2015

Must be time for my annual blog post!  Apparently, January is the only month in which I have enough time to consider doing so.

Nearing one year here in Charlotte.  We travelled to Pennsylvania for five days of Christmas, only to experience mostly 50-degree days.  Funny:  on the day the temp was in the thirties, Greg put on his winter coat and found in its pocket the rental agreement from our moving truck!  The last time we experienced cold was the day we moved to Charlotte...  bahahahaha....

Carolina in My Mind

...also, in reality.

Husband (Hubby?  Hubskin?  Hub?) and I spent a week adventuring around Charlotte.  Our intent was to learn more about our grad school and to find somewhere to live.  We thought we'd spend long days perusing dozens of apartments...

...but we fell in love with the first one we saw.

Four things we experienced for the first time:

1. Burning a Christmas tree - MUCH more exciting than composting it.

2. A January thunderstorm - I did NOT know this was possible.

3. Someone calling the Civil War "the war of Northern aggression."  (What does that even mean?). Apparently, Southerners continue - to this day - to justify a war that took place 150 years ago by it being about states' freedom to choose... to enslave people.  This makes NO sense to me.

4. Shrimp & grits.  This was the best thing I have EVER eaten.

All in all, I am pumped to move to the South.  There is such a deep culture of both music and food (when asked what some of my favorite PA foods were, I replied, "...cheeseteak?  Hershey's?  Scrapple?"  Penna Dutch cooking has NOTHING on that of the South) and many, many lovely people.  Getting into seminary to truly learn the Bible and how to study it is fueling my sense of adventure and anticipation for ministry.  "For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."  (Proverbs 2:6)

Feeling a sense of solidarity with Mr. Taylor...

Can't you feel the sunshine?

Can't you just feel the moonshine?

The 6 Myths of Christmas

This season, I assisted my mother-in-law to liberally decorate their home with all things Christmas.  I think she owns about four-hundred different incarnations of Santa Claus.  I'm not even exaggerating.  Trimming the tree (and the rest of the house) has led me to a few observations about some inaccurate facets of Americanized Christmas.

6.  Joseph:  husband of Mary, professional shepherd.

  These two nativity scenes (among many others) portray Joseph holding a shepherd's crook.  While shepherds were present that night in Bethlehem, Joseph himself was a carpenter by trade.

5.  Someone received twelve drummers, eleven pipers, etc. for Christmas, and loved it all so much that she wrote a song about it.
  Actually, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is about spiritual gifts, not material presents.  What would you do with those ten lords leaping around your house, anyway?  Read the full story here.

4.  Angels look like either naked babies or winged ladies in dresses.
  I grew up in a home where we placed an angel on top of our Christmas tree.  It was the most beautiful, delicate doll... that I wasn't allowed to play with (too fragile).  She had long, blonde hair; perfect, porcelain skin; and a shiny, white, satin dress.  I'd cluster the other angel ornaments near the top of the tree - cute, glittery angels.
  However, the angels described in scripture seem more like fiery, dangerous warriors.  In many instances of an angel appearing to people, the angel has to calm them down, saying, "Don't be afraid!"  Apparently, angels are pretty terrifying!  Matthew describes the one guarding Jesus' empty tomb as having an "appearance like lightening."  The cherubim in Genesis 3 guard the entrance to Eden with a flaming sword.  The seraphim in Isaiah 6 have six wings each, and fly around shouting about how holy God is.  Wow.  These heavenly creatures sound a lot more exciting than naked-baby cherubs with chubby, pink cheeks!

3.  The Magi showed up the day Jesus was born.
  Matthew 2:1 - "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem."  Verse 11 actually says they went into the house to worship Him - so the Magi never actually hung out in the barn with the holy family)  After this, Herod ordered all male children age two and under to be killed.  (Joseph led his family to Egypt to hide out for a while).

2.  Three Wise Men came to visit baby Jesus.
  The Biblical account's inclusion of the Magi's three gifts for the Christ-child has led us to believe that there were three wise men.  Additionally, the well-known carol "We Three Kings" re-enforces this view by its language:  each man brings one gift.  "Born a King on Bethlehem's plain; gold I bring to crown Him again,"  "Frankincense to offer have I," "Myrrh is mine..."
  However, the Biblical story of Christmas and Epiphany doesn't actually give a number of wise men, only the number of gifts.  It could actually have been two men carrying three gifts, or four men, or twenty.

1.  Santa Claus.

  There's been a myth going around, saying that parents are the ones leaving presents under Christmas trees on December 24th.  Isn't that ridiculous?  I personally think it's just absurd to assume parents would be interested in building dozens of toys, wrapping them all perfectly, and stacking them in the living room in the middle of the night.  Don't you agree?  I can't imagine leaving that great a job of gift-giving to anyone but Santa himself.  You can watch this documentary for more information.

  If you have any additional observations about the holidays, I'd love to hear them - please comment!  I hope your Christmas is joyful, and I leave you to enjoy this video (Michael Caine's finest performance):

Recipe: Homemade Marshmallows

Here's a fabulous recipe for soft, fluffy, homemade marshmallows.   Yes, it does have corn syrup and gelatin in it, but there aren't any preservatives AND it tastes infinitely better than store-bought 'mallows.

Plus, you can make them any flavor you want!  They're scrumptious as "plain" vanilla, but you can flavor them with peppermint, coconut, chocolate, cinnamon... anything you can think of!

Here we go:

Combine 3 packages unflavored gelatin with 1/2 cup cold water in a mixer bowl.

In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup light corn syrup, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup water.  Stir  over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then raise heat until the syrup reaches 240* F.

Turn the mixer on its lowest speed and slowly add the syrup to the gelatin.  Add 1 tbsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla & 2 tsp peppermint extract... or whatever flavor you like!).  Set mixer speed to high and let it whip for 15 minutes.

Next, dust a glass 8" x 12" pan with confectioners' sugar, pour in the fluffy goodness, and let set overnight.  Turn out and slice into cubes.  At this point, you could also melt some chocolate chips in a double-boiler, dip the 'mallows in, and let cool - for chocolate-covered marshmallows.  Yum!

Share and enjoy!

Twelve Days of Christmas: Part II

Today is December 20th.  We have decorated our Christmas tree!  It is hard to believe that Christmas is only five days away.  Have you been counting down the twelve days of Christmas?

If so, you may have been led astray by television movie marathons and holiday commercialism!

The Twelve Days of Christmas are actually those days following December 25th.  Traditionally, Christmas was celebrated for twelve whole days, leading up to Epiphany (the day the church commemorates the Wise Men's arrival to visit the Christ-child) on January 6th.

Sadly, Christmas - in America - has turned into an entire month of shopping, busyness, decorating, baking, and anticipation... all for just one day!  As soon as Boxing Day rolls around, the Christmas music is cut off the radio stations, decor is boxed up once more, and we head into the boring part of the winter season.

It makes me sad!  Why don't we have twelve days of celebration?  Why not give people a break from work or school for twelve days of family time and relaxation?  Certainly, the birth of God Himself in humblest human form is worth more than one day of celebration per year.

Well, I know the real reason we don't celebrate Christmas for twelve days.  It's because no one would make any extra money off of it.  All the corporations just want everyone to stress out and buy as much as they can in the month leading up to one day of blowout gift-giving and feasting.

I'd rather we feast for twelve days straight.  I'd love it!  Turkeys, hams, prime rib, duck, goose...

...and the cookies!!  THE COOKIES!!!

Anyways...  I challenge myself (and you, dear reader) to consider Christmas a twelve day-long festival, rather than a twenty-four hour holiday.  Contemplate and worship our wonderful Savior, who "though He was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."  (Philippians 2:6-7).  Compare Philippians 2 and Psalm 8, and be blown away by the awesome power AND complete humility of God.  The all-powerful Creator of the entire universe... was born a helpless baby in a barn... to show that He cares for us.

On the other hand... if you prefer the less Jesus-y, more Santa Claus-y side of Christmas... let's live out twelve beautiful days of gratitude, expressing thankfulness and love to our family and friends; as well as giving generously to those around us.  Merry Christmas, friends!

Twelve Days of Christmas: Part I

What in the WORLD am I going to do with these ten lords who are leaping all over the house??  Why, oh why did my husband hire these guys to jump around?  And they expect to be fed, too!  I am going to have to buy a whole 'nother ham and a goose just for Christmas dinner!

Praise the Lord... I am just kidding.

But who in their right mind wrote a song about getting all sorts of crazy gifts during each day of the Christmas Feast?  Okay, animals can make nice gifts, if you're prepared to care for them.  I wouldn't mind receiving all that poultry.  But... people?  People!  Why would you give dancing ladies as a gift?

Plus, don't all these things combined sound a little expensive?

What does the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song really mean?

As it turns out, that famous song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is about spiritual gifts, not material presents.  What would you do with twelve drummers, anyway?  Start a marching band with them and the eleven pipers?

The story goes like this:  during the sixteenth century, Roman Catholics were facing persecution in England, so they came up with a cheerful holiday tune to secretly teach their children about the tenants of the faith.  Think about this the next time you sing it:

"On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love" (God) "gave to me"
"Twelve drummers drumming," (the Apostles Creed's points of doctrine)
"Eleven pipers piping," (the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus)
"Ten lords a'leaping," (Ten Commandments)
"Nine ladies dancing," (nine fruits of the Spirit)
"Eight maids a'milking," (the eight Beatitudes Jesus taught)

"Seven swans a'swimming," (the seven gifts of the Spirit)

"Six geese a'laying," (the six days of Creation)

"Five gold rings," (the Torah/Pentateuch)

"Four calling birds," (the four Gospels)

"Three French hens," (the three Persons of the Trinity)

"Two turtle doves," (Old and New Testaments)

"and a partridge" (Jesus) "in a pear tree." (the cross)

Read the full story here.

Next time, in "Twelve Days of Christmas:  Part II,"  we'll discover why there are twelve days of Christmas in the first place... and why we don't celebrate them all anymore.

Easter? Not really...

Regretfully, I had never been exposed to multiple forms of Christian spirituality as a child. Occasionally I got to go to mass with my dad, which I found more interesting, but 95% of the time was Sunday mornings at Presbyterian church. Mainline, white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant church. "Middle class" to rich white folks.

And we followed the church calendar all year. Advent (waiting for Christmas), Christmas, Epiphany (arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem), Lent (waiting for Easter), Easter, Ascencion, and Pentecost (arrival of the Holy Spirit). This religious calendar was simply a part of the life I
lived on Sundays before lunchtime. It was all a given. A part of time.

(I do often wish I lived in innocence/ignorance of the church calendar.
Last year I spoke with Greg about whatever church
services were going on, and I mentioned "Maundy Thursday."
He said, "What's that?"
I said, "It's the remembrance of the Thursday
when Jesus had His final Passover meal with His disciples,
and then prayed in the garden and was arrested."
Greg replied, "What is a maundy?"
I had no answer for him - I had simply called it that
my whole life without asking what the word
meant - how ignorant a follower I am! I discovered
maundatum - "command," as in , "A new command I give you: love
one another as I have loved you." - Jesus' final command to His disciples)

When I got involved at a non-denominational church in college, though, all that day-by-day religiosity simply wasn't present. They did Christmas and Easter, sure. But the difference was that Pastor Nate always called Easter "Resurrection Sunday." And that is what it is. It made much more sense than calling it some sort of made-up word that doesn't appear in the Bible. Of course, I decided to go on an internet quest to find out why we call Jesus' resurrection "Easter."

It quite has nothing to do with Him or His resurrection day. Easter comes from Ēostre-monath, a month of the Germanic calendar named after Ēostre, the Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess of spring/fertility/dawn/the dawn star(Venus).

"Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring." - history.com

In America, people who call themselves followers of Christ - the risen One - choose to celebrate His resurrection day by repeating pagan traditions formerly used to celebrate this goddess Ēostre. And only in the English-speaking world do we continue to honor this goddess by name on the resurrection day of Jesus...


From religioustolerance.org:

"Based on Pagan name: In English, "Easter" is derived from the name of an ancient pagan goddess Eostre.

Based on "Pesach:" In most of the remaining languages in countries with a Christian heritage, the name is derived from "Pesach" (פסח in Hebrew) the name for Passover. These include...

Afrikaans: Paasfees
Arabic: عيد الفصح (Aīd ul-Figh)
Finnish: Pääsiäinen
French: Pâques
Greek: Πάσχα (Pascha)
Hebrew: פסחא (Pascha)
Irish: Cáisc
Malayalam: പെശഹ (Pæsacha/Pæsaha)
Spanish: Pascua
Tagalog: Pasko ng Muling Pagkabuhay, "the Pasch of the Resurrection"

Other bases:
Armenian: Զատիկ (Zadik) "separation" or Սուրբ Հարություն (Sourb Haroutiwn) "holy resurrection"
Chinese: Fùhuó Jié, "Resurrection Festival"
Georgian: აღდგომა (Aĝdgoma), "rising"
Japanese: katakana or Fukkatsusai, "Resurrection Festival"
Tongan (South-pacific): Pekia, "death (of a Lord)"

December

I'm really glad that Phil is taking the opportunity to travel before he gets tied down to a job. He leant me his copy of Through Painted Deserts. I've had time to read the prologue.

December is kind of a negative month. It's filled with stressful adults and children who feel authentic entitlement to greed. I had to figure out a way to switch shifts at work for Christmas eve so I could leave by 4 instead of 6 for West Chester (so I can leave there by 8 or 8:30 to come back here for our big choir gig). That involved finding another person to pick up one of two afternoon shifts. After asking half of the employees at work, St. Amanda agreed to switch from morning to afternoon, so I get to work all day on Friday.

At this point, I'm finishing up with my obligatory late-December gifts. This season makes me wish we were more like hobbits, happy to give voluntary presents to everyone. Hobbits give presents away to the guests at their birthday parties.