Anagrams

This has got to be one of the cleverest
E-mails I've received in awhile.
Someone out there
must be "deadly" at Scrabble.
(Wait till you see the last one!

It's gonna be hard to top because

it fits to a "T"

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:

When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
I'M A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

AND FINALLY

FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

When you rearrange the letters:

STRUGGLING INCOMPETENT LIAR

7th Day of Christmas - December 31

Merry Christmas

December 31:  7th Day of Christmas

Seven Swans A-swimming (7 Sacraments, the 7 Gifts of the Holy Ghost)

On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves, and
A partridge in a pear tree.

Song of the Day:  O Come, All Ye Faithful (Josh Groban):

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWIeFbuapAY

New Year's Eve Tradition - Te Deum

A plenary indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who take part in a recitation or solemn chant of the Te Deum hymn, on the last day of the year, in thanksgiving to God for the favors received in the course of the entire year.

Listen to the Monks of the Abbey of the Solesmes Congregation sing this beautiful chant:  :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqwV9l-U8ds

Te Deum

We praise Thee, O God: we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship Thee and the Father everlasting.
To Thee all Angels:
to Thee the heavens and all the Powers therein.

To Thee the Cherubim and Seraphim cry with unceasing voice:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Lord God of Hosts.
The heavens and the earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory.
Thee the glorious choir of the Apostles.

Thee the admirable company of the Prophets.
Thee the white-robed army of Martyrs praise.
Thee the Holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge.
The Father of infinite Majesty.

Thine adorable, true and only Son
Also the Holy Ghost the Paraclete.
Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.

Thou having taken upon Thee to deliver man
didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
Thou having overcome the sting of death
didst open to believers the kingdom of heaven.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God
in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We beseech Thee, therefore, help Thy servants:

whom Thou has redeemed with Thy precious Blood.

Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints in glory everlasting.
Lord, save Thy people:
and bless Thine inheritance.
Govern them and lift them up forever.

Day by day we bless Thee.
And we praise Thy name forever:
and world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, this day to keep us without sin.
Have mercy on us, O Lord: have mercy on us.

Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us:
as we have hoped in Thee.
O Lord, in Thee have I hoped:
let me never be confounded.

The Te Deum is attributed to two Fathers and Doctors of the Church, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine and is one the most majestic chants in the Liturgy of the Church. It is sung in traditional seminaries and monastic houses at the Divine Office and for Double feasts of the First Class, The Nativity, Easter, Corpus Christi, Epiphany, Pentecost and those which have an Octave. The solemn Te Deum is sung on all occasions of public Church rejoicing (in Traditional Catholic Churches).

Christmas Song of the Day

Loreena McKinnett - Good King Wenceslas (1858):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-AbRWV62fc

Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night, tho' the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gath'ring winter fuel.

"Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know'st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain;
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes' fountain."

"Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither:
Thou and I shall see him dine, when we bear them thither. "
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together;
Through the rude wind's wild lament and the bitter weather.

"Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer. "
"Mark my footsteps, good my page. Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly. "

In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.

Wenceslas was considered a martyr and a saint immediately after his death in the 10th century, when a cult of Wenceslas grew up in Bohemia and in England. Within a few decades of Wenceslas's death four biographies of him were in circulation.  These hagiographies had a powerful influence on the High Middle Ages conceptualization of the rex justus, or "righteous king"—that is, a monarch whose power stems mainly from his great piety, as well as from his princely vigor.

Good King Wenceslas

"Good King Wenceslas" is a popular Christmas carol that tells a story of Good King Wenceslas braving harsh winter weather to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen (the second day of Christmas, December 26). During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow. The legend is based on the life of the historical Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia or Svatý Václav in Czech (907–935).

As mentioned in the lyrics, this song is usually sung on St. Stephen’s Day – December 26.

Bing Crosby sings “Good King Wenceslas:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3pcIKNttLU

God Bless Oklahoma

Oklahoma is the only state that Obama did not win even one county in the last election...

While everyone is focusing on Arizona ’s new law, look what Oklahoma has been doing!!!!

