I happened upon two blog entries (from my little blogroll in the sidebar) that have exceptional blog value.
The first addresses itself to the Target Merry Christmas scandal (or not!). I love the questions asked by Grateful Bear at the end.
Where Would Jesus Shop?
The second is my first brush with how the Winter Solstice might be celebrated. By the end of this post, I wanted to join up! Such a delightful winter celebration!
Shimmer Glimpse's Winter Solstice
Enjoy!
2 comments:
Thanks for passing this along Julie. The whole Merry Christmas verses Happy Holiday debate makes me sick to my stomach...Here's some info back at you. Tommorow night the History channel is running a program on the history of Christmas. I saw it earlier in the week and it is quite interesting and very well done. Shows the whole relationship between pagan beliefs/practices and the evolution of Christmas. I think it will be broadcast around 7:00 P.M., but you might want to check local listings. Merry Christmas,Happy holidays,Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Winter Solstice to you and your family. Hope I didn't exclude anybody. Just trying to be inclusive as possible...
Hi Julie,
I enjoyed the perspective of both links. I have a few peacenik friends who are solstice observers, but my family remains pretty typical in our winter holiday celebration, where I'm just minutes away from heading to. This year we decided to keep the commercialism and spending down, but that's as much for practical (i.e. college tuition) reasons as anything profoundly spiritual or ethical. I spoke my thoughts on the "war on Christmas" topic on the list, but I'm pleased to see that there's been a significant backlash by many commentators and ordinary people who see through the bluster and don't feel at all intimidated by those who want to mandate certain greetings. Darrel's indirect comment about Christians who persist in rigid beliefs despite all evidence to the contrary is quite relevant to any number of social, political and of course theological concerns. I suppose we are all locked in to defending our opinions, but there is something peculiarly tenacious about the fundamentalists. Especially since so many of them seem to be directed not by their own thoughts and reasonings but by the directives of "higher ups" who simply announce the latest scandal and then proceed to feed off of the frenzy of indignation that shortly thereafter follows.
And with that, may you have a happy, healthy and memorable Christmas-time! :o)
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