# The Christmas Thread



## Dave Whitmore

I love everything about Christmas. Especially the music and the decorations. I just ordered The Joy Of Christmas, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. 

We moved into a beautiful new place in September and I couldn't wait to see how it looks decorated, so the day after Thanksgiving I put the decs up.


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## Nate Miller

I think its funny how every year I have to practice Christmas carols again because its been 11 months since I played them

But I like playing them. Last night I played a Christmas party and covered about 2 hours. tomorrow night I'm going with some folks to go sing at the local hospitals. We go through the wards singing carols. 

I remember one year, we were going through a ward of Alzheimer's patients and this old fella came up beside me and started singing with me. We were singing Silent Night, and that old fella knew all 3 verses. you could look in his eyes and see his mind was gone, but we walked arm in arm down his ward singing Silent Night together.

then this Saturday the parish is holding a Posada, which is a Spanish procession sort of thing, but people sing carols in between the different stations and they asked me to bring down my steel string cowboy guitar to strum chords for the people.

then Christmas Eve, our organist asked me to play for all the Masses that day. that will be on classical guitar. I'll even get to accompany the congregation on a couple of carols. Like instead of the organ , it will be me. That's pretty cool, really. They'll be over 1200 folks there for the 4pm Mass. I'll get some time to play a couple solos on the guitar, too.

then for the choir Mass at the end of the night, I'll be singing a duet of O Holy Night. I'm singing with my friend Mary who's a soprano. It was her idea for us to sing together this year, but it was a really good idea

what I like about this time of year is that just about everything I play at is a special deal. its not like playing in the month of August


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## Pugg

I decorated the house last weekend, always fun when it's finished.


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## SixFootScowl

Well, I put up a line of lights across the front of the roof (larger 2-inch-long bulbs in red, green, blue, and orange) and a light-up nativity on the lawn. In the past we had more lights (garage and bushes) and a light-up star that went up on a gable of the house, but I have been too busy to do as much lately.


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## JosefinaHW

What a great idea to have a Christmas Thread!!!

I love advent calendars! The tradition began when I was a child and in the past five years I've begun to gather a collection: several from Germany, England and the US. The pictures are so wonderful that there are only a few calendars that I use as advent calendars. I'm going to see if I can scan them and post the images.

In the meantime I can post images of some that are still on the market.

The following is an advent calendar that was the image used on the primary annual Ravensburger Christmas jigsaw puzzles. Ravensburger Jigsaw puzzles are still made in Germany--"the true toy makers to the King."

https://postimage.org/app.php

The following is a lovely German advent calendar.

https://postimage.org/app.php

Part of the Venice Canal:

https://postimage.org/


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## Pugg

JosefinaHW said:


> What a great idea to have a Christmas Thread!!!
> 
> I love advent calendars! The tradition began when I was a child and in the past five years I've begun to gather a collection: several from Germany, England and the US. The pictures are so wonderful that there are only a few calendars that I use as advent calendars. I'm going to see if I can scan them and post the images.
> 
> In the meantime I can post images of some that are still on the market.
> 
> The following is an advent calendar that was the image used on the primary annual Ravensburger Christmas jigsaw puzzles. Ravensburger Jigsaw puzzles are still made in Germany--"the true toy makers to the King."
> 
> https://postimage.org/app.php
> 
> The following is a lovely German advent calendar.
> 
> https://postimage.org/app.php
> 
> Part of the Venice Canal:
> 
> https://postimage.org/


You are such a romantic Josefina, please stay that way.


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## JosefinaHW

A few more advent calendar images:

A charming very traditional German advent calendar (all the German images I've posted have silver glitter on various places on the images--I will just have to take photos of some of them.

https://postimage.org/

Resurrection Church in St. Petersburg

https://postimage.org/


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## JosefinaHW

There are so many wonderful Christmas traditions that my parents gave to me and my sister.

Unfortunately for purposes of this thread my sister has all our photo albums apart from my latest travel photos. 

It was a tradition that each year my sister and I would each be given an ornament for the tree. In the early years we were each given several. Then later as we developed unique tastes we would pick-out our own ornaments or 5 or 6 choices for our mother to choose one or two. My choices were the hand-blown glass Polish ornaments. I have a phenomenal collection of these ornaments and I inherited those types of ornaments from both sets of grandparents. Having ferrets as companion animals is not conducive to having a large Christmas tree with delicate ornaments so my sister adds a large portion of my ornaments to her tree now. I have about 20-25 that I use for a 4 ft tree that I put up out of the reach of Fezziwig. When I get ready to put up the tree I will take photos--I am behind schedule this year.

Another choice I made later in life was to continue to celebrate Christmas through the Eastern Orthodox Church calendar. So I celebrate the 12-days of Christmas and beyond and that way I've been able to restrain myself and make the attempt to de-secularize Advent (at least for a couple of weeks).

When we were children the entire month of December was cookie baking time: butter cookies that were in different shapes as a result of squeezing the dough through a special design plate: flowers, trees, wreaths... then adding a cherry or large, colored crystal sugar. My favorite cookie to make were the cut-out cookies: trees, snowmen, gingerbread men, sleighs, holly leaves, camels, endless shapes... as I got older I still made them but the decorating of each cookie became so elaborate it would take two or three hours to decorate 6 cookies  My mother would play Johnny Matthis (smooooooooth voice), Percy Faith, Ray Coniff, Andy Williams, Arthur Fiedler, etc., Christmas music every evening. The classical music Christmas music began a few years after I began piano and I would buy my own LPs. 

Such wonderful memories!!!


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## JosefinaHW

There were certain cookies that my mother didn't know how to make and that we always bought at the bakery: Springerles and Pfeffernesses (I have probably spelled them incorrectly, but they are close enough). I have no idea why my mother bought the Pfeffernesses because none of us liked them that I remember. About three years ago my sister and I began to purchase very old Springerle molds and we have been making them ever since, each year trying to buy more molds. 

There are also traditional Central and Eastern European cakes and "pastries" that my sister and I make together... again, these are very time-consuming recipes: yeast is added and the dough has to rise, be beaten down, rise again.... you need some serious muscle between the kneeding of all the dough and the grinding of the nuts. Again, will take photos if we have the opportunity to make them again this year.


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## JosefinaHW

Pugg said:


> You are such a romantic Josefina, please stay that way.


Thank you very much, Pugg. I appreciate your comment greatly!


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## Dave Whitmore

JosefinaHW said:


> What a great idea to have a Christmas Thread!!!
> 
> I love advent calendars! The tradition began when I was a child and in the past five years I've begun to gather a collection: several from Germany, England and the US. The pictures are so wonderful that there are only a few calendars that I use as advent calendars. I'm going to see if I can scan them and post the images.
> 
> In the meantime I can post images of some that are still on the market.
> 
> The following is an advent calendar that was the image used on the primary annual Ravensburger Christmas jigsaw puzzles. Ravensburger Jigsaw puzzles are still made in Germany--"the true toy makers to the King."
> 
> https://postimage.org/app.php
> 
> The following is a lovely German advent calendar.
> 
> https://postimage.org/app.php
> 
> Part of the Venice Canal:
> 
> https://postimage.org/


Thank you for sharing this. It's funny you talking about advent calendars. I moved from England to America almost 12 years ago. Advent calendars are very common in England but not so in the US. Not that I'd found, anyway. But we just moved to a small town in New Jersey and I found a Christmas store that sells traditional advent calendars just like the one in your photo. So an old tradition can at last be revived. Along with Christmas crackers!


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## JosefinaHW

Dave Whitmore said:


> Thank you for sharing this. It's funny you talking about advent calendars. I moved from England to America almost 12 years ago. Advent calendars are very common in England but not so in the US. Not that I'd found, anyway. But we just moved to a small town in New Jersey and I found a Christmas store that sells traditional advent calendars just like the one in your photo. So an old tradition can at last be revived. Along with Christmas crackers!


A belated welcome to the US, Dave!  I'm originally from Philadelphia and now I live in Central Pennsylvania.

I'm very glad that you found that store. Advent Calendars never completed disappeared here in the US; at least I have always been able to find them but the company that sells the majority of those of the images I posted has done a tremendous amount to make them more available with many different images from several different countries. They were founded in the late 90s. (As I think about this I realize that I have purchased from them for well over five years, I think I found them in 2001.) Unfortunately all their original designs were initially printed in the USA (they always had calendars from Germany) now the original images are printed in China.