An update from Oklahoma:

Oklahoma law passed, 37 to 9 an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol. The feds in D.C., along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake. Hey this is a conservative state, based on Christian values...! HB 1330

Guess what.......... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Oklahoma recently passed a law in the state to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from unless they want to get a green card and become an American citizen. They all scattered. HB 1804. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU, they said it would be a mistake.

Guess what.......... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from any and all illegal's to the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional SB 1102

Guess what......... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Several weeks ago, we passed a law, declaring Oklahoma as a Sovereign state, not under the Federal Government directives. Joining Texas , Montana and Utah as the only states to do so.   More states are likely to follow: Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Carolina's, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi and Florida. Save your confederate money, it appears the South is about to rise up once again. HJR 1003

The federal Government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I'm sure that was a setback for the criminals The Liberals didn't like it -- But....

Guess what........... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Just this month, the state has voted and passed a law that ALL drivers’ license exams will be printed in English, and only English, and no other language. They have been called racist for doing this, but the fact is that ALL of the road signs are in English only. If you want to drive in Oklahoma , you must read and write English. Really simple.

By the way, the Liberals don't like any of this either

Guess what...who cares... Oklahoma is doing it anyway.

If you like it, pass it on, if you don't then delete it...Thanks

Guess what : The people I'm sending this to will send it on. Well, at least the ones who love and believe in freedom will.

Pearl Harbor Survivor's Letter to President Obama

FACT CHECKED & VERIFIED:

"Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don’t believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate. Now I live in a “rest home” located on the western end of Pearl Harbor , allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can’t figure out what country you are the president of.

You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:

” We’re no longer a Christian nation”

” America is arrogant”

– (Your wife even

announced to the world,” America is mean-spirited. ” Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our

war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.)

I’d say shame on the both of you, but I don’t think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said,” America hasn’t lived up to her ideals.”

Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn’t mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don’t think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.

Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don’t, I’ll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don’t want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts , who was putting up a fight? You don’t mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don’t want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you’re the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you’re not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you’re thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You’re not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That’s not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don’t want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle…

Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes

San Antonio Theater Shooting

On Sunday December 17, 2012, 2 days after the CT shooting, a man went to a restaurant in San Antonio to kill his X-girlfriend. After he shot her, most of the people in the restaurant fled next door to a theater. The gunman followed them and entered the theater so he could shoot more people. He started shooting and people in the theater started running and screaming. It’s like the Aurora, CO theater story plus a restaurant!

Now aren’t you wondering why this isn’t a lead story in the national media along with the school shooting?

There was an off duty county deputy at the theater. SHE pulled out her gun and shot the man 4 times before he had a chance to kill anyone. So since this story makes the point that the best thing to stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun, the media is treating it like it never happened.

Only the local media covered it. The city is giving her a medal next week.

Just thought you’d like to know.

20 Things A Mom Should Tell Her Son

1. Play a sport.

It will teach you how to win honorably,

lose gracefully, respect authority,

work with others, manage your time

and stay out of trouble.

And maybe even throw or catch.

2. You will set the tone

for the sexual relationship,

so don't take something away from her

that you can't give back.

3. Use careful aim when you pee.

Somebody's got to clean that up, you know.

4. Save money when you're young

because you're going to need it someday.

5. Allow me to introduce you

to the dishwasher, oven,

washing machine, iron,

vacuum, mop and broom.

Now please go use them.

6. Pray and be a spiritual leader.

7. Don't ever be a bully

and don't ever start a fight,

but if some idiot clocks you,

please defend yourself.

8. Your knowledge and education is something

that nobody can take away from you.

9. Treat women kindly.

Forever is a long time to live alone

and it's even longer to live with somebody

who hates your guts.

10. Take pride in your appearance.

11. Be strong and tender at the same time.

12. A woman can do everything that you can do.

This includes her having a successful career

and you changing diapers at 3 A.M.

Mutual respect is the key to a good relationship.

13. "Yes ma'am" and "yes sir"

still go a long way.

14. The reason that they're called "private parts"

is because they're "private".

Please do not scratch them in public.

15. Peer pressure is a scary thing.

Be a good leader and others will follow.

16. Bringing her flowers for no reason

is always a good idea.

17. It is better to be kind

than to be right.

18. A sense of humor

goes a long way

in the healing process.

