Christmas Songs - The 12 Days of Christmas

I've got the Christmas spirit but my body is fighting the flu. Who wants to be sick at Christmas? I don't.
So while I'm recuperating, here's something I learned today while surfing the net, thanks to my blog friend Kathy at A Gentle Answer Ministries.

The twelve days of Christmas are the twelve days between Christmas Day, Dec. 25th, the birth of Jesus, and the Epiphany, Jan. 6th, the day Christians celebrate the arrival of the Magi (Wise Men) and the revelation of Christ as the light of the world.

The Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" may sound silly and contrived to many of us. But it actually had its origins in religious symbolism - and with a serious purpose.

It dates from a time of religious persecution. The song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," was written as a kind of secret catechism that could sing in public without fear of arrest - a learning or memory aid to Christians in fact.

The song can be taken at two levels of interpretation - the surface meaning, or the hidden meaning known only to the Christians involved. Each element is a code word for a religious truth.

1. The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus.
2. The two turtledoves are the Old and New Testaments.
3. Three French hens stand for faith, hope and love.
4. The four calling birds are the four Gospels.
5. The five gold rings recall the Hebrew Torah (Law), or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament.
6. The six geese a-laying stand for the six days of creation.
7. The seven swans a-swimming represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
8. The eight maids a-milking are the eight Beatitudes.
9. Nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.
10. The ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments.
11. Eleven pipers piping represent the eleven faithful Apostles.
12. Twelve drummers drumming symbolize the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles Creed.

If you think Jesus being symbolized as a partridge in a pear tree sounds blasphemous, remember: "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but thou wouldst not have it so." (Luke 13:34 and Matthew 23:34) The "true love" in the song refers to God Himself.

The "me" receiving the gifts is every Christian.

So that "silly" song we sing at Christmas time has more meaning than we thought.

Did you know this?

I'll be back soon.

Maranatha

I had the good fortune of being part of an active youth group.  Unlike many young people today, I actually enjoyed going to church.  The Youth Group was counter cultural - if you didn't fit in with the world, no worries, you definitely fit in here and to a young person that is comforting. This group ranged in age from 13 - 35.  They were young adults who were successful in their lives, for the younger folks to look up to. One year, under the leadership of one of our members, a musical production was created called Maranatha. Maranatha means -  the Lord is coming. It was often a form of greeting in the early church.

The musical production was about Jesus, what He did, how He impacted lives and how He's coming again.
It was set in a modern day setting so that anyone could relate to it.
The music was hip and happening yet not taking away from the message, the sets were realistic (as we had some artists in our youth group) and the acting was superb. It was performed at a local theater for 2 nights and both nights to a packed house. This was approximately 20 years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.
My description may not do it justice as I think it was something that everyone should have seen.

I distinctly remember this poem being quoted by a group of guys during the play set to  a rhythmic musical background.

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village

The child of a peasant woman

He grew up in another obscure village

Where he worked in a carpenter shop

Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book

He never held an office

He never went to college

He never visited a big city

He never travelled more than two hundred miles

From the place where he was born

He did none of the things

Usually associated with greatness

He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away

One of them denied him

He was turned over to his enemies

And went through the mockery of a trial

He was nailed to a cross between two thieves

While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing

The only property he had on earth

When he was dead

He was laid in a borrowed grave

Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone

And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race

And the leader of mankind's progress

All the armies that have ever marched

All the navies that have ever sailed

All the parliaments that have ever sat

All the kings that ever reigned put together

Have not affected the life of mankind on earth

As powerfully as that one solitary life

Dr James Allan © 1926.

It impacted me then and it impacts me now. Though many wish that Jesus did not exist there is no denying His existence. This is one of the hopeful messages of Christmas - that Christ came as a babe in a manger but He's returning as a King!

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

Maranatha!

Have you ever heard of Maranatha? Does your church do anything special for Christmas? Does your church have an active youth group?

Marinating in Family History

This weekend I went home to attend my uncle's funeral. His wife passed during the summer and on Thanksgiving Day he went to heaven to meet her. He had a debilitating strain of Alzheimers and it was often uncomfortable to see his demise.

At this stage of the game, funerals and weddings are the only times we get together and of late it seems to be more funerals than anything else.  I told my younger cousins that it's time for some weddings and baby showers - hopefully they get the hint.

I learned a lot about my uncle this weekend; I learned that:

• He was a bodybuilder in his youth
• He was a  dapper dresser
• He eloped with his wife of 56 years
• He had a secret thanksgiving recipe for stuffing
• He had a bike that he treated like a Cadillac
• He really loved the Lord and took his Christian walk seriously
• He sometimes preached at his church

During the burial, I had a chance to sit in my mother's house and think about my life and the people I came from.

A picture of my brother for whom this blog is named

My parents on their wedding day

Our 1st Photo shoot (yours truly is somewhere in there) - that's a picture of my brother and the three girls.

The family photo circa 1983

My brother had recently taken a photography course and had all of his equipment.  I remember him putting the camera on the tripod, telling us all to smile and rushing back over so we would all be in the picture.  We were all excited about his new hobby!

Writing this and thinking about him makes me sad. We were a large loud family, and looking back the good times outweigh the bad.

Ending on a happier note, Saturday evening my sister and I went in to Manhattan to see the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Plaza.

As a Christian, though I'm sad at the passing of family, if they were believers I know that one day I will be reunited with them in Heaven.

Believers Who Have Died

 ¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18

Are you missing someone this Christmas? Are you cherishing the family you do have, imperfections and all?

Secret Santa Smiles!

One of the many reasons I started blogging was because I was lonely. I had moved from one coast to the other and it just seemed like it took a long time to meet new friends and make new meaningful friendships. In the interim, I discovered blogging and thought I'd blog and meet blogfriends!  I have met some wonderful bloggers in blogworld and this year for the for the first time ever I'm participating in a Secret Santa via the blogworld.

I participated on a hunch thinking it would be a lot of fun - we shall see.

Part of my instructions is to blog and give my SS some hints about me.

Well, if you read this blog, you can get a sense of who I am:

• I'm a Christian who loves to study the Bible and apply to it my life (hope that doesn't scare you off!)
• I'm a wife and mother
• I love my children, love my husband, and love life.
• I love to laugh
• I love to read
• and...I have a thing for shoes!!!

Honestly, I'm not picky and I'm just grateful that someone would take a moment to remember me in the form of a gift.

For the person I've selected, I've read your blog and think I know exactly what to get!!!

Ho hO HO!!!