I don't know how long Christmas crackers have been available here in the US but there are many variations of them available here now: everything from the traditional hat, riddle/joke, gift; to animal figurines; luxury gifts--jewelry, etc., etc..

The following are several images of an Advent calendar that was designed by an American artist; this calendar is from another company and, as far as I know, is no longer for sale. I love the wonderful little details (can't bear to open the windows and crease the image).

Full Image:

https://postimage.org/

Detailed Images:

https://postimage.org/

https://postimage.org/

https://postimage.org/


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## JosefinaHW

Only could post five images in previous post:

More Detailed Images:

https://postimage.org/

https://postimage.org/app.php


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## JosefinaHW

Images of Springerle cookie molds and cookies. My sister and I have several of these molds but these are pictures from a catalog:

The Twelve Days of Christmas. Each day has the traditional image.

https://postimage.org/

The twelve molds:

https://postimage.org/

Many of these molds are works of art.

Victorian Santa cookie

https://postimage.org/

The Santa mold

https://postimage.org/

Nativity Cookie

https://postimage.org/


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## SixFootScowl

We have a huge (world's largest) Christmas store here in Frankenmuth, Michigan: Bronner's Christmas Wonderland.









It is impossible to depict the inside in a photograph. The place is huge and a shopping trip could take hours to browse the entire store. Google images shows many scenes inside the store. If it is made, they should have it, including many Advent Calendars.

They also have a lighting display around their facility and a History of the Silent Night Chapel you can visit. The town has a German theme and a wide variety of shops with two huge restaurants. A great place to visit. My family has been going there for decades.


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## Dave Whitmore

JosefinaHW said:


> A belated welcome to the US, Dave!  I'm originally from Philadelphia and now I live in Central Pennsylvania.
> 
> I'm very glad that you found that store. Advent Calendars never completed disappeared here in the US; at least I have always been able to find them but the company that sells the majority of those of the images I posted has done a tremendous amount to make them more available with many different images from several different countries. They were founded in the late 90s. (As I think about this I realize that I have purchased from them for well over five years, I think I found them in 2001.) Unfortunately all their original designs were initially printed in the USA (they always had calendars from Germany) now the original images are printed in China.
> 
> I don't know how long Christmas crackers have been available here in the US but there are many variations of them available here now: everything from the traditional hat, riddle/joke, gift; to animal figurines; luxury gifts--jewelry, etc., etc..
> 
> The following are several images of an Advent calendar that was designed by an American artist; this calendar is from another company and, as far as I know, is no longer for sale. I love the wonderful little details (can't bear to open the windows and crease the image).
> 
> Full Image:
> 
> https://postimage.org/
> 
> Detailed Images:
> 
> https://postimage.org/
> 
> https://postimage.org/
> 
> https://postimage.org/


Thank You!

Those calendars are beautiful. I love the designs on advent calendars. As well as the little pieces of chocolate! I would post a pic of mine but as 7 days have been opened already it's not in pristine condition í ½í¸ Next year I'll have to post a pic before December 1st.


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## Tristan

I love everything about Christmas too. I'm lucky that I attend college only a 15 minute drive away from where I grew up, otherwise I wouldn't be able to come home so often. My family and I just went and cut down a tree yesterday at a farm in the Santa Cruz mountains. Now we're going to decorate it today and I'm really looking forward to that  I've already put up some decorations and lights in my dorm room (of course, as a typical college student I have some kind of Christmas lights up all year!)

One of my favorite things to do during Christmas is go shopping at Union Square in SF while it's all decked out. I'll be doing that some night next week hopefully.


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## SixFootScowl

I attended a live performance of Handel's Messiah last Saturday and have been listening to my many Messiah recordings for the past couple of weeks.


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## Dave Whitmore

We have a huge Christmas store just a few miles from where we live. We're going to have to pay it a visit. Never know what I might find!


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## Pugg

I just ordered some more lights, never enough Christmas lights.

​


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## Jos

I should show this thread to wife and daughters ! Tree and other deco will be installed this weekend. Usually a dog will cause mayhem by knocking over the tree by stealing some low-hanging cookies.
Tomorrow my wife and daughters go to Dusseldorf, Germany for the christmass market. That means a whole day of Scarlatti and Bach on harpsichord for me !! 
Happy holidays to you all !


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## JosefinaHW

:Jos: You finally adopted another dog?!? Please post pics.


