skip to main |
skip to sidebar
What child is this, who laid to rest,
on Mary's lap is sleeping?
Matthew 1:18-25 (King James Version)
“ When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. "
What child is this? A question that had to have echoed in Joesph’s mind.
Joseph was not exactly JOYFUL when his fiance told him she was PREGNANT! Not only that, but Mary kept saying that the baby’s father was the HOLY GHOST. All Joseph knew was that he had NOTHING to do with it.
Joseph’s life was at least, interrupted, and at worst, scandalized.
But Joseph was a decent man. So when he got this “terrible news” instead of publicly accusing Mary and having her STONED, which he could have done… Joseph decided to quietly divorce her. Wow! Such a simple, understated solution.
He could have ruined her and her family, he could have had her killed.
He was standing there while all his dreams of life with his wife were in ruins. But still, he decided to remove himself from what seemed to be an adulterous relationship. Compassion…
So, this decision having been made, Joseph retired to bed. But, his dreams were invaded by an ANGEL with a message:
“ Behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
Joseph woke up! Did God REALLY just send him direction or was it just a dream?
Joseph still had the power to choose. . We know the choice he made.....
“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife...
"And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.”
The father naming his child was very important at this time. It said something about the family lineage. In the Book of Matthew it says,
“This is the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham”. But when you read through it, notice how the genealogy ends: “and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called Messiah.”
This is Joseph’s family line, not Mary’s!
But Joseph is NOT Jesus’ dad.
Jesus is God’s Son! But, Jesus’ lineage is through Joseph not Mary. He would not be connected to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, if he were not connected to Joseph.
It is absolutely CRITICAL that Joseph accept Jesus as his son. When he names Jesus, Joseph claims him as his own and thus within his family's lineage. He raises him and teaches him. Jesus is the son of Joseph the Carpenter.
Jesus, like too many babies, was an unpleasant surprise for Joseph.
Baby Jesus challenged his concept of what his family would be. He was stuck raising a child that was not his, and, to add to the difficulties, Jesus was a SPECIAL child with needs and a future that was destined to be different.
That is what babies do…. they happen and challenge all of us. We get interrupted with this little human gift that isn’t always easy to receive. They demand that we change our lives and make different decisions. The challenge is not in receiving the gift we want but in accepting the gift we are given.
For Joseph, and for Mary, the existence of this baby might have been a terrible event. But Joseph made a choice. He kept Mary alive thus saving her child, he married her and gave that child his name. And the rest of this story unfolds because of that choice. He chose life. Had Joseph chosen differently the story would have had a very different ending.
As Christmas Eve approaches, and we celebrate the birth of this most Special Child, may we all turn around and, like Joseph, see with new eyes. May we recognize the gift and purpose of the tiny lives that are given us. May we grant them their RIGHT to interrupt, change, and surprise us with their existence in our world.
What child is this?
The word Wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon and Norse “'Ves heill” a toast meaning "be thou hale" or "be in good health". The tradition of wassailing is pre-Christian and far outdates the celebration of Christmas.
Lambswool was the traditional wassail drink used in the ceremony of blessing the ground around a home, farm or orchard.
Lambswool, or Lamb’s Wool, is either so called after the light colour and frothy appearance of the drink on the surface, or, it stems from being served at La mas ubal, that is, ‘The Day of the Apple Fruit’; and being pronounced lamasool, it was corrupted to Lambs Wool. It was an ale/cider mixed with spices and roasted apples.
The oldest ceremonies go back to Pagan times, seeking to start off the first stirrings of life in the land, and to help it emerge from winter – ensuring that the next season’s crop, (especially apples and pears in the orchard) would be bountiful. The purpose of Wassailing, in other words, is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits thus to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.
The ceremonies of each wassail varied from village to village but have core elements in common.
The most common date for this custom is Twelfth Night, the night of the 5th January, or on the ‘old’ 12th Night, January 17th – but it can vary as a tradition from one local area to the next, over the whole period of mid-winter.
