Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas to all......

Luke 2:1-20 (NIV): In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

2 comments:

Joltin' Django said...

Do you remember -- and I've tried to think of a way I could talk about this in a post on The Creeder -- when Nashville's Channel 5 regularly broadcast a Christmas commercial featuring scenes of trees 'n' ornaments ... and subtitles of "Merry Christmas" in a dozen-plus languages (with a horn-laden Christmas tune playing in the background)?!

You know, I remember the commercial in question airing during A Charley Brown Christmas, along with ads for Dolly Madison pastries! Hüsker dü? (That's Swedish for "Do you remember"; and it's also the name o' my very favorite band of all time.)

I imagine that a minute-long commercial featuring a "Merry Christmas" exhortation would spark all kinds of PC mischief-making in this day and age. And that's a damn shame, mainly 'cause I remember the commercial I've been talkin' about was a visual treasure ...

(Why must we continually accept the loss of such "visual treasures" just to placate lonely pissed-off fools and ACLU contingency lawyers? Perhaps Blogger's followers will tell us.)

Chris Martin said...

I remember that commercial. I liked it a lot. Every now and then Channel 5 Plus will dust off some of their old Christmas commercials. There's an animated one I like where a boy and girl are walking down a snow-covered street and are looking in store windows (candy shops, toy stores, etc). It ends with them looking into a darkened sky with a bright star. I like seeing those.