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## Jos

Ha Josefina,

Yeah, we have a new member of the household: Koosje. Now 5 months old and a bit of a handful but great fun.
A mix between a father boxer and a mother Staffordshire terrier, the English ones. Wonderful animal, feels like she's been with us for years, and it is only 10 weeks !
Pics soon in the appropriate thread !


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## Dave Whitmore

Jos said:


> I should show this thread to wife and daughters ! Tree and other deco will be installed this weekend. Usually a dog will cause mayhem by knocking over the tree by stealing some low-hanging cookies.
> Tomorrow my wife and daughters go to Dusseldorf, Germany for the christmass market. That means a whole day of Scarlatti and Bach on harpsichord for me !!
> Happy holidays to you all !


Sounds like fun times! Those German Christmas markets sound amazing. I've heard a lot about them. I regret that when I lived in England I didn't take a trip to one of them. I was a lot closer to Germany then than I am now!


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## SixFootScowl

Another thing I did this Christmas season was to avoid shopping hassles by doing most gift shopping online.


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## Dave Whitmore

Florestan said:


> Another thing I did this Christmas season was to avoid shopping hassles by doing most gift shopping online.


Smart thinking! I went to our local mall this afternoon and it was surprisingly quiet. I bet it won't be like that tomorrow! I hate shopping when the shops are crowded.


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## Dave Whitmore

Pugg said:


> I just ordered some more lights, never enough Christmas lights.
> 
> ​


Definitely! When it comes to Christmas is there any such thing as too much of anything? Except food, maybe.


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## Pugg

Dave Whitmore said:


> Definitely! When it comes to Christmas is there any such thing as too much of anything? Except food, maybe.


The best thing I like is the idea "like each other factor" and doing something extra nice for my grandparents.


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## SixFootScowl

Dave Whitmore said:


> Definitely! When it comes to Christmas is there any such thing as too much of anything? Except food, maybe.


There can be too much of going into the office. One needs to take time off at Christmas. Of course, it is kind of peaceful at the office when everybody else is off for Christmas and the drive is a breeze without all the normal traffic.


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## Dave Whitmore

I am blissing out listening to my new Ultimate Classical Christmas Album cd. With the Christmas tree lights on I am in heaven right now. This is why I love this holiday!


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## Pugg

Dave Whitmore said:


> I am blissing out listening to my new Ultimate Classical Christmas Album cd. With the Christmas tree lights on I am in heaven right now. This is why I love this holiday!


And still more days to come.


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## starthrower

I'm counting the days until Christmas Eve, so can I go back to my regular work schedule. I don't like getting up at 12:45 am.


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## Vaneyes

To help with holiday travels, countries to avoid. 

https://intelcenter.com/maps/cti.html#gs.TWZi4rs


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## motoboy

Was Maedhros Morgoth's Elf On The Shelf?


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## TxllxT

*Gedächtniskirche Christmas Market Berlin*




























Remembering the assault with a truck on 19 december......................


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## Vaneyes




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## pcnog11

I wish all the members of this forum a very Merry Christmas! May you and your family is surrounded by love, joy and peace during the Christmas season! All the best for everyone enjoying classical music in 2017!

Happy listening!


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## Pugg

pcnog11 said:


> I wish all the members of this forum a very Merry Christmas! May you and your family is surrounded by love, joy and peace during the Christmas season! All the best for everyone enjoying classical music in 2017!
> 
> Happy listening!


That's very nice , I would say:likewise!


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## JosefinaHW

Thank you very much, pcnog11. The following is another wonderful version by some of the members of the Berlin Philharmonic.


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## JosefinaHW

The epitome of Christmas Joy..... ('million thanks to Kontrapunctus)


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## pcnog11

JosefinaHW said:


> Thank you very much, pcnog11. The following is another wonderful version by some of the members of the Berlin Philharmonic.


So many performances and renditions on Silent Night ranging for solo voices to symphony orchestras to organs or event rock music etc. I am wondering if anyone have heard the original score composition for guitar (if it still exists).

Here is the story if you have not heard about it:

http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/silent.htm

It bring a tear to my eye every time I read it.


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## Guest

I am always amused by Nativity scenes because none of them came out of the bible.