19. Please choose your spouse wisely.

My daughter-in-law will be the gatekeeper for me

spending time with you and my grandchildren.

20. Remember to call your mother

because I might be missing you.

A Marine's Response to Senator Feinstein's Gun Control Bill

Senator Dianne Feinstein,

I will not register my weapons should this bill be passed, as I do not believe it is the government’s right to know what I own. Nor do I think it prudent to tell you what I own so that it may be taken from me by a group of people who enjoy armed protection yet decry me having the same a crime. You ma’am have overstepped a line that is not your domain. I am a Marine Corps Veteran of 8 years, and I will not have some woman who proclaims the evil of an inanimate object, yet carries one, tell me I may not have one.

I am not your subject. I am the man who keeps you free. I am not your servant. I am the person whom you serve. I am not your peasant. I am the flesh and blood of America.

I am the man who fought for my country. I am the man who learned. I am an American. You will not tell me that I must register my semi-automatic AR-15 because of the actions of some evil man.

I will not be disarmed to suit the fear that has been established by the media and your misinformation campaign against the American public.

We, the people, deserve better than you.

Respectfully Submitted,

Joshua Boston

Cpl, United States Marine Corps

2004-2012

(Post and picture shared from : The Boys of 3/5 https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Boys-of-35/174566752556300

6th Day of Christmas - December 30

December 30:  6th Day of Christmas

Six Geese A-laying (6 Days of Creation)

On the sixth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves, and
A partridge in a pear tree

Song of the Day:  Away in a Manger:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbedF8XswNQ

Saint of the Day:   Saint Egwin of England:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRT0Nkc_Ec0

Born of royal blood in the 7th century, Egwin entered a monastery and was enthusiastically received by royalty, clergy and the people as the bishop of Worcester, England. As a bishop he was known as a protector of orphans and the widowed and a fair judge.   He founded Evesham Abbey, which became one of the great Benedictine houses of medieval England. It was dedicated to Mary, who had reportedly made it known to Egwin just where a church should be built in her honor.  He died at the abbey on December 30, in the year 717. Following his burial many miracles were attributed to him: The blind could see, the deaf could hear, the sick were healed.

Cross Border Authority - re: Benghazi

Does the term "Dereliction of Duty" come to mind?  The article reinforces what most of us have suspected the whole time...

