Happy Holidays

Dear American Family Assoc.,

I appreciate the information you send me about the attacks on Christianity by modern culture. I frequently respond to the information you send me by voicing my opinion in an e-mail to the offender or by voting with my shopping dollars. However, in some cases I do not respond at all. I thought I would take a moment to explain why.

1. As someone once said: "We were called to be witnesses, not judges." Sometimes too much griping and whining only serves to muddy our message. They're supposed to know we are Christians by our love.
2. We may have legal rights based upon our citizenship (and we should certainly do everything we can to fight for the rights of others) but it is unseemly to constantly be demanding our own rights. The whole concept of human rights is a human notion, and a good one at that, but you and I know that in reality we don't have any rights. By the Grace of God what we do have are privileges and responsibilities. It is our responsibility and privilege to bear any hardship as we fulfill our mission to share the gospel.
3. The Christian Church has always thrived under persecution. Rather than complaining about the hardships we endure because we share the name of our savior we should count it all joy. After all, "calm ships don't make good sailors".
4. Target (for example) may not allow Salvation Army bell ringers but I noticed that one year they were selling a CD of Christmas Carols inside and giving a portion of the proceeds to the Salvation Army.
5. I'm not offended by the expression, "Happy Holiday". Actually, it's kind of funny that the P.C. world thinks wishing people a "Happy Holiday" is a more secular expression than "Merry Christmas" since it actually means "Happy Holy Day".
6. Christmas has come to represent that time of year that failing businesses can count on a boost to their bottom line as we all spend money we don't have on products we don't need as we gather with family and friends to celebrate what?... Excessive food, drink and materialism? Or the birth of a small baby to a young Palestinian couple, of the tribe of Judah, at the birthplace of King David, who would one day sacrifice his life for all of humanity.

So when I don't respond to an e-mail warning me that stores are no longer promoting Christmas shopping, excuse me if I don't weep at the de-materialization of Christmas. Christ's mass was never intended to be celebrated in the malls anyway, but in our churches, our homes, our families, and our hearts. That said, I will try to buy less this year and give more. The little I do spend will probably be spent in stores that have a Salvation Army bell ringer out front and I will make a donation on my way by. I will miss being wished a Merry Christmas by the clerk as s/he hands me my purchases but I'll survive. I would not be offended to be greeted by a Happy Hanukkah, or a Happy Kwanza, should I happen to be shopping on one of the days of those festivals. I don't believe that African Americans or Jewish people are offended by Christmas either. Of coarse this may call for the curtailing our festive shopping frenzy until (gasp) a few days/weeks before the actual day. No more listening to Christmas carols while being wished a happy hallowe'en by the clerk who just totaled your back-to-school order.

Sincerely,
Ann Kognito  <><   +   <3   :)

P.S.
It is kind of funny how it's okay to say happy hallowe'en but not Merry Christmas? On October 31st shouldn't store clerks be required to wish us a happy unholy day? LOL :)

Coupons Schmoupons

I'm tired of having to prove to retail businesses that I'm a preferred customer.
Here's the thing; if I'm in your store filling a cart full of stuff, I'm your customer, and I shouldn't have to prove it. And I certainly don't want to find out that some of the people in my line are getting a better price than me. So, no, I don't want to be asked at the register whether I have any coupons, because if I do, they're probably at home in that scary pile of paper that trees died for. I also don't want to be asked whether I want to put this on my store credit card, so my answer to that question will be "no thank you". Please don't see this as an invitation to sell me on the idea of a store credit card so that I can save 10% right now. I do not want a wallet full of credit cards that need to be paid off at various times of the month causing me untold aggravation in addition to adversely affecting my credit rating. What I do want is to know that you are selling me the best quality product possible for the lowest price possible and that the price I pay is the price everyone else pays.You know who treats all customers equally and doesn't make them jump through hoops for the privilege of parting with their money? Amazon.

THE WORST
Bed, Bath & Beyond: Their coupons are so giant they won't fit in your wallet so you never have them with you when you need them, and they're only good for one item.
CVS: I'm tired of trying to quickly stuