heritage untrammeled by the changes and chances of the present.  A spiritual heritage reaching back for centuries is a wonderful support and comfort in face of all temporary stresses and strains. I believe that the man who is aware of such reserves of power need not be ashamed of the tender feelings evoked by the memory of a rich and noble past, for such feelings belong in  my opinion to the better and nobler part of humankind.  They will not overwhelm those who hold fast to values of which no one can deprive them.

For a Christian there is nothing peculiarly difficult about Christmas in a prison cell.  I daresay it will have more meaning and will be observed with greater sincerity here in this prison than in places where all that survives of the feast is its name. That misery, suffering, poverty, loneliness, helplessness and guilt look very different to the eyes of God from what they do to man, that God should come down to the very place which men usually abhor, that Christ was born in a stable because there was no room for him in the inn--these are things which a prisoner can understand better than anyone else. For the prisoner the Christmas story is glad tidings in a very real sense. And that faith gives the prisoner a part in the communion of saints, a fellowship transcending the bounds of time and space and reducing the months to confinement here to insignificance.

On Christmas Eve I shall be thinking of you all very much, and I want you to believe that I too shall have a few hours of real joy and that I am not allowing my troubles to get the better of me....

It will certainly be a quiet Christmas for everybody, and the children will look back on it for long afterwards.  But for the first time, perhaps, many will learn the true meaning of Christmas.

Letter to his parents, December 17, 1943

[silent reflection]

Benedictus Antiphon

God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

BENEDICTUS

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

who shepherds the people and sets them free.

God raises from David's house

a child with power to save.

Through the holy prophets

God promised in ages past

to save us from enemy hands,

from the grip of all who hate us.

The Lord favored our ancestors

recalling the sacred covenant,

the pledge to our ancestor Abraham,

to free us from our enemies,

so we might worship without fear

and be holy and just all our days.

And you, child, will be called

Prophet of the Most High,

for you will come to prepare

a pathway for the Lord

by teaching the people salvation

through forgiveness of their sin.

Out of God's deepest mercy

a dawn will come from on hight,

light for those shadowed by death,

a guide for our feet on the way to peace.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

[Repeat Benedictus antiphon]

Our Father....

Source of mercy, the life and death of your Son are our hope of salvation.  Pour the refreshing waters of your love over us.  Cleanse our hearts, forgive our failings, and renew our zeal for you as we continue in our conversion throughout our lives.  We ask this through Christ our Savior and your Holy Spirit.  Amen.

May God bless us and keep us. May God smile upon us and be gracious to us. May God look upon us kindly, and give us peace. Amen.

Let us bless God/and give thanks.

Delay Is A Retired Congressman From Texas

The relief Trump needs from #SCOTUS is an emergency injunction against the Archivist. Such relief requires that his right to relief be "indisputably clear."

But page 1 of the application notes that Trump's appeal "presents a matter of first impression."https://t.co/TM5TSPSd56 https://t.co/kElsLyY8YV pic.twitter.com/bGzP02uedc

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) December 23, 2021

Not to be confused with a legal strategy.

Fourth Thursday of Advent 2021

Micah 4:6-8

6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will gather the lame;

    I will assemble the exiles

    and those I have brought to grief.

7 I will make the lame my remnant,

    those driven away a strong nation.

The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion

    from that day and forever.

8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,

    stronghold[a] of Daughter Zion,

the former dominion will be restored to you;

    kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.”

2 Peter 1:16-21

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[a] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Christ climbed down

from His bare Tree

this year

and ran away to where

there were no rootless Christmas trees

hung with candycanes and breakable stars

Christ climbed down

from His bare Tree

this year

and ran away to where

there were no gilded Christmas trees

and no tinsel Christmas trees

and no tinfoil Christmas trees

and no pink plastic Christmas trees

and no gold Christmas trees

and no black Christmas trees

and no powderblue Christmas trees

hung with electric candles

and encircled by tin electric trains

and clever cornball relatives

Christ climbed down

from His bare Tree

this year

and ran away to where

no intrepid Bible salesmen

covered the territory

in two-tone cadillacs

and where no Sears Roebuck creches

complete with plastic babe in manger

arrived by parcel post

the babe by special delivery

and where no televised Wise Men

praised the Lord Calvert Whiskey

Christ climbed down

from His bare Tree

this year

and ran away to where

no fat handshaking stranger

in a red flannel suit

and a fake white beard

went around passing himself off

as some sort of North Pole saint

crossing the desert to Bethlehem

Pennsylvania

in a Volkswagen sled

drawn by rollicking Adirondack reindeer

and German names

and bearing sacks of Humble Gifts

from Saks Fifth Avenue

for everybody's imagined Christ child

Christ climbed down

from His bare Tree

this year

and ran away to where

no Bing Crosby carollers

groaned of a tight Christmas

and where no Radio City angels

iceskated wingless

thru a winter wonderland

into a jinglebell heaven

daily at 8:30

with Midnight Mass matinees

Christ climbed down

from His bare Tree

this year

and softly stole away into

some anonymous Mary's womb again

where in the darkest night

of everybody's anonymous soul

He awaits again

an unimaginable

and impossibly

Immaculate Reconception

the very craziest of

Second Comings

--Lawrence Ferlinghetti

MAGNIFICAT ANTIPHON: 

O Emmanuel, ruler and lawgiver, desire of the nations, savior of all people; Come and set us free, Lord our God.

MAGNIFICAT 

I acclaim the greatness of the Lord,

I delight in God my Savior,

who regarded my humble state.

Truly from this day on

all ages will call me blest.

For God, wonderful in power,

has used that strength for me.

Holy the name of the Lord!

whose mercy embraces the faithful,

one generation to the next,.

The mighty arm of God

scatters the proud in their conceit,

pulls tyrants from their thrones,

and raises up the humble.

The Lord fills the starving

and lets the rich go hungry.

God rescues lowly Israel,

recalling the promise of mercy,

the promise made to our ancestors,

to Abraham's heirs for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Our Father...

Generous God, help us to live in unity and generosity.  May our possessions not dominate our lives.  May we rejoice when needing little and be humbled by our weakness when wanting more. Gather all people together into you, our triune God, forever and ever.   Amen.

May God bless us, deliver us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.

Let us bless God/and give thanks.  

What Is Christmas Without Music?

The best music is over here:

http://zthoughtcriminal.blogspot.com/2021/12/magnificat-znamenny-chant.html

magnificat-serbian-melody-tone-2.html

heinrich-schutz-deutsches-magnificat.html

http://zthoughtcriminal.blogspot.com/2021/12/heinrich-schutz-das-wort-ward-fleisch.html

http://zthoughtcriminal.blogspot.com/2021/12/william-mathias-magnificat.html

i-cant-resist-posting-this-setting.html

Yes, Truly

.@SteveSchmidtSES: Even if Trump is on the ballot in 2024, "he's not the issue in the election. The issue is us. The American people. ... Do we want this? Because there's nothing new to learn about Donald Trump."#LastWord pic.twitter.com/UkVSGSBivI

— The Last Word (@TheLastWord) December 22, 2021

If Trump runs in 2024, he’ll run in one issue: 2020. It’s all he’s talking about now, and all he’ll talk about until he loses the nomination or the election. And as Steve Schmidt properly says: there is no new lie Trump can tell.

My only disagreement with Schmidt is in his call for the nation to repudiate Trump and the chaos he offers. The legal system is doing that, by delivering justice. The Congress is moving to find the evidence the DOJ can use for prosecutions.  Can Trump be brought to trial? The question is not whether AG Garland has the mettle, but whether the prosecution has a case. There is neither strength nor success in bringing a criminal case you cannot win. But if there is a case that can be won…

Trump’s life is behind him, now. All he can talk about is the past. His campaign will be to reset the past he can’t live with. But the rest of us can.

Consider the criminals of January 6th. Trump has abandoned them, and even they know it. No one is coming to their aid. No one is building statues to them, throwing parades for them, not even raising money for them. They have been rejected by the country, repudiated by the public, judged to be getting their just desserts. There is no majority in the country in favor of them.

A consensus demanding accountability? And how is that consensus announced except through our elected representatives, all of whom were elected before January 6th? How is that consensus enacted except through the justice system?  That’s what the Committee is after: criminal referrals to the DOJ. That’s what the courts are enacting right now, one criminal sentence at a time. Justice is coming. Like the mills of God, justice may grind slowly, but it grinds exceeding fine.

Democracy is not in danger. The enemies of democracy are. All the lies have been told; and they have failed. There are no new lies they can tell. The liars have nothing more to look forward to than more and more failures. We have our consensus. They will be held accountable.

I Would Despair....

“Tut tut, hmm, yes, arguably this bill is less than ideal, but let us continue to focus on how terrible CRT is and what a real threat it is.” https://t.co/pOiUvA3n7f

— JeSuisJortsHat (@Popehat) December 22, 2021

...but I've encountered the knowledge of history the average non-Harvard bound (or UT-bound, for that matter) student brings from public school education and, honestly, they can't get much more ignorant than they already are.

Besides, it's not like the history proposed to be taught by this law is not the history I grew up with.  No, it shouldn't be now, nor should it have been then.  But I find it hard to say the world is now coming to an end, when it didn't when I was a kid.

Oh Sarah. They're not objecting to teaching history; they just want to make sure that it's taught in a way that the people in power think is objective and accurate, and not tainted by ideology they don't like. https://t.co/4ZlgLMdmtc

— JeSuisJortsHat (@Popehat) December 22, 2021

I'm old enough to remember when "revisionist history" was the dirtiest word a conservative could utter, because it meant history was no longer about how America was a bright shining city on the hill whose every act was virtuous and every effort a blessing from God, world without end, Amen. Cowboy movie history, in other words, blessed by St. Ronnie and John Wayne the Divine. That was despite Dee Brown teaching us how we actually treated the natives who were here first. Movies were better. Lies usually are.

The whole thing just sucks, but it always has.  Then again, our national racism/protect-white-people-at-all-costs sentiments are clear for all to see.

And frankly, that's something.

But…But…But…Inflation!

It’s almost like — and stay with me here — gas prices go up and down and we shouldn’t freak out over it https://t.co/iqluk7FoQK

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 22, 2021

And the shipping crisis that’s going to ruin Xmas!

pic.twitter.com/Gl7gIVamlM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 22, 2021

Alright, now I accept that something’s gone horribly wrong.

The AARP is trying to sell me the new Neil Young album and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) December 23, 2021

And in (sorta) related news:

Inside the nonstop campaign from Trump allies to force secretaries of state to revisit the 2020 results, complete with details of meetings, leaked audio & more. Trump spokeswoman says he supports their efforts. w/@AmyEGardner @emmersbrown: https://t.co/DKn34uRns4

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) December 22, 2021

And how’s that going in Texas?

Texas’ attorney general pursued criminal charges against how the Travis County elections chief performed her duties last year. But a grand jury threw out the case. https://t.co/1cgLWUg2o1

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 21, 2021

Texas passed a law to criminalize behavior regarding the conduct of elections. They meant to get at “fraud “ by public officials, and gave Paxton the power to enforce it. First a grand jury wouldn’t go along with him: then, in another case Paxton brought, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw the law out for violating the Texas Constitution. Which means it’s over.  In Texas, Trump’s efforts have failed. The legal system is shutting him out, one case at a time.

Besides, Trump also got vaccinated; and got the booster.

The casualness which which he says “had we won the election” speaks volumes https://t.co/dkcBEg6uul

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 23, 2021

He really is running out of lies.

Fourth Wednesday of Advent 2021

Luke 1:46-55

46 And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has been mindful

    of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

    holy is his name.

50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,

    from generation to generation.

51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones

    but has lifted up the humble.

53 He has filled the hungry with good things

    but has sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

    remembering to be merciful

55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,

    just as he promised our ancestors.”

Micah 4:1-5

4 In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established

    as the highest of the mountains;

it will be exalted above the hills,

    and peoples will stream to it.

2 Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

    to the temple of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways,

    so that we may walk in his paths.”

The law will go out from Zion,

    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3 He will judge between many peoples

    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

    and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

    nor will they train for war anymore.

4 Everyone will sit under their own vine

    and under their own fig tree,

and no one will make them afraid,

    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.

5 All the nations may walk

    in the name of their gods,

but we will walk in the name of the Lord

    our God for ever and ever.

Ephesians 2:11-22

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.  Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing, every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.  The sap which course through the trees carries the memories of the red people.

The white people's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars.  Our dead never forget this beautiful earth for it is the mother of the red people. We are part of the earth and it is part of us.

The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices of the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and human beings--all belong to the same family.

For this land is sacred to us.  The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors.  If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my parent's parent.

The red people have always retreated before the advancing white people, as the mist of the mountains runs before the morning sun. But the ashes of our ancestors are sacred. Their graves are holy ground, and so these hills, these trees, this portion of the earth consecrated to us.

You must teach your children that the ground between their feet is the ashes of our ancestors.  So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother.  Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth.

This we know.  The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth. This we know: All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.  Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth. We do not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it.  Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

Even the white people, whose God walks and talks with them as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers and sisters after all; we shall see.  One thing we know, which the white people may one day discover--our God is the same God.

--Anonymous

MAGNIFICAT ANTIPHON: 

O Ruler of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart, O Keystone of the mighty arch of humankind: Come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.

MAGNIFICAT 

I acclaim the greatness of the Lord,

I delight in God my Savior,

who regarded my humble state.

Truly from this day on

all ages will call me blest.

For God, wonderful in power,

has used that strength for me.

Holy the name of the Lord!

whose mercy embraces the faithful,

one generation to the next,.

The mighty arm of God

scatters the proud in their conceit,

pulls tyrants from their thrones,

and raises up the humble.

The Lord fills the starving

and lets the rich go hungry.

God rescues lowly Israel,

recalling the promise of mercy,

the promise made to our ancestors,

to Abraham's heirs for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Our Father...

God our greatest joy, we rejoice that you call all peoples to live in peace and in happiness.  Teach us to trust you and each other that we might be free from worry and fear.  May we ever seek peace and pursue it, in your holy name, Creator, Redeemer, and Spirit.  Amen.

May God bless us, deliver us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.

Let us bless God/and give thanks. 

Did Jen Psaki Just Say...

Jen Psaki fires back after Fox News reporter accuses White House of 'bullying' Joe Manchin https://t.co/ICHk5WfSFj

— Raw Story (@RawStory) December 22, 2021

..."Fuck you, Joe"?

Manchin is on record blaming White House "staff" for angering him by putting out press statements.

"Is there sort of a shift in strategy since this all blew up over bullying?" Heinrich asked.

"I would tell you that Sen. Manchin is somebody who has won many tough fought fights in West Virginia," Psaki replied. "He comes proudly from a coal-mining family. He's a pretty outspoken advocate for the things he believes in and the things he doesn't."

"And I would doubt he's a withering flower on the side of the road," she added.

Sure sounds like it.

In related news, I don't need anything for Xmas.  My holiday is made. 🎅 

“Something Happening Here…”

In the first 10 months of this year, Amer­i­ca’s work­ers handed in nearly 39 mil­lion res­ig­na­tions, the high­est num­ber since track­ing be­gan in 2000. https://t.co/KlWy9sb0Nb

— Vivian Salama (@vmsalama) December 22, 2021

...what it is, is pretty damned clear in one sentence. The system is broken and 39 million are tired of making sacrifices to it.

Will we pay attention? Or turn away from it? I would describe this as a sickness of the soul; the national soul as a product of the action of individual souls. The souls that keep the system in place, can act for its reform, even its replacement. But if it isn’t recognized as reform? If the preservation of the system is more important than the souls?

“O machine! O machine!”

Maybe this is a crossroads. Or maybe just an opportunity to reaffirm our devotion to the machine, which will surely save us.

Surely.

Ideas don’t matter. Things don’t matter. People matter.

Really?

As bears repeating every time this happens, police violate constitutional rights by stopping anyone without probable cause.

There is no "gift giving" exception to the Fourth Amendment. https://t.co/IoKVZ8ar2h

— Scott Greenfield (@ScottGreenfield) December 22, 2021

So if a policeman stops me on the street to ask the time, he's violated my 4th Amendment rights? Or did he have probable cause that I had a working watch?

Either this is a really bad joke, or somebody's idea of "police stop" needs to be refined a bit.  There is a difference between stopping a car because you think a criminal violation has occurred, and stopping a car because you want to help. And from a Constitutional/legal point of view, until a court rules that traffic stops to hand out gift cards to people who seem to need them ("probable cause"?) IS a Fourth Amendment violation:  it isn't.

That's how the system works.

Remember The Voting Rights Act?

Georgia county to close all but one polling place in name of making voting 'easier and more accessible'https://t.co/yNSOIEr2jf

— Raw Story (@RawStory) December 22, 2021

That was a nice idea.

The 15th Amendment was never meant to apply to the states anyway, right?

Wait A Minute

hours after Biden credited Trump's admin for the development of the vaccines, this is the chyron on Fox pic.twitter.com/HctyEuazO2

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 22, 2021

'Surprised' Trump says he's 'very appreciative' Biden credited him for vaccineshttps://t.co/YYxZnO0prN

— Raw Story (@RawStory) December 22, 2021

Trump said that on FoxNews. And to put that in context:

Bill' O'Reilly is Trump's waifu pillow.

O’Reilly Had to Comfort Trump After Fans Booed Him https://t.co/Rf1lSQgF3a via @politicalwire

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) December 21, 2021

All the emotional maturity of a three-year old.

The Real Question Is: When Does The State Start Condemning Private Property?

New: Gov. Greg Abbott recently unveiled the first 900 feet of new border barrier.

Texas is still mum on where it plans to build other barriers, how many miles it can afford and how it’s going to acquire enough private land to fulfill Abbott's promise. https://t.co/NyqMRVJSWc

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 21, 2021

On Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled nearly 900 feet of newly constructed border barrier on state-owned land near the Rio Grande in Starr County, six months after he promised to finish what President Donald Trump started.

It was the first section of what’s expected to be a nearly 2-mile stretch of wall, and it followed a series of smaller-scale state attempts to block immigrants with chain-link fences, a row of shipping containers and even a boat blockade on the river.

But after the Trump administration managed to build just 21 miles of new border barrier on the 1,254-mile Texas-Mexico border over four years (and also replaced 34 miles of older barrier), the state hasn’t publicly disclosed some basic information about Abbott’s wall-building plans.

Texas has set aside $1.05 billion for border barriers but hasn’t revealed where it plans to build them, how much each mile will cost or how it’s addressing the challenge of acquiring enough private land to fulfill Abbott’s promise.

“We’re going to spend as much as it takes to build as much wall as we possibly can,” Abbott said at his Saturday press conference in Starr County.

The hustler running a three-card monte game is more honest than this. 

Beto O'Rourke is targeting Gov. Greg Abbott for vetoing legislation in June that sought to improve internet access in rural Texas. https://t.co/3GsYruNjyH

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 21, 2021

I know the border is supposed to be the only issue Texans care about, but I think that's only in very conservative circles in big-city Texas. Are they equally concerned with issues like internet access in rural areas? I kinda doubt it. And rural Texas might appreciate the attention:

This @JoshuaFechter story shows how the housing crunch in Texas isn't just affecting Austin, Dallas and Houston — it's spread to more rural areas of the state where renters and buyers struggle to find homes.https://t.co/rMFxOzal9C #txlege

— Lauren McGaughy 🌟 (@lmcgaughy) December 21, 2021

Meanwhile, good sense continues to lead the state to glory:

As the omicron variant of COVID-19 quickly spreads across the United States, public health experts fear that Texas’ health care system could once again be overwhelmed by the disease within weeks. https://t.co/SQCH2cN3pz

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 21, 2021

A federal appeals court reinstated the Biden administration’s mandate that larger companies require workers to get COVID-19 vaccines or be tested weekly.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says he’ll take the fight against that rule to the Supreme Court. https://t.co/DKFlVCcf5l

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 21, 2021

The push to ban books in Texas schools in spreading to public libraries as some see a growing number of complaints from local residents about the titles on their shelves. https://t.co/TLpYrwRPiA

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) December 21, 2021

Mostly local residents who couldn't find their local public library without Google and GPS.

Blue Christmas: 2021

What has this to do with the approach of Christmas, with Advent?  Everything.  If only because December does not stop the world from its actions until January.  If only because life is always and ever-present, even in the midst of our revels, or the preparation for our revels.

Originally:

Advent still preserved most of the characteristics of a penitential seasons which made it a kind of counterpart to Lent, the middle (or third) Sunday corresponding with Laetare or Mid-Lent Sunday. On it, as on Laetare Sunday, the organ and flowers, forbidden during the rest of the season, were, permitted to be used; rose-coloured vestments were allowed instead of purple (or black, as formerly).... Gaudete Sunday, therefore, makes a break...about midway through a season which is otherwise of a penitential character, and signifies the nearness of the Lord's coming.

Now Gaudete makes hardly a ripple in a season marked, secularly if not liturgically, by such a surfeit of rejoicing that a counterpart is sometimes required. The mystery of Advent is all but drowned in the anticipation of opening presents. Having the "perfect Christmas” must be recovered somehow, and part of that recovery is in identifying that Christmas does not come to us out of time, but precisely in time. And time involves memory, and memory, especially as we get older, involves the awareness of loss. More and more the loss becomes as much a part of Christmas, personally, as joy is supposed to be what Christmas means, socially. 

I used to offer a "Blue Christmas" service in Advent.  It was primarily liturgical, something that doesn't work on-line at all (in a blog or otherwise, IMHLiturgicalO). In lieu of that, I offer the following, a sort-of seasonal meditation that runs counter to the world's idea of the season, but only because the world's idea is narrow, and human experience is vast, it contains multitudes.

When someone dies, where do they go?

Somewhere?  Nowhere?  Anywhere?

It's the easiest thing in the world to insist the dead are merely and solemnly dead.  But it doesn't really say anything, to say it.  My mother died in December three years ago now. In the years since so many have died from Covid we've become numb to death; unless we knew someone personally.  We never become numb to the deaths of those we knew personally.  Even if they died of old age, or far from our reckoning, we remember them fondly, over time faintly, and we know there is a little hole in space, an empty chair or even an empty table, where they will gather with us no more. At my mother's burial my cousins came, and her one surviving brother who himself now suffers from Alzheimer's and had that week buried his wife.  At the restaurant, around a large table, the raucous crew of us (20 or more) reminded me of Christmases past, when we gathered as children and all the adults, now gone save one or two, were there.  I almost felt my mother present, wished she could see her extended family gathered in her memory.  It's another good memory to add to the ones I have of her family; but even as I remember it now, I want to cry a little.  Christmas is a happy time, but as you get older, Christmas is a sad time, too.

Christmas is not the time for burials, but one of the first I conducted was in the snows of December, in bitter cold.  And within two weeks of that funeral, I conducted my first Christmas services as a pastor.  I buried my favorite uncle, my father's best friend, the man who introduced him to my mother, his soon-to-be wife's twin.  I buried a good friend, years and years later, after I no longer had a church. It was my last official act as a pastor, long after I was "officially" a pastor.  Her name was Lucia.  I remember her every December, too.  Advent is a dark season, pierced only occassionally by the light.

I buried my mother in early December a week after her unexpected death. The day before that I saw her corpse at the funeral home.  Even our language betrays us, though:  "her corpse."  In what sense was it her possession?  Was it in any sense her?  If not, who was she?  If so, why is she "gone"?  Where did she "go"?  What does "dead" mean, anyway?

"Dead" basically means "inanimate."  As I tell my students, the difference between a sleeping person and a corpse is that we expect one of them to get up again.  "From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be," John Donne says, addressing death as if it were a person.  "Death's second self, which seals up all in rest," Shakespeare says of sleep.  The comparison is an old and apt one, but we know the difference, except when we don't.  Poe's stories of premature burials reflect an age when the concept of "coma" hadn't reached medical practitioners, much less the laity, yet people who seemed dead sometimes proved to be alive, and horror stories abounded of coffins (who disinterred them to check?) ripped by fingernails of corpses-who-weren't awaking underground and trying to get out.  Elaborate systems for opening crypts from the inside were sold, and burial above ground, for those who could afford it, became a growth industry.  Poe, as ever, knew his market.

But when we speak of the dead, we mean those for whom life has truly ceased.  But what does that mean, except the obvious?  Where does life "go"?  Why does it cease?  It does because that is the mortal experience, that's why.  Death results when the body is no longer able to sustain life functions. But what does that mean?  And why are life functions impaired to that degree?  My mother had severe diabetes, stage four kidney failure, cardiopathy, and toward the end contracted pneumonia, but was treated successfully for it.  Why was none of that, together or singly, enough to make her body "no longer able to sustain life functions?"  Because it wasn't, primarily.  But when it wasn't, why did the life stop?

All of our answers are circular.  And if the animating force can be passed from individuals to new individuals (babies), why can't it be restored?  What is it, that can be passed so particularly, but leave so easily?  Or with so much difficulty?  And who are "we"?  Our bodies?  Or are these bodies possessions we shuffle off like so many clothes?  If we are our bodies, did I bury my mother?  Or did I bury her body?  It was her; but it wasn't her.  My mother spoke to me, knew me, remembered me.  The corpse did none of that.  It didn't ask me for anything, offer me anything, demand or request anything.

It just lay there, like someone asleep.  But not asleep.  So, so clearly not asleep.

We are trapped in our dualism, whether we like it or not.  "Her corpse/body," we say.  Or we just say "her."  But it isn't her, anymore than her twin sister was her.  My brother found a picture of my parents on their wedding day, and joked that our Dad had married the wrong sister by mistake.  By the time we knew her our mother wore glasses; it was how we told her apart from our aunt.  My mother wore no glasses for her wedding pictures.  But our aunt was not our mother; we always knew that.  How did we know, because by sight they were the same?  By sight, it was my mother in that coffin.  But it wasn't; but it was.

Where did she go?  Nowhere?  Maybe, but what answer is that?  It is no better than death is a cessation of life functions.  Neither is an answer; both are just a dodge.  The truth is, we don't know.  All these years, centuries, millennia, and we still don't know.  We are still confronted, on a daily basis, by the mystery.  And our response is, still, dualism:  that is her.  Or, that is just her body.  Whose body?  Hers.  The person who is gone.  So a corpse is a rental, something still yours as if you were on vacation?  People used to stay with the corpse because it was unkind to leave the loved one alone at such a time.  They would stay up in shifts, for hours, around the clock, until the burial.  I understood that, in the funeral home.  My mother had been removed from the health care facility she was in before I could get there.  She was 250 miles away before I could travel to see her again, for the last time.  I sat in a room in the funeral home just to be with her again, to not leave her alone after so many days when she was only in the company of strangers.

Nowadays we want the dead removed as quickly as possible, and maybe even covered up, never to be seen again.  The health care center wanted no time lost removing my mother.  Death upsets us all; we don't want to be reminded of its reality.  I am impressed with the mortician's arts, the ability to make the dead look life-like, to preserve the flesh so it doesn't begin to decay until long after the crypt is sealed, the ground placed over it all.  But I know people who think an open coffin barbaric and morbid.  My brother didn't want to see his mother in the funeral home; the coffin was delivered closed and ready for the grave to the cemetery, where we said prayers for her, and for ourselves.  Who else are the prayers for, especially at such a time?  I spent time with her, the day before, in a room of the funeral home.  I was happy to; but I pondered whether it was my mother I was spending time with, or a corpse that looked the way she used to.  Or is that the way she will look forever?  Was the corpse her?  Or was she a ghost in the machine?  Whatever answer you think you have for that, it will still come back to dualism.  That my mother was simply a sum of "life functions" is a reductio ad absurdum none of us really apply to ourselves.  Do not be so glib or brave about death until you can answer the question:  "My death; it is possible?"  Because if you take that question seriously, it is not.  You cannot imagine your own self-extinguishment.  You may plan beyond your death; you can do nothing beyond your death.  You will imagine you can; but that's because you can't imagine a world truly without you, one in which you truly are not an observer, a note-taker, a respondent.  Consider any story where the dying are granted a vision of death, or a world where they no longer are.  Dickens got it right:  Scrooge was expunged from human compassion and consideration, reduced only to what he had owned, and a name on a piece of stone.  That vision chilled Ebenezer more than any other.  Your death; is it possible?  Ask the dead.  They have the answer.

But where are they, the dead?

Constantly, and without always being fully aware of it, we come across something that happens to us without recurring or belonging to us.  For instance, it could be the thing, not as something present-at-hand or subsistent, identical with its persistence (vorhanden), but handled straightaway as something that we have to-hand, without having it before our eyes (zuhanden), according to Heidegger's distinction.  It could be the difference between the object synthesized by apperception according to the a prior conditions of experience (and thus of its objects), on the one hand, and, on the other, the irreducible in-itself of the thing that is free not to appear according to our finite criteria, as distinguished by Kant.  Or, finally, it could be the gap between the thing understood and the infinite, the incomprehensibility of which is implied by formal reason, according to Descarte's distinction.  In each case, we undergo on a daily basis unavailability of that which is an exception to objectification, not as a distant domain, reserved for strange experiences, but in the daily and banal proximity of what happens to us without identifiable cause, without foreseeable reason, in a virginal contingency, banal and familiar.  In each event, we undergo this mode of happening, which requires nothing of anyone and above all no authorization from a transcendental I.  And this is especially so in the event that admits no precondition--neither the principal of contradiction, nor the principal of sufficient reason:  the gift.  We cannot deny this banal proximity, particularly as it puts into operation phenomena as close to us--closer to us than ourselves--as our birth and the paternity that engenders it.  This inevitable phenomenon is always already there.  A mode of knowledge--that of the object--that cannot do justice to it retains its legitimacy, but thus reveals its limit.  But it also loses all legitimacy if it does not recognize this limit--an epistemological limit, which attest more essentially to ontic finitude.  The object has value only as finite and in finitude, which, moreover, it presupposes without being able to conceive of it.  To conceive of our finitude thus demands that we no longer claim to know only objects, and that we allow for a knowledge without an object.

Jean-Luc Marion, Negative Certainties, tr. Stephen E. Lewis, The University of Chicago Press, 2015, p. 3

I cannot read that passage without thinking of death, and of the gift of death.  Or those last two lines, without thinking of the question:  "My death; is it possible?"  That is knowledge without an object, because how can we know the reality of our own death, without allowing for the reality we will not longer be an object?  Is that corpse ours?  In what possible sense?  But if it is not, are we merely ghosts in a machine?  Is that the "gap between the thing understood and the infinite...according to Descartes' distinction"?  And truly, what is more banal and in daily proximity to us than death?  "Memento mori."  "In the midst of life, we are in death."  My father's death was a surprise, but not quite as surprising as my mother's.  He was in some decline, but not from his heart (he was a surgical patient twice for his heart, and had a history of heart problems), and when his death was foretold, the prediction became reality within two weeks.  Looking back from that day, the day of death, the end became apparent, almost inevitable.  But until it happened, it seemed as distant and unknowable as a star.  My mother's death came in her sleep.  She was getting health care, but she was improving.  And then she passed (we could say "died."  One term is as meaningful and as meaningless as the other.)  Again, looking back, it is clear death was proximate for days; months; even years.  It was also as banal as a phone call early in the morning, when you know no good news comes, and how much of a cliche is that observation?  What could be more banal?  I am using Marion's language for my own purposes, but I'm not so sure I'm so far from what Marion meant.

"A mode of knowledge--that of the object--that cannot do justice to it retains its legitimacy, but reveals its limit."  Who did I know as my mother?  That body in the coffin?  That cold and now embalmed clay?  Was that her?  Was that not her?    What line do I draw, and where, and how?  She was not an object, but now the body is:  the body that I called my mother, even as I stood over the coffin to see that much of her that I could ever see, for the last time:  "The object has value only as finitude and in finitude...."  This is death as we literally see it.  "This inevitable phenomenon is always already there."  Memento mori.

"Life," the sage told the king, is a mystery. It is like a bird that flies into your hall out of the storm, and flies across the room, through the noise and the lights and the gaiety and above the crowd, and then flies out again, through the opposite window, back into the storm. And where it came from, and where it went, we do not know.

Christmas is coming. This is the time when we celebrate that very mystery, the mystery of life that inevitably leads to death, even for the one Christians call God Incarnate.  What marvel is this?  What miracle, that the Creator of the Universe knows our life so intimately, from birth to death, and everything in between?  What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul?  What light is this in the darkness?

May it be unto you according to your faith.