A King and Queen of the Wassail led the proceedings, a song and/or a processional tune was played/sung from one orchard to the next, the wassail Queen was lifted up into the boughs of the tree where she placed toast that has been soaked in Wassail from the Clayen Cup (made of rosemary wood) as a gift the tree spirits and to show them the fruits of what they created the previous year.
Here we come a wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wandering
So fair to be seen.
Our wassail cup is made
Of the rosemary tree,
And so is your beer
Of the best barley.
Then an incantation was recited such as: "Here's to thee, old apple tree, That blooms well, bears well. Hats full, caps full, three bags full,……..
Or,… "Wassail the trees, that they may bear / You many a Plum and many a Pear: / For more or less fruits they will bring, / As you do give them Wassailing."
Then the assembled crowd sung, shouted, and banged drums, and made a terrible racket and they went to the next orchard .(This practice carried over to the modern day New Year's practice of making noise to welcome the new year)
In the middle ages it was a reciprocal exchange between the feudal lords and their peasants. A method of charitable giving , to be distinguished from begging. During this time the peasants could demand gifts of the lords.
This point is made in the song "Here We Come A-Wassailing", when the wassailers inform the lord of the house that:
We are not daily beggars
That beg from door to door,
But we are neighbours' children
Whom you have seen before.
Good Master and good Mistress,
As you sit by the fire,
Pray think of us poor children
Are wandering in the mire.
We have a little purse
Made of ratching (stretchable) leather skin;
We want some of your small change
To line it well within.
Call up the Butler of this house,
Put on his golden ring;
Let him bring us a glass of beer,
And the better we shall sing.
Bring us out a table,
And spread it with a cloth;
Bring us out a mouldy cheese,
And some of your Christmas loaf.
The lord of the manor would give food and drink to the peasants in exchange for their blessing and goodwill:
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too,
And God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
And God send you a happy New Year.
God bless the Master of this house,
Likewise the Mistress too;
And all the little children
That round the table go.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too
And God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
And God send you a happy New Year.
Wassailing is the background practice of the carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" :
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Wassailing, in practice, was often coercive. In early New England wassailing was associated with rowdy bands of young men who would enter the homes of wealthy neighbors and demand free food and drink in a trick-or-treat fashion. If the householder refused, he was usually cursed, and occasionally his house was vandalized.
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here
Carol is the derivation of the word wassail. It travels through the old French "caroler" and the Latin "choraula" to the Greek "choros", a circling dance often accompanied by singing and associated with dramatic performances, religious festivities and fertility rites.
The carol was a major element in popular celebrations to mark the passing of the winter solstice and the promise of spring. Carols existed long before Christianity. Eventually Christian lyrics were put to the ancient tunes. And traveling from orchard to orchard changed to traveling from house to house waking the spirit with joyful noise and song.
So, now that you understand the concept…gather your friends and family.
On twelfth-night, (either the new one on the 5th January or the old one on the 17th January) toast a thick slice of rustic bread and place it into the bottom of a communal bowl. Then pour in the prepared lambswool.
Take the bowl out into your back yard with friends and family, carrying lighted torches aflame, and pots and pans to beat with wooden spoons and sticks, (with more toast to hang in the branches of the trees and more cups of lambswool to drink and splash around to bless the area
Make noise and light, crying “wassail! wassail!” (or sing one of the many rhymes) to drive off the unwanted spirits of the old year – beat the trunks of the trees with the sticks and splash the trunks with a little Lamb’s Wool.
After everyone present has taken a drink from the lambswool (from the communal wassail bowl) pour a little of the lambswool and soggy toast from the bowl into the ground around the roots of a tree and put further fresh pieces of toast, dipped in lambswool, into the branches as a token to the new spirits of the new year, and a nod to the old ways of doing things.
And this is what you might have to explain to the cops when the neighbors have complained about the drunken party at your house.
WASSAIL!!!!
Kwanzaa… December 26 through January 22 …. Warm, fuzzy Afrocentric holiday.
Many educated people actually believe that Kwanzaa is some sort of ancient African harvest festival. The reality is that Kwanzaa never saw Africa.
Let me introduce you to Maulana Ron Karenga … black radical activist, academic, convicted felon….and the founder of KWANZAA.
Karenga's real name is Ron N. Everett. In the '60s, he awarded himself the title "maulana," Swahili for "master teacher." He was born on a chicken farm in Maryland. He was the fourteenth child of a Baptist minister. There was no doubt that he was bright.
He came to California in the late 1950s to attend Los Angeles Community College. He moved on to UCLA, where he got a Master's degree in political science and African Studies.
By the mid-1960s, he had established himself as a leading "cultural nationalist." This term distinguished Karenga's followers from the Black Panthers, who were conventional Marxists.
Cultural nationalists strictly followed the rules laid down in The Quotable Karenga, a book that laid out "The Path of Blackness." "The sevenfold path of blackness is think black, talk black, act black, create black, buy black, vote black, and live black,"
The year was 1969. There was a battle going on for control of the UCLA black studies program by two black radical groups on campus. The first was the Black Panthers and the second was United Slaves, led by Mr. Karenga. Both groups felt very free to strut around campus carrying loaded guns. Surprise!... Violence ensued.
On Jan. 17, 1969, about 150 students gathered in a lunchroom to “discuss” the situation. Two of the Panthers spent a good part of the meeting in verbal attacks against Karenga. This did not sit well with Karenga's followers.
Karenga was "dissed" by John Jerome Huggins, 23, and Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter, 26. After the meeting, the two Panthers were met in the hallway by two brothers who were members of US, George P. and Larry Joseph Stiner. The Stiners pulled pistols and shot the two Panthers dead. One of the Stiners took a bullet in the shoulder, apparently from a Panther's gun.
Black Panther John Higgins was “murdered—along with Al ‘Bunchy’ Carter—on the UCLA campus by members of Ron Karenga’s organization.” After this killing, the FBI infiltrated both groups, and Karenga’s group, United Slaves, turned to fighting “enemies within.”
There were other beatings and shooting in Los Angeles involving US, but by then the tradition of African nationalism had already taken hold. The university went ahead with its Afro-American Studies Program.
Karenga, meanwhile, continued to build and strengthen US, a unique group that seems to have combined the elements of a street gang with those of a California type cult. The members performed assaults and robberies …evidently a requirement of “cultural nationalism”.
Karenga apparently fell into deep paranoia shortly after the killings at UCLA. He began fearing that his followers were trying to have him killed. On May 9, 1970 he initiated the torture session that led to his imprisonment
In May of 1970, two of those “inside enemies” were female members tortured by their “comrades” Both testified that Karenga ordered and participated in their assaults.
A May 14, 1971, article in the Los Angeles Times described the testimony of one of them
"Deborah Jones, who once was given the Swahili title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said."
The following day . . . Karenga, holding a gun, threatened to shoot both of them.”
What a guy!!
Mr. Karenga was convicted of felonious assault and false imprisonment. He was sentenced in 1971 to up to 10 years in prison.
An extremely brief account of the sentencing ran in several newspapers the following day. And that was the last newspaper article to discuss Ron’s unfortunate incarceration and enjoyment of performing horrific acts on his own people.
From that point forward he became WONDERFUL! He established Kwanzaa. Numerous favorable articles written about him began to flow.
He was released in 1975. Mr. Karenga then walked into the job as head of the black studies department at California State University, Long Beach, which he runs to this day. Yes….while in prison he got a PHD at taxpayers’ expense and achieved what the previous murders could not.
Ain’t America great?
Karenga had just ten years earlier proven himself capable of employing guns and bullets in his efforts to control hiring in the Black Studies Department at UCLA. So how did this ex-con, fresh out jail, get the job at Long Beach?
We don’t know because UCLA has no response aside from being HAPPY that he is there.
And now to Kwanzaa.
The seven days of this festival supposedly celebrate “traditional African” principles, such as “collective work” and “cooperative economics,” each referred to by a Swahili name.
