Monday, December 16, 2013

One Solitary Life


 He was born in an obscure village, The child of a peasant woman.
 He grew up in still another village where He worked in a carpenter shop
 until He was thirty.
 Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
 He never wrote a book.
 He never held an office.
 He didn't go to college.
 He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born.
 He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.
 He had no credentials but Himself.
 He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him.
 His friends ran away.
 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 He was 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 He is the central figure of
 the human race and the Leader of mankind's progress.
 All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the
 parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned put together have
 not affected the life of man on earth as much as that one solitary life. 
                                                                                               (Author Unknown)

Friday, December 6, 2013

12 Days of Christmas


As we make our journey through Advent our thoughts turn to Christmas.  There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to  practice their faith openly.  Someone during that period wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.  Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
  • The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
  • Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments
  • Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
  • The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
  • The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
  • The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
  • Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
  • The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
  • Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
  • The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
  • The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
  • The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol.