Second Annual Christmas Eve Caroling Thread - Weirddave

Last year we had a caroling thread where we walked around an imaginary neighborhood and sang to imaginary neighbors. I started it because I've always loved caroling (although I can't sing a lick) and nobody does it anymore. I wanted to continue the tradition virtually, and I'm going to do the same this year. I hope y'all will enjoy it as much as I do.

This year it's a little different. No imaginary neighborhood, no imaginary group of Morons singing. No, this year, I thought we'd just do it amongst ourselves. Jesus is the reason for the season, and no matter what your particular religious beliefs might be, all of this (the Christmas season) owes it's existence to Christianity. Our culture, such as is left to us, was founded on the promises that started with a little babe in a manger. Whether you believe in the mystical aspect or not is immaterial, belief is what shaped our culture, so let's celebrate that together, shall we?

In last years thread, I teased Cochran, implying that he would probably finish the brandy as we walked through the snow, going from house to house. That was unfair. Brent probably would have finished the brandy before we started. This year, however, we all have our own brandy, everybody raise a glass and toast:

Huh. A leader, a King, who put his concern with the lowest of his “subjects”. Seems to me I used to live in a nation where that was expected, not one where a 40 foot putt was celebrated. * shakes head * Never mind, tonight is a night for joy, not one for recriminations. Christmas celebrates Christ. He was born a babe, so...

I'm not one to unduly revere ceremony, no matter how magnificent it is, Catholic or Episcopalian, but ceremony has its place. It serves to remind us humans of our place, and we need that sometimes. God sent a part of himself to live among us as one of us, so that we might be forgiven of our sins (yea, don't get all superior agnostics and atheists. Tell me you don't “sin” as the term is understood. Then tell me you can fly to the moon)

But even aside from its religious aspect, Christmas serves as a cultural touchstone, a time when we gather together with friend and family to celebrate the personal connections that make our lives worth living.

It also serves to bind us together as a society. Consider the antiquated notions of “Christmas Spirit”. The idea was that this is a time of year to treat our fellow Americans better than we treated ourselves, an important contributor to social cohesion. How much better is that than the celebrity obsessed, narcissistic cesspool of a culture we're stuck with now?

Anyhow, the hour grows late, and perhaps we should be off. The children have a date with dancing sugarplums upstairs in their beds, and I should go myself. Let's close with the greatest carol of all time, bar none:

Goodnight Horde! May God bless and keep you all!

posted by Open Blogger at 08:20 PM

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