The Swahili is interesting. American blacks came primarily from Ghana and West Africa. Swahili is spoken by people in Kenya and Tanzania which just happen to be THOUSANDS of miles away from West Africa. They don’t speak Swahili there.
This can be compared to celebrating Columbus Day by speaking Chinese.
DR. Ron also made his harvest festival near the winter solstice. Not much harvesting going on at that time.
Karenga sat down in prison and made stew. Into it he put different traditions and languages.
He seasoned it with Marxist ideas to reflect a unified African culture that has never existed anywhere!
Swahili word Ujamaa, means “cooperative economics” and is one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa. This happens to be the term Julius Nyerere, the socialist leader of Tanzania, used for his disastrous policy of putting tens of thousands of Tanzanians on collective farms.
YEA! Ujamaa!
Karenga admitted in a 1978 Washington Post interview that, “People think it’s African, but it’s not, I put it around Christmas because I knew that’s when a lot of ‘bloods’ [Blacks] would be partying.”
Actually, I guess the evidence shows that Karenga has reformed.
 |
| Karenga at podium |
In 1975, he dropped his cultural nationalist views and converted to Marxism. He has stayed out of trouble. He has become rotund and colorfully avuncular.
But now that Karenga is a Marxist, the capitalists have taken over his holiday. The seven principles of Kwanzaa include "collective work" and "cooperative economics," but Kwanzaa has become as commercial as Christmas, generating millions.
The purists are whining.
But, as those Kwanzaa candles are lit, the Kwanzaa cake is eaten, and schools everywhere include it on the HOLIDAY wall along with a dreidel and a WINTER TREE…maybe it is just kinder to allow those who celebrate this holiday to do so in happy ignorance of the sordid acts, the violence, the paranoia, and the damage that helped generate its birth 40 years ago.
I spent Thanksgiving this year visiting my youngest son and his family in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Although the flight out of Florida was uneventful (SWR Airport has no scanners yet), the return trip through El Paso, Texas was a different story.
Believe me…I had prepared. I was devoid of jewelry, watches, belt buckles, and hair clips. I was dressed only in a shirt, non-underwire bra, underpants, and Danskin pants. I was metal purged….or so I thought.
I went up the escalator dragging my worldly goods behind me. I had all my potentially noxious unguents and potions secured in my ziplock quart bag. I had my driver’s licence and preprinted boarding pass. And I was prepared to offer up my voter registration, my original social security card, and assorted work verifications.
As I weaved through the black roped security maze with my fellow SHEEPLE, a blue uniformed TSA man kept informing us in a loud voice to EMPTY OUR POCKETS….REMOVE ALL RINGS….TAKE OFF BELTS…..
I finally reached another rather large TSA agent who took my boarding pass and driver’s licence. He spent a little under a minute looking at my picture and then looking at me. (Yes..the picture is 7 years old..so what?) He passed over it with a mysterious blue light and told me to have a nice day.
I walked forward and there it was………THE SCANNER!
Ok….I know I said I was GOING TO OPT OUT BY GOD! I was going to DEMAND THE GROPE IN FULL PUBLIC VIEW FOR ALL TO SEE!
But…I REALLY did not want the ENHANCED treatment…..and the scanner looked fast and easy….and everyone else was just ASSUMING THE POSITION and moving through……BAA! BAA! BAA!..I had become a SHEEPLE…..Just hand me the CONE OF SHAME now…I deserve it.
I piled everything into the trays, removed my shoes and waited my turn. I justified my decision by running scenarios in my head about smart ass things I could say or do while standing in the scanner.
I could ask for two 5 x 7’s and a sheet of wallet size……I could start talking to my imaginary friend and demand to know why she was not special enough for scanning?.....I could become a mime and wait for the TSA agent to unlock the invisible door to the scanner….I could do the RAIN MAN thing and start to mutter “You’re an excellent screener, definitely” I could start talking loudly about the Constitution and the 4th Amendment.
I did none of those things….I just stepped in…spread my legs…raised my hands, like a prisoner, over my head…..and got nakedly scanned. The deed was done.
