Mild at Christmas
I read these lines in a novel some time ago
"It was one of those mild indefinite days, which we now associate with Christmas in England, a day which had in its clouded sunlight nothing of autumn and nothing of winter, but seemed rather to suggest the spring — a feeble spring seen in a looking-glass. ... These meteorological reflections of mine were prompted entirely by the feeling that I was perhaps wearing too thick an overcoat. ..."
Sounds bang up to date? This C H B Kitchin in Crime at Christmas first published in 1935!
Apparently, the idea of Christmas being snowy can be traced back to the fact that eight of Charles Dickens' first Christmases were white. It is suggested that he associated snow and Christmas in his successful Christmas novellas and we all followed suit.
In Deep Winter Drasche-Wartinberg
This is In Deep Winter by German artist Richard Freiherr von Drasche-Wartinberg (1850-1923)
Seasonal Quiz 04 (12 days of Christmas)
1. In the song `The Twelve Days Of Christmas` what did my true love give to me on the 12th day?
2. When do `The Twelve Days Of Christmas` traditionally begin and end?
A. Dec 25-Jan 5 B. Dec 14-25 C. Dec 21--Jan 1
3. In `The Twelve Days Of Christmas`, what were there two of?
A. French Hens B. Turtle Doves C. Gold Rings
4. What type of bird features on the seventh day of Christmas in the song `The Twelve Days Of Christmas`?
A. Goose B. Swan C, French Hen
5. According to the song `The Twelve Days of Christmas`, how many gifts in total did my true love give to me?
A. 364 B. 365 C. 366
6. In the song `The Twelve Days Of Christmas`, how many people are mentioned among the gifts?
A. 42 B. 50 C. 61
7. In `The Twelve Days Of Christmas`, which gifts represent the six days of creation?
A. Geese a-laying B. Maids a-milking C. Lords a-leaping
8. True or false? The French word for partridge is perdrix so the opening line could be a partridge, une perdrix.
9. In the song `the twelve days of Christmas`, what did my true love send to me on the ninth day?
A. Maids a-milking B. Lords a-leaping C. Ladies dancing10. In the song `the twelve days of Christmas` as it is presently sung, how many birds are there?
A. 31 B. 23 C. 18
12. The song is French in origin. In what year was it first published in English?
A. 1680 B. 1780 C. 1880
Key: CABBABATCBTB
10 Instances of the Jingle Bells Motif in Popular Music
2. Nat King Cole Christmas Song (end Guitar)
3. T Rex Xmas Riff (Throughout Piano)
4. Kate Rusby (While shepherds watch) Cranbrook (End Brass band)
5. Beatles Another Christmas Beatles Record 1964 (Beginning Kazoo)
6. Trans-Siberian Orchestra Siberian Sleighride (Beginning Guitar)
7. Bruce Springsteen Santa Claus is coming to town (End Piano)
8. Stan Freberg Green Christmas (End Medley Sung)
9. Tijuana Brass America (Beginning Trumpet)
10. Jingle Bell Rock Bobby Helms (Beginning Guitar)
Christmas Convictions
Christmas Convictions
Gary Brady
No not the results of the government's latest drink driving offensive but a look at one man's personal convictions about celebrating Christmas
I am sometimes involved in interviews at a theological college. We ask most of the questions but at the end they can ask what they want. I remember an occasion when one student asked about celebrating Christmas and Easter. He had come to the conviction this is something he did not want to be involved in and knowing that not all Christians take the same view he wanted to flag up his viewpoint. We assured him it would be no problem.
He is not alone in his convictions. I know of a minister with similar convictions who regularly goes on holiday at this time of year knowing that most of the church take a different approach to the season. The late Professor John Murray of Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, apparently used to really enjoy having the place to himself each December 25, which was for him an ordinary working day.
At the other extreme are Christians who keep Christmas as enthusiastically as anyone. Some will have a crib in their front room, pipe endless Christmas carols through the house and send cards with nativity scenes and texts. Some even talk of celebrating Christ's birthday and the idea of not being in church on Christmas day of all days makes them rather nervous.
What about you? Did you tut a little when you saw that the magazine theme was a Christmas one? Or were you pleased that the subject has been raised again? Whatever your reaction you need to hold firm convictions on this vexed subject but you need to hold them with grace, recognising that not all will hold the same convictions as you do.
What I want to do here is to set out my own convictions so that if you are undecided on the issue it may help you to come to firm convictions, which we all need, and if you are decided you will have a good opportunity to test your convictions and consider whether there might be need for change.
Conviction 1 The New Testament does not require believers to keep any particular festival
Talking about Jewish customs in Colossians 2:16 Paul says do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. In Romans 14 he says (6, 7a) One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.
Obviously the Lord's Day is to be kept special as it is part of the moral law but with everything else, it is up to the individual. If you wish to celebrate Passover or Israeli independence or your birthday or Christmas or (to a limited extent) Ramadan for that matter, you are free to do so.
Conviction 2 Christmas or the midwinter festival as some want us to call it is a pagan festival
It is certainly possible that Jesus was born on December 25 or thereabouts but the truth is that we do not know, we cannot know and we do not need to know if that is so. It is true that large numbers of people celebrate his birthday at this time of the year but that is undeniably tied into the pre-Christian traditions that existed in communities in the northern hemisphere long before they heard the gospel.
Wherever Christians have gone, they have attempted to transform pagan customs into something more Christian. There is some evidence, for example, that Boniface the sixth century missionary to the Germans tried to stop pagan tree worship but still encouraged the custom of cutting down a fir tree and bringing it into the house in winter.
We may feel that pagan customs are better abandoned rather than adapted but the fact is that year by year we are confronted by pagan traditions, often with but increasingly without a Christian veneer, and we need to decide how to react. To do so we must try not to confuse what is allowable for a Christian to do with what it is necessary for him to do. It is allowable for a Christian to put a tree in his house and decorate it or eat plum pudding or wear a paper hat and blow a party puffer. It is allowable for him to celebrate Christ's birth with songs and readings and sermons any day of the year. None of these things are necessary for him to do.
Conviction 3 Christmas or the midwinter festival is a good idea for many
If you live in the northern hemisphere, winter is long and dreary. Splitting it up with a celebration in the middle makes good sense psychologically. If at the same time lots of people want to say it is a time to celebrate Christ's birth then rather than complaining about it, take advantage of the opportunity to talk about his birth, his life and his death too and how to come to him.
Having said that it is a pagan festival, if we are going to celebrate it then we must nevertheless be careful to celebrate it in a Christian way. Can we justify the amount we are spending albeit on other members of the family? Is slumping in front of the TV for more than a few hours a good idea? What about all that food and drink – is it right to so indulge? Are we just being swept along with it all and not thinking about how to glorify God? These are the sorts of questions to ask.
More positively, many will want to go further and not simply seek to shun the commercialised and pagan Christmas that is so common but really celebrate the fact of our Saviour's birth. When he saw Christmas trees Luther would famously speak about how Jesus the Light of the World has come into this dark world. That fact beats anything the world has to offer.
Conviction 4 No celebration should be allowed to unduly interfere with the Lord's Day
I do not know how you celebrate Christmas Day. For many people it includes a number of things that they would not normally do on the Lord's Day. It is important not to let anything interfere with keeping the Lord's Day, as far as possible and so when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, as it will this year, it is wise for those who mark it to think ahead and consider how best they can handle possible conflicts. For many of us, it will be wisest if, this year at least, we do many of the things that we normally do on December 25 the day before or the day after.
10 Surprising Facts About Snow
Radio 4 say It’s cold, it falls from the sky and we love it. But how much do you really know about "white rain"? As Snow – the new Book of the Week by Marcus Sedgwick – comes to Radio 4, we present a few little known facts… (to which I have added one more to make 10 - perhaps the most interesting one)
1. There Was Once an Entire ‘Land of Snow’
Don’t get too excited, it’s just Iceland.
Yes, our favourite country that Björk was born in was initially dubbed Snowland (Snæland) by Naddoddur Ástvaldsson, the snappily named Norseman who discovered the country, accidentally, around 800 AD.
The first Viking to go to Iceland on purpose was Flóki Vilgerðarson, who was dubbed "Raven-Flóki" Vilgerðarson for his unusual practice of taking ravens with him on voyages for navigational purposes.
Despite his pioneering avian directional techniques, in the 9th century he reached the country, nearly died, and quickly left again.
But not before he called it Iceland. The name stuck - the way ice does sometimes.
One organisation who would love the country to return to their previous Snowland moniker is Iceland – the frozen food people. They are currently wrangling with the Icelandic government over use of the name.
2. Cocaine Was Used To Treat Snow Blindness
Everyone knows about the remarkable Ernest Shackleton and his almost disastrous Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole. But what isn’t readily reported are the contents of his medical kit, which reads more like a rambunctious weekend in Ibiza than an esteemed adventurous endeavour.
As well as lashings of whisky given liberally to the crew, suspected diarrhoea was to be combated by a substance containing a mixture of "chalk ground up with opium". Cases of colic were to be treated with a tincture made up of chilli powder and cannabis, while those stricken with snow blindness would have cocaine dripped directly into the eye.
It may not have worked, but it must have been the most convivial antarctic expedition going.
3. Most Snowflakes Aren’t Symmetrical
As we all know, not everything we were taught in school was 100% correct and this is true of snow.
From day one we had it pounded into us that no two snowflakes are alike and that they are all hexagonal and symmetrical. Turns out this was a ruse adopted by lazy primary school teachers who wanted to keep us all busy with pieces of paper and safety scissors.
Destroying all those childhood dreams is Professor Kenneth G Libbrecht who has compiled The Field Guide to Snowflakes, specifically for all the snowflake collectors out there (you will need a fridge). He has surmised that flakes come in all shapes and sizes: pointy ones, triangular ones, 12-sided ones and, mainly, lumpy ones.
4. Snow Isn’t White Either
Because scientists just love messing with our heads, various random eggheads have also declared that snow isn’t actually white. Even though it is called "the white stuff", "white glory" or "cold milky joy".
Snow is actually translucent, with the light reflecting off it making it appear white. The many (often lumpy) sides of the snowflake scatters the light in many directions, diffusing the whole colour spectrum.
Though dust or cryophilic fresh-water algae can colour it pink, orange or blue. Pink snow can be found at high altitude and was referred to as Watermelon Snow in the early writings of Aristotle.
5. Blizzards Are More Complicated Than You Think
When there’s a mild coating of sleet on the bonnet of the Mondeo, most people will understandably start impulsively hoarding dry goods, dust off the generator and begin to scream "BLIZZARD, BLIZZARD!" at all and sundry.
But chances are it’s not actually a blizzard. Technically snowfalls have to adhere to a strict set of stipulations to qualify. Wind speeds have to reach a healthy 30 mph or more, and visibility must be reduced to 200 metres or less. Anything less than 30 mph or with visibility over 200 metres just WISHES it was a blizzard.
6. One City Tried To Outlaw Snow
After frequent mounted attacks from the white stuff every winter, the city of Syracuse in New York finally decided that enough was enough. During the winter of 1991/1992, they suffered a record snow deluge of more than 162.5 inches which, we can all agree, is a lot.
Thoroughly sick of the tyranny of ploughs and gritting, the local council decreed: "Be it resolved, on behalf of the snow-weary citizens of the city of Syracuse, any further snowfall is expressly outlawed in the city of Syracuse until December 24, 1992."
Mother Nature, who appears to have a sense of humour after all, then deposited EVEN MORE snow during the next winter with a whopping 192.2 inches cursing the beleaguered town. The moral? Snow knows no laws and laughs in the face of legislation.
7. Some People are Scared of Snow
Turns out that Chionophobia is not a fear of chins. It is in fact a fear of snow. The fact that this is an article about snow might have tipped you off.
It’s claimed that famous explorer Scott of the Antarctic almost certainly didn’t suffer from this condition.
8. For the First Eight Years of Charles Dickens' Life, Every Christmas Was a White Christmas
As a nation we are obsessed with the notion of a White Christmas, in part because of that song. But also due to the fact Charles Dickens seemed to insist that snow blanketed every urchin in old London town during the month of December. Dickens was born at the tail end of the period known as the "Little Ice Age" which stretched from around 1550 to 1850 during which time a colder climate endured. So Little Charlie D grew up literally caked in snow. But if we define a "white Christmas" as one where snow is actually lying on the ground, they are quite a rare occurrence with only four happening during the last century.
9. There’s a Reason It Seems Quieter After Snow
Fresh, lovely, fluffy ducking-like snow that has freshly fallen absorbs sound waves, giving everything a seemingly hushed and delightful ambience. Perfect for ice-based horror movies such as The Shining, Murder at the Ice Hotel or The Unwrappening.
But be warned. If the snow melts and then refreezes as ice, it can reflect sound waves making sound travel further and clearer. So snow can make things both quieter and louder. You don’t get these problems with hail.
10. Snowflakes can be alike
A commonly heard statement about snow is that no two snowflakes are ever alike. However, in 1988 Nancy Knight (USA), a scientist at the National Centre for Atmosphere Research in Boulder, Colorado, USA, found two identical examples while studying snow crystals from a storm in Wisconsin, using a microscope.
10 Seasonal Traditions that are perhaps not so old
"It's a long Christmas tradition" we are often told but some Christmas traditions are perhaps not as old as you think.
1. Seeing the John Lewis Christmas ad – only since 2007
2. Hearing on the radio Merry Christmas Everybody and I wish it could be Christmas every day – only since 1973
3. Watching league football on Boxing Day – only since 1960 (1971 in Scotland)
4. Watching the Queen's speech on TV – only since 1952
5. Hearing the little drummer boy carol – only since 1941
6. Hearing Rudolph the red nosed reindeer – only since 1939
7. Tuning into Carols with nine lessons from Kings – only since 1928 (the thing itself goes back to 1918)
8. Pulling Christmas crackers – only since 1847
9. Sending Christmas cards – only since 1843
10. Putting up a Christmas tree in England – only since 1840
A Forgotten Christmas Song - By the Kinks
For some reason this Christmas song by the Kinks gets very little airplay.
I guess it's not sentimental enough,
All Aboard for Christmas Thomas Kincade
This is an old video (2012). TK died at the age of 54 in 2012 and was a professing Christian.
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