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Happy Third Day of Christmas {Day CXXVI}

Christianity borrows from so many other traditions, to be sure. One of the “traditions,” that Christianity borrows from is nature itself. As nature, give us “seasons” of “four seasons” of summer, autumn, winter, and spring,” The Christian tradition is replete with various seasons as well such as “Lent,” “Pentecost,” “Ordinary Time,” “Easter,” and of course, “Christmas” which the Christian calendar is currently in right now.

While nature’s four seasons are fixed to the sun’s aperture relative to the Earth’s hemispheres and tropics, Christianity’s seasons correspond to the phases of the moon in the spring, and are fixed to the Gregorian calander for fall and winter feasts and preparatory days.

Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are always “fixed dates,” while Lent, Easter, and Pentecost are the “movable feasts.”

Happy Second Day of Christmas {Day CXXV}

[Unless there is compelling breaking news to “pre-empt” my plan, I will post my reflections on Christmas every day of the Christmas Tide, which is approximately a fortnite.]

Christmas seems to be the most popular holiday in the United States, and possibly around the world. While “Christianity” certainly has capitalized on this winter celebration, other institutions, such as the the economic forces of mercantilism and capitalism have their “hands in the golden Christmas pot.”

During this “Yuletide Fortnite” I will explore the how these institutions capitalize on Christmas, and the orgins of the Christmas tale, from the birth of Jesus, to the trimming of the Christmas Tree, to the unabashed frenzy of buying and giving gifts, and holiday parties, replete with eating, drinking and singing.

Merry Christmas 🎄🎄🎅🎅🎄🎅 {Day CXXIV}

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good nite❗❗❗ (And “Good Day,” if that “strikes your fancy” as well.)

I have many ideas for this blog adventure, and I will elucidate these ideas sometime in the upcoming year. But right now, let me say a few words about the annual feast that the world celebrates, called Christmas. As with my other posts, I only have a limited amount of words to communicate. But with each passing day, I add one more word to each post. So for the next twelve days I will opine about my thoughts about Christmas… And the upcoming new year of course. Maybe reflect a little bit about the past year, and what to expect for the year 2022.

Christmas Eve {Day CXXIII}

This post is not exactly Christmas related… but possibly. In a “normal” year I would write many posts about many things. But this hasn’t been a “normal” year. It hasn’t been a “normal” few years. It’s not just the “political junkies” that are noticing things are not right. Our democracy is on the brink of being completely fractured, and a virus continues to rage and effect the global economy, our culture, our way of life.

But maybe Christmas is designed to take our attention away from the grim serious news and make us reflect on the year, and spread a little joy in a fallen world.

So, rise up signing: “Joy to the World, the Lord has come. Let Earth Recieve Her King.”

Winter Solstice {Day CXXII}

Yesterday we just had the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. (I imagine this would be the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, as the seasons are identified by the climate, so “winter” = “cold and dark,” and “summer” would be marked by “warm and light.”)

And now “the waiting” begins… Waiting for things to warm up… But first we have to wait for the cold to settle in. Then in April spring will have “sprung,” and we can enjoy sunsets that start circa 6:00 pm.

Right now winter has officially set in, in the northern climes. While it’s not my favorite time of year, I have “cold comfort” to know that “we’re all in the same boat,” and “this too shall pass.”

Trump’s SAT {Day CXX }

The Stanford Achievement Test, also known as the “SAT” is one of two standardized tests know as “college entrance exams,” that are administered in the United States by educators to most college bound high school students. Like most other high school students with college aspirations, I sweated out “the test,” and dragged myself into my high school to take “the test.” It was a harrowing experience to be sure.

In theory, the test supposedly “measures” aptitude in mathematics and language skills. It is a timed test, and it is really “high pressure rite of passage” for any student who has asperations .

It is unheard of, unprecedented, and wrong to have someone else take a college entrace exam in your place.

Reading and Writing {Day CXIX }

What are the goals of education❓ What are the goals of our society in terms of education and culture ❓ This is one of the questions that I was pondering when I started this blogging project. Other questions I had include what are society’s goals in terms of economics, politics, law, science, religion, entertainment, literature, medicine and culture. What is the role and purpose of culture ❓ These questions and others will be addressed as the blog post lengths expand.

One of the “goals of education” is to teach “reading and writing.” One can say: “I read, therefore, I write.” It it is a variant of the aphorism “I think, therefore, I am.”

My goal is to keep writing every day.

Trump’s Delusions {DAY CXVIII}

Lots of ink is being spilled about Trump’s criminality on multiple levels. I could write a book about Trump… But wait. So many other folks written about Trump, I don’t want to be “another anti-Trump book,” piling up in a mountain of anti-Trump books.

My biggest “beef” with the former president is that he lies every time he opens his mouth. So instead of giving a litany of Trump’s lies, I will just maybe give one example of Trump’s deceptive behavior.

According to Mary Trump, the former president’s niece, Donald Trump had another student take the SAT for Trump. Today students need some form of identification to sit for the test. In Trump’s time there was no requirement.

Mark Meadows {Day CXVII}

The United States Congress found Mark Meadows, the former United States President’s chief of staff, in criminal contempt of Congress by refusing to comply with a subpoena and testify in front of a congressional committee regarding what he knows about the events of January 6, 2021.

As Trump’s chief of staff, Meadows would be in a position to know many things about President Trump’s state of mind while the January 6th storming of the United States’ Capital was taking place.

Meadows submitted over six thousand pages of testimony to the January 6th committee and published a book recalling the events of the January 6th storming of the United States Capitol and his communications to Trump that day.