Here we see Catholic figures that could not have existed at this time!! And what the hell is that knight doing there? He's probably looking around thinking, "Boy, I made a wrong turn somewhere! I'll just kneel down and try to blend in." Then there's a king in armor with a coat-of-arms on a flag!! And you gotta love that sacrificial ram!! And a king is presenting Jesus, who is seated in a chair, with a European castle or manor of the kind that won't exist for well over a thousand years from then!!









Here we see the familiar story of the three kings visiting the Holy Infant except no birth narrative in the bible said there were any kings present. In Matthew, he says Jesus was visited by "magoi" or magi. Magi are basically astrologers. Yet NEVER do you ever hear of the legend of Jesus being visited by astrologers even though that IS the actual story!! One's even black, where'd they get that? What kind of manger is Jesus laying in? A manger is a feed trough on legs. Then we see shepherds. Sorry, that's in Luke. In Luke, the Infant was visited by shepherds and in Matthew by astrologers--not both at once. And when the astrologers came to visit Jesus, he was in a house not a stable. The stable story is in Luke with the shepherds. Actually, we don't even know there was a stable but it seems reasonable to assume it.









Here, they almost get the story correct from Luke. Three shepherds in a stable, Jesus in a manger. The only problem is, where did the angels come from? No angels are mentioned in any nativity narrative as being at the birth location but they are virtually always present at every Nativity scene. There's one more problem although I guess there isn't much that can be done to make it correct: neither Infant narrative tells us how many shepherds or astrologers came to visit the kid. Three are always depicted and we always hear about the three wise men, but read the gospels--they don't say how many. Could have been three, could have been 3000. Could have been two--we don't know. Yet most Christians will instantly tell you there were three and won't believe you if you tell them that the bible doesn't specify how many.

Another thing that's weird is that we are told the astrologers came from the East of Jerusalem and that they were following a star. They tell people that they have come to see the kid "for we have seen his star in the east." Now, hold on here: they were EAST of Jerusalem, looked to the EAST and saw this star and followed it and yet went WEST to Jerusalem. Kind of weird, isn't it? Some try to say that the star rose in the east and moved westward and they followed it but would skilled astrologers be this stupid as to walk east and then start walking west as the star passes over them? Who does that? Besides, a few verses later, the astrologers went onto Bethlehem at Herod's request by following the star which actually guides them and stops over Jesus. So the star had independent movement. We'll ignore the utter impossibility of a star millions or billions or even quite possibly trillions of miles away (the most distant star we can see with the naked eye, V762 Cas, is 16,300 light-years away and a light-year is 6 trillion miles) zipping through space instantaneously while its light, which would take centuries to reach us, somehow reaches us instantaneously as well.









I mean, sure, go ahead create a Nativity scene like this. It's no less inaccurate than the others. Mr. Burns, I assume, wrote Jesus a check. And who would have thought Jesus's birth was announced by a rapper with a microphone.


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## TxllxT

Victor Redseal said:


> I am always amused by Nativity scenes because none of them came out of the bible.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here we see Catholic figures that could not have existed at this time!! And what the hell is that knight doing there? He's probably looking around thinking, "Boy, I made a wrong turn somewhere! I'll just kneel down and try to blend in." Then there's a king in armor with a coat-of-arms on a flag!! And you gotta love that sacrificial ram!! And a king is presenting Jesus, who is seated in a chair, with a European castle or manor of the kind that won't exist for well over a thousand years from then!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here we see the familiar story of the three kings visiting the Holy Infant except no birth narrative in the bible said there were any kings present. In Matthew, he says Jesus was visited by "magoi" or magi. Magi are basically astrologers. Yet NEVER do you ever hear of the legend of Jesus being visited by astrologers even though that IS the actual story!! One's even black, where'd they get that? What kind of manger is Jesus laying in? A manger is a feed trough on legs. Then we see shepherds. Sorry, that's in Luke. In Luke, the Infant was visited by shepherds and in Matthew by astrologers--not both at once. And when the astrologers came to visit Jesus, he was in a house not a stable. The stable story is in Luke with the shepherds. Actually, we don't even know there was a stable but it seems reasonable to assume it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here, they almost get the story correct from Luke. Three shepherds in a stable, Jesus in a manger. The only problem is, where did the angels come from? No angels are mentioned in any nativity narrative as being at the birth location but they are virtually always present at every Nativity scene. There's one more problem although I guess there isn't much that can be done to make it correct: neither Infant narrative tells us how many shepherds or astrologers came to visit the kid. Three are always depicted and we always hear about the three wise men, but read the gospels--they don't say how many. Could have been three, could have been 3000. Could have been two--we don't know. Yet most Christians will instantly tell you there were three and won't believe you if you tell them that the bible doesn't specify how many.
> 
> Another thing that's weird is that we are told the astrologers came from the East of Jerusalem and that they were following a star. They tell people that they have come to see the kid "for we have seen his star in the east." Now, hold on here: they were EAST of Jerusalem, looked to the EAST and saw this star and followed it and yet went WEST to Jerusalem. Kind of weird, isn't it? Some try to say that the star rose in the east and moved westward and they followed it but would skilled astrologers be this stupid as to walk east and then start walking west as the star passes over them? Who does that? Besides, a few verses later, the astrologers went onto Bethlehem at Herod's request by following the star which actually guides them and stops over Jesus. So the star had independent movement. We'll ignore the utter impossibility of a star millions or billions or even quite possibly trillions of miles away (the most distant star we can see with the naked eye, V762 Cas, is 16,300 light-years away and a light-year is 6 trillion miles) zipping through space instantaneously while its light, which would take centuries to reach us, somehow reaches us instantaneously as well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I mean, sure, go ahead create a Nativity scene like this. It's no less inaccurate than the others. Mr. Burns, I assume, wrote Jesus a check. And who would have thought Jesus's birth was announced by a rapper with a microphone.