I was motioned out…I walked in my socks to the end of a rubber mat right into another TSA agent blocking my path. He said WAIT RIGHT HERE….. ok
He pointed to the conveyor ..TELL ME WHEN YOUR BELONGINGS APPEAR…ok
I indicated that they had come down and turned to get them and was then told NO…THERE IS A PROBLEM…..ok
It was at that moment a short, red haired TSA woman took his place. Still blocking my path she explained that SOMETHING UNUSUAL APPEARED IN YOUR GROIN AREA THAT WE MUST CHECK OUT…..uh?
Wait a minute…I was metal cleansed….I had nothing in my EUPHEMISTIC groin area. She said THERE ARE TWO UNUSUAL INDICATIONS….uh?
I started feeling MY GROIN AREA and then….yes…my concealed weapon of mass destruction was discovered….look very closely….zoom the picture if you need to….see…those two tiny little metal tips on the end of the string ties on the waist of my pants?
There they were…DAMN DANSKIN…oh the betrayal!
Ms. TSA agent said I F YOU HAVE NO OBJECTION I WILL TAKE YOU TO THE PRIVATE ROOM WHERE I WILL EXAMINE YOUR BODY….objection? uh? yes I have an objection…you can see them..they are little tips on the ties..
I REALIZE THAT MAMM BUT THIS IS THE RULE…..ok
I followed her to the frosted paneled room to the right of the scanner. Another blond TSA woman was waiting for us. This was THE WITNESS.
My agent explained I WILL BEGIN WITH YOUR HAIR AND PROCEED DOWNWARD…TRACING THE OUTLINE OF YOUR BODY…I WILL FEEL INSIDE YOUR WAISTBAND AND BETWEEN YOUR BREASTS ….I WILL PROCEED UP YOU INNER THIGH…AND DOWN THE OTHER SIDE…
…ok (teeth are now very clenched)
I was MAD!! But I was also intimidated…..interesting.
And then I really looked at these two ladies…they looked as disgusted as I did. I ventured a comment …I said, “ I bet this is not what you signed up to do is it?”
Blond TSA said, ABSOLUTELY NOT. IT HAS BEEN TERRIBLE.
Short TSA said, as she was outlining my breasts, YOU CAN’T IMAGINE HOW IT HAS BEEN. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SO ANGRY AND ABUSIVE. SOME HAVE CRIED. I ALWAYS APOLOGIZE AND TRY TO MAKE THIS AS FAST AND PAINLESS AS I CAN BUT IT IS NOT GOOD.
I ended up telling them both that I was sorry too that we had all come to this. I told them that it was hard being the messengers…administration needed to spend some time in their shoes. They both laughed. Short TSA asked WAS IT TOO AWFUL? I just said I was ok.
They both led me out to MR. TSA agent …I told them to try and have a good day…blond TSA just rolled her eyes and smiled….there are no good days at the airport anymore.
MR TSA then took my boarding pass and driver’s license to further check me out on THE MAIN FRAME or something and told me to SIT HERE…..ok.
About 5 minutes later he returned, apologized for any INCONVENIENCE and said I could go. I looked into his eyes…he really did look sorry…as he turned to leave his shoulders slumped a little.
I put on my shoes….stuffed my plastic bag in my suitcase…and with my CONE OF SHAME still firmly around my neck I walked to my gate.
In the end I am grateful for this experience. It has caused me to question. I wonder how far I can be pushed? Evidently I can be pushed into a scanner, and pushed into a room to receive a very enhanced PAT DOWN, and pushed into a chair to wait in my socks for my PAPERS.
I was intimidated in the airport. Not by guns, or torture, or even YELLING. I learned that I am a great talker but not a very great walker.
I have a new, profound respect for those people who have stood up to tyranny under far more terrible threats to livelihood and life. I am in awe of all those who have been willing to give up everything, even their lives, for their freedom. I got a glimmer of what that commitment requires... and it is not for the faint of heart.
I turned, saw myself with new eyes…..and found I was wanting.