Subject: From a retired Navy Captain who lives in Hawaii re: CBA (Cross Border Authority)  A most interesting perspective about CBA, something I did not know much about. The author's explanation and analysis of the Benghazi events seem plausible to me.  I believe others will find this of interest (about 2 min. To read) so will forward for their reading.  The Benghazi debacle boils down to a single key factor - the granting or  withholding of "cross-border authority."  This opinion is informed by my experience as a Navy SEAL officer who took a NavSpecWar Detachment to Beirut. Once the alarm is sent - in this case, from the consulate in Benghazi - dozens of HQs are notified and are in the planning loop in real time, including AFRICOM and EURCOM, both located in Germany.  Without waiting for specific orders from Washington, they begin planning and executing rescue operations, including moving personnel, ships, and aircraft forward toward the location of the crisis.  However, there is one thing they can't do without explicit orders from the president: cross an international border on a hostile mission. That is the clear "red line" in this type of a crisis situation.   No administration wants to stumble into a war because a jet jockey in hot pursuit (or a mixed-up SEAL squad in a rubber boat) strays into hostile territory.  Because of this, only the president can give the order for our military to cross a nation's border without that nation's permission.  For the Osama bin Laden mission, President Obama granted CBA for our forces to enter Pakistani airspace. On the other side of the CBA coin: in order to prevent a military rescue in Benghazi, all the President of the United States "(POTUS)" has to do is not grant cross-border authority.  If he does not, the entire rescue mission (already in progress) must stop in its tracks.   Ships can loiter on station, but airplanes fall out of the sky, so they must be redirected to an air base (Sigonella, in Sicily) to await the POTUS decision on granting CBA.  If the decision to grant CBA never comes, the besieged diplomatic outpost in Benghazi can rely only on assets already "in country" in Libya - such as the Tripoli quick reaction force and the Predator drones.  These assets can be put into action on the independent authority of the acting ambassador or CIA station chief in Tripoli.  They are already "in country," so CBA rules do not apply to them. How might this process have played out in the White House?   If, at the 5:00 p.m.  Oval Office meeting with Defense Secretary Panetta and Vice President Biden, President Obama said about Benghazi: "I think we should not go the military action route," meaning that no CBA will be granted, then that is it.  Case closed. Another possibility is that the president might have said: "We should do what we can to help them .  But no military intervention from outside of Libya." Those words then constitute "standing orders" all the way down the chain of command, via Panetta and General Dempsey to General Ham and the subordinate commanders who are already gearing up to rescue the besieged outpost.   When that meeting took place, it may have seemed as if the consulate attack was over, so President Obama might have thought the situation would stabilize on its own from that point forward.  If he then goes upstairs to the family quarters, or otherwise makes himself "unavailable," then his last standing orders will continue to stand until he changes them, even if he goes to sleep until the morning of September 12. Nobody in the chain of command below President Obama can countermand his "standing orders" not to send outside military forces into Libyan air space.  Nobody.  Not Leon Panetta, not Hillary Clinton, not General Dempsey, and not General Ham in Stuttgart, Germany, who is in charge of the forces staging in Sigonella. Perhaps the president left "no outside military intervention, no cross-border authority" standing orders, and then made himself scarce to those below him seeking further guidance, clarification, or modified orders.  Or perhaps he was in the Situation Room watching the Predator videos in live time for all seven hours.  We don't yet know where the president was hour by hour. But this is 100 percent sure: Panetta and Dempsey would have executed a rescue mission order if the president had given those orders.   And like the former SEALs in Benghazi, General Ham and all of the troops under him would have been straining forward in their harnesses, ready to go into battle to save American lives. The execute orders would be given verbally to General Ham at AFRICOM in Stuttgart, but they would immediately be backed up in official message traffic for the official record.  That is why cross-border authority is the King Arthur's Sword for understanding Benghazi.  The POTUS and only the POTUS can pull out that sword. We can be 100% certain that cross-border authority was never given.  How do I know this?  Because if CBA was granted and the rescue mission execute orders were handed down, irrefutable records exist today in at least a dozen involved component commands, and probably many more.  No general or admiral will risk being hung out to dry for undertaking a mission-gone-wrong that the POTUS later disavows ordering, and instead blames on "loose cannons" or "rogue officers" exceeding their authority.  No general or admiral will order U.S.  armed forces to cross an international border on a hostile mission unless and until he is certain that the National Command Authority, in the person of the POTUS and his chain of command, has clearly and explicitly given that order: verbally at the outset, but thereafter in written orders and official messages.  If they exist, they could be produced today. When it comes to granting cross-border authority, there are no presidential mumblings or musings to paraphrase or decipher.  If you hear confusion over parsed statements given as an excuse for Benghazi, then you are hearing lies.  I am sure that hundreds of active-duty military officers know all about the Benghazi execute orders (or the lack thereof), and I am impatiently waiting for one of them to come forward to risk his career and pension as a whistleblower. Leon Panetta is falling on his sword for President Obama with his absurd-on-its-face, "the U.S.  military doesn't do risky things"-defense of his shameful no-rescue policy.  Panetta is utterly destroying his reputation. General Dempsey joins Panetta on the same sword with his tacit agreement by silence.  But why?  How far does loyalty extend when it comes to covering up gross dereliction of duty by the president? General Petraeus, however, has indirectly blown the whistle.  He was probably "used" in some way early in the cover-up with the purported CIA intel link to the Mohammed video, and now he feels burned.  So he conclusively said via his public affairs officer that the stand-down order did not come from the CIA.  Well - what outranks the CIA?  Only the national security team at the White House.  That means President Obama, and nobody else.  Petraeus is naming Obama without naming him.  If that is not quite as courageous as blowing a whistle, it is far better than the disgraceful behavior of Panetta and Dempsey. We do not know the facts for certain, but we do know that the rescue mission stand-down issue revolves around the granting or withholding of cross-border authority, which belongs only to President Obama.  More than one hundred gung-ho Force Recon Marines were waiting on the tarmac in Sigonella, just two hours away for the launch order that never came.