The donkey and the ox have come into the stable out of the book of Isaiah. One thing is sure: The '_magoi_'-astrologers were not Jews. The evangelist Matthew introduces these pagans in the beginning of his gospel, because in the end the gospel is going out of Israel towards the nations (pagans). The same A BB A pattern one may notice with the Holy Spirit. He enters in the beginning and the end of the gospels. It remains important to keep distinguishing the narrative strategies of the evangelists....


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## Judith

I just want to wish everyone Merry Christmas/Happy Chanukah!! Seasons Greetings!!


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## Kivimees

As always at this time of year, I'm reading A Christmas Carol by Dickens:

'You'll want all day to-morrow, I suppose?' said Scrooge. :lol:


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## Guest

TxllxT said:


> The donkey and the ox have come into the stable out of the book of Isaiah. One thing is sure: The '_magoi_'-astrologers were not Jews. The evangelist Matthew introduces these pagans in the beginning of his gospel, because in the end the gospel is going out of Israel towards the nations (pagans). The same A BB A pattern one may notice with the Holy Spirit. He enters in the beginning and the end of the gospels. It remains important to keep distinguishing the narrative strategies of the evangelists....


Many moons ago, I read a book called _Gospel Fictions_ by Randel Helms which lays out the literary devices and licenses the authors of each gospel used and why he used them. An interesting read.


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## SixFootScowl

Kivimees said:


> As always at this time of year, I'm reading A Christmas Carol by Dickens:
> 
> 'You'll want all day to-morrow, I suppose?' said Scrooge. :lol:


Absolutely wonderful book! Used to read it to the kids every December in the days leading up to Christmas.


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## Pugg

The whole house looks beautiful, the fire place is cleaned out, food enough to feed a small_ family_ army, I say, let it start.....


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## Huilunsoittaja

I was thinking the other day... what is Christmas without music? You can have the decorations, the food, the presents, but it just wouldn't be the same without the music, both secular and sacred. Music _is _what makes Christmas! I mean, besides Jesus.


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## Bettina

This week, I've been getting many lovely Christmas presents from my piano students, including some CDs and music scores. It's nice to get so many presents in the days leading up to Christmas--one of the many perks of being a teacher!


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## jurianbai

Allow me to send e-card to everyone here .... Merry X'mas 2016!


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## Pugg

jurianbai said:


> View attachment 90995
> Allow me to send e-card to everyone here .... Merry X'mas 2016!


And a Merry Christmas to you .


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## SiegendesLicht

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I was thinking the other day... what is Christmas without music? You can have the decorations, the food, the presents, but it just wouldn't be the same without the music, both secular and sacred. Music _is _what makes Christmas! I mean, besides Jesus.


You are so 100% right! I have no decorations this year, no Christmas tree, my beloved man is a thousand km away, and my biggest present will arrive who knows when. But the music is always there, and I am very happy about that. So, what I am going to do this Christmas Eve, is take my laptop and headphones, go to a German restaurant and enjoy some organ Bach with my beer. Beer, bratwurst and Bach - sound like a nice combination 

Merry Christmas to everyone!


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## Art Rock

View attachment 91000


Merry Christmas, everybody!


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## Huilunsoittaja

Just took this picture of our tree here at my home. Merry Christmas!


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## ralphii

I wish Merry Christmas with some self-composed virtuosic Christmas music for concert band - enjoy!


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## Pat Fairlea

Merry Christmas everyone!


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## Pugg

ralphii said:


> I wish Merry Christmas with some self-composed virtuosic Christmas music for concert band - enjoy!


Thank you very much, highly appreciated.


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## SarahNorthman

I have been kind of discouraged with how many scrooges are coming out of the wood work as I get older. Why do people have to be so bitter about what is supposed to be such a lovely time of year? The people who cannot appreciate it for what it means I suppose.


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## Pugg

SarahNorthman said:


> I have been kind of discouraged with how many scrooges are coming out of the wood work as I get older. Why do people have to be so bitter about what is supposed to be such a lovely time of year? The people who cannot appreciate it for what it means I suppose.


Dear Sarah, we are always going to have people who are thinking they are better then the rest.
They are not very well mannered, let me tell you this, _we are all equal ._


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## SiegendesLicht

SarahNorthman said:


> I have been kind of discouraged with how many scrooges are coming out of the wood work as I get older. Why do people have to be so bitter about what is supposed to be such a lovely time of year? The people who cannot appreciate it for what it means I suppose.


Sour grapes. They have lost the ability to have fun for themselves and are trying to spoil it for others. Or else the only meaning of Christmas for them is an endless cycle of present-buying, and they don't know how to get themselves out of it.


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## Ingélou

This year it's a bit different for us. We went to a Christmas Mass at 8.00 last night to have time today to visit Mum in the Care Home. There were carols beforehand and it was very beautiful - the best bit of Christmas for us. 
We've just spent late morning with Mum & left her at her Christmas dinner table. 
Now we're going to have a fabulous time eating our Christmas lunch - bacon butties - and watching an episode of Star Trek Voyager. Then back to the Care Home for some dominoes. 

Tonight - I'm cooking gluten-free Pasta Bolognese & there'll be some more Voyager. 

And do you know what - it's lovely just taking the time to enjoy Christmas without tinselly frills. 

Happy Christmas, everyone. :tiphat:


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## starthrower

I've come down with a bloody miserable cold on Christmas Eve. That's okay because there's no tasty food to miss out on anyway. I'll just have a protein drink, some oranges, and coffee. And treasure my two days off before I go back to the grind. 

As far a the endless cycle of present buying goes, I don't participate except for delivering all the junk on my job. You know who the real Santa Clauses are? It's the postal workers laboring away until 8 pm Christmas Eve. I know one thing. Amazon made a fortune! Merry Christmas! Sniffle, sniffle...


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## Ingélou

^^^^^ :tiphat: Hope you have a good time *after* Christmas.


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## Potiphera

We always have a quiet but enjoyable Christmas day. Just relaxing now after our lovely dinner! 

Happy & peaceful Christmas to you all! :angel:


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## SixFootScowl

Merry Christmas. I hope everyone has a nice CD set in their stocking!


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## SixFootScowl

The post man brought me several of my gifts to myself on 23 and 24 December:

Wagner complete Ring cycle--Solti
Orphee et Eurydice, Gluck
Samson et Delila, Saint-Saens with Waltraud Meier and Placido Domingo
Monteverdi 1st Opera Cycle with Harnoncourt--three operas in one set

Currently listening to Handel's Messiah though for Christmas (Glover's recording): http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_SIGCD246


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## SarahNorthman

Happy Christmas everyone! I hope Santa brought you everything you asked for!


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## starthrower

SarahNorthman said:


> Happy Christmas everyone! I hope Santa brought you everything you asked for!


I asked for a sweet bird like you, but you didn't show.


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## SarahNorthman

starthrower said:


> I asked for a sweet bird like you, but you didn't show.


...........well.


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## Abraham Lincoln

starthrower said:


> I asked for a sweet bird like you, but you didn't show.


Did someone say sweet birds? Because I have some sweet birds for you.


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## Pugg

Florestan said:


> Merry Christmas. I hope everyone has a nice CD set in their stocking!


More the one, the whole Leontyne Price set and the Metropolitan opera box, I am in musical heaven.


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## hpowders

Kivimees said:


> As always at this time of year, I'm reading A Christmas Carol by Dickens:
> 
> 'You'll want all day to-morrow, I suppose?' said Scrooge. :lol:


That's a nice yearly ritual.

It could have been worse. By dint of a different Twist of plot, Ebenezer could have been serving gruel at the workhouse.

"Please sir. Can I have some more?"

"Yeah, right, Oliver!!"


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## JosefinaHW

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Just took this picture of our tree here at my home. Merry Christmas!


Huilunsoittaja's Christmas Tree (creche and piano): all very lovely--'hope you don't mind, Huilu.

https://postimage.org/


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## JosefinaHW

SiegendesLicht said:


> Sour grapes. They have lost the ability to have fun for themselves and are trying to spoil it for others. Or else the only meaning of Christmas for them is an endless cycle of present-buying, and they don't know how to get themselves out of it.


and Pugg's comment "...we are all equal"....

I suppose one of the things I have always loved most about Christmas and the Christmas season is how it can so strongly invite us to rejoice in the Wonder and Beauty in the World.... and, thinking about it right now, that all of us can contribute a great deal of beauty to the world by just putting a candle in the window, etc., etc..... Those poor hum-bugs: disillusioned romantics and idealists have become cynics and lost the wonder and hope, at least I hope they have only lost it and it's not the case that they never had a chance to experience it.... Well, I wish everyone a new or renewed sense of the wonder and beauty in the world!!!


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## SarahNorthman

Abraham Lincoln said:


> Did someone say sweet birds? Because I have some sweet birds for you.


AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!! OWLS! I LOVE OWLS! I shall name them all pellets. Or Harry Potter owl names.


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## JosefinaHW

Florestan said:


> The post man brought me several of my gifts to myself on 23 and 24 December:
> 
> Wagner complete Ring cycle--Solti
> Orphee et Eurydice, Gluck
> Samson et Delila, Saint-Saens with Waltraud Meier and Placido Domingo
> Monteverdi 1st Opera Cycle with Harnoncourt--three operas in one set
> 
> Currently listening to Handel's Messiah though for Christmas (Glover's recording): http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_SIGCD246


A Very Happy Fourth Day of Christmas, Florestan!!! Which recording of Gluck's _Orfeo ed Eurydice_ did you receive?

Santa, Mrs. Claus, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen and Rudolph each gave me a stocking full of CDs and DVDs.........


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## SarahNorthman

I will say, I already miss Christmas guys. Can next years get here already?


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## JosefinaHW

Pugg said:


> More the one, the whole Leontyne Price set and the Metropolitan opera box, I am in musical heaven.


Happy Christmas, Pugg! Which Metropolitan Opera Box? The Inaugural Series?


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## JosefinaHW

SarahNorthman said:


> I will say, I already miss Christmas guys. Can next years get here already?


Shame, Woman!!! An anglophile and you don't know that Christmas is celebrated through Twelfth Night?!? You have several days yet to celebrate and you better get yourself to the University of Manchester quickly to brush up on all these wonderful traditions.


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## SarahNorthman

JosefinaHW said:


> Shame, Woman!!! An anglophile and you don't know that Christmas is celebrated through Twelfth Night?!? You have several days yet to celebrate and you better get yourself to the University of Manchester quickly to brush up on all these wonderful traditions.


Oh god. You are so right. How could I be so remiss! I plan on getting accepted into that University! I am so determined!


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## SixFootScowl

JosefinaHW said:


> A Very Happy Fourth Day of Christmas, Florestan!!! Which recording of Gluck's _Orfeo ed Eurydice_ did you receive?


This wonderful set, which I initially scoped out because of Larmore:


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## Pugg

JosefinaHW said:


> Happy Christmas, Pugg! Which Metropolitan Opera Box? The Inaugural Series?





This one yes Josefina, wonderful!


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## starthrower

SarahNorthman said:


> ...........well.


I guess I'll have to buy a plane ticket and fly across the pond! And Abe, you can keep those damed owls!


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## Pugg

We still have the three Kings to come......


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