5th Day of Christmas - December 29

December 29

5th Day of Christmas – Five Golden Rings

5 Golden Rings (first 5 Books of the Old Testament - Torah)

On the fifth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Five gold rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves, and
A partridge in a pear tree

Song of the Day:  Angels We Have Heard On High:

(AKA:  Gloria in Excelsis Deo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is_7LUAs4V0&list=PLD9725518216EDFE4

Saint of the Day:   Saint Thomas Becket

King Henry II:  “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”

Murder in Canterbury Cathedral:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJycrT_UkAY

Sad, isn't it?

Someone please tell me  what the HELL's wrong  with

 

All the people that  run this country!!!!!! 

Both

 

Democrats and  Republicans

 

We're  "broke"

 

And can't  help

 

Our own

 

Seniors,

 

Veterans,

 

Orphans,

 

Homeless,

 

Etc.,???????????

In the  last years we have provided direct cash aid  to

 

 

Hamas - 351  M,

 

Libya 1.45  B,

 

Egypt - 397  M,

 

Mexico - 622  M,

 

Russia - 380  M,

 

Haiti - 1.4  B,

 

Jordan - 463  M,

 

Kenya - 816  M,

 

Sudan - 870  M,

 

Nigeria - 456  M,

 

Uganda - 451  M,

 

Congo - 359  M,

 

Ethiopia - 981  M,

 

Pakistan - 2  B,

 

South Africa - 566  M,

 

Senegal - 698  M,

 

Mozambique - 404  M,

 

Zambia - 331  M,

 

Kazakhstan - 304  M,

 

Iraq - 1.08  B,

 

Tanzania - 554  M,

 

With literally Billions of  Dollars and they still hate us!!!!

Our retired  seniors

 

Living on a 'fixed  income'

 

Receive no aid

Nor do  they get any breaks while our government
And  religious organizations pour
Hundreds of Billions 
Of $$$$$$'s and Tons of Food
To Foreign  Countries!

We have
Hundreds of adoptable 
Children who are shoved  aside

 

To make room  for

 

The adoption  of

 

Foreign  orphans.

 

AMERICA: a country where we  have

 

Homeless without shelter,  children going to bed hungry, elderly going without  needed medication and mentally ill without treatment  -etc.

 

YET.......................

They  have

 

A 'Benefit'
For the people  of Haiti on 12 TV stations,

 

Ships and planes lining up with  food, water, tents clothes, bedding, doctors and medical  supplies.

Imagine if
The  *GOVERNMENT*

 

Gave 'US' the same support they  give to other countries.

Sad isn't  it?

It's Merry Christmas, Not Happy Christmas

It’s Merry Christmas, Not Happy Christmas

By Matthew Schmitz

"Christmas is conspicuously the only time of year when the word “merry” receives heavy use. The greeting “Merry Christmas” dates back to at least 1565, in which year the author of the Hereford Municipal Manuscript wrote “And thus I comytt you to god, who send you a mery Christmas & many.” Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, pushed it forward, as did industrialization: The first commercially sold Christmas card (also printed in 1843) contained the salutation “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.”

Yet “Merry Christmas” did not gain universal support. The Night Before Christmas (Clement C. Moore’s, I mean, not Nikolai Gogol’s) ends with the words, “A Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.” Queen Elizabeth II wishes British subjects a “Happy Christmas” in her annual Christmas broadcasts, and the phrase enjoys a broad general currency the U.K.

What accounts for the difference? Queen Elizabeth, a woman of serious low-church piety, is said to prefer “happy” to “merry” because she dislikes “merry’s” connotation of boisterousness, even slight intoxication. (Similarly, in Holland some of the more strictly reformed Dutch prefer Zalig Kerstfeest—“Blessed Christmas”–to Vrolijk Kerstmis—“Merry Christmas.”)

This moral suspicion of “Merry Christmas” dates back to the Methodist churchmen of the Victorian era who sought to promote sobriety among the English working class. Merrymaking of the ancient, alcoholic sort was frowned on year-round, perhaps never more so than during the celebration of the Savior’s birth. The phrase “Merry Christmas” would hang on, but the image of a family sharing a bottle of port or wine in the first commercial Christmas card was to give way to more temperate holiday depictions.

We may no longer associate “merry” with spirits alcoholic as well as high, but the meaning was once familiar. “Merry” appeared in both the Wyclife and King James bibles in reference to intoxication, where it describes an evening in the life of the rich man Nabal: “He held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken.” (To wish someone a holiday feast like Nabal’s was to wish him a very good Christmas indeed.)

To certain ears, then, “Happy Christmas” conveys a sober, well-earned enjoyment, the satisfaction resulting from hard work and virtuous living. “Merry Christmas” stirs in us an impulse more primitive and unrestrained: The childlike giddiness of Christmas morning, the rush down the stairs and tearing at paper, the intemperate delight in gifts long hoped-for and wholly undeserved.

Which phrase conveys a more fitting response to the overwhelming, unearned, gift of Christ’s birth? Suffice it to say that when our Lord comes I hope I do not greet him with dignified reserve but instead rush at him with the unguarded, unembarrassed joy of a child at play or man at his cups. Merry Christmas to all!"

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/12/24/its-merry-christmas-not-happy-christmas/

4th Day of Christmas - December 28

December 28

4th Day of Christmas – Four Colly Birds

The 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

On the fourth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
Four colly birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves, and
A partridge in a pear tree.

Song of the Day:  What Child is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brmRUlKbF7g

What Child is this who, laid to rest,

On Mary’s lap is sleeping?

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,

While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing

Haste, haste, to bring him laud,

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Saint of the Day:   Holy Innocents (slaughtered by King Herod)

Read the story of these Bethlehem boys honored as the first martyrs for Christ (Matthew 2:13-18) and now seen as special patrons for pro-life activities. Remember victims of abortion.

Remember the victims of the atrocity in Newtown, CT.

Listen to the Coventry Carol Lullaby:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUFQoNW7NPs&list=HL1356365008&feature=mh_lolz

What is a Lullaby?

The term “lullaby” comes from medieval songs such as the Coventry Carol . . .

Coventry Carol
Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Lullay, thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we do sing
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Herod, the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.
That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever mourn and sigh,
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Coventry Carol - A Bit of History

Coventry Carol – A Bit of History by Thomas L. McDonald

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godandthemachine/2012/12/coventry-carol/

"From France to England, and a beloved Christmas song that takes on added poignancy this year.
One of the things ultimately killed off in the English Reformation were the regional “mystery plays”: local pageant cycles in which the common folk performed dramatized Biblical stories. (The York cycle is the most famous.) Many of the surviving texts derive from the flowering of Middle English in the wake of Chaucer and Langland, and are of a very high literary quality.

The performances were mounted by various guilds and professions, so the coopers would dramatize the Fall of Man, the shipwrights the building of the ark, the tile-thatchers the Nativity, the butchers the Crucifixion (yes, really), and so on. The plays were done on “pageant wagons”: essentially horse-drawn sets not unlike parade floats. It was a way for a largely illiterate population to learn their Bible stories, but it smacked too much of popery so the authorities forcibly repressed the practice. Fortunately, we live in more enlightened times.

One cycle of plays was the cycle for Coventry, and the play put on by the shearmen and tailors was the slaughter of the innocents. When Hamlet refers to an actor who “out-Herods Herod,” he’s talking about the over-emoting brought to the villainous role of Herod by amateur actors in these pageants.
After the slaughter of the innocents in the play, the women mourn for their lost children by singing them a final lullaby, and this is the origin of “Coventry Carol.” This performance is from the Mediaeval Baebes, and is the most delicate and haunting I’ve heard . . "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pUFQoNW7NPs

Coventry Carol (Lullaby) - Sung on the Feast of the Innocents

"In England, the Franciscans played an important role in the early development of Christmas carols.  A British manuscript compiled in 1372 by the Franciscan friar Johan de Grimestone contains the haunting carol, “Lullay, lullay, as I lay on Yoolis Night.” 

The carol tells of a dreamlike Christmas Eve vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary rocking her infant Son as she, at the invitation of her Son, relates the events leading up to His birth.  The format of this carol imitates the lullabies that medieval women sang to their children. 

The most famous of medieval English Christmas carol, the Coventry Carol, is taken from a 15^th century play and tells of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents by Harod . . ."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUFQoNW7NPs&list=HL1356365008&feature=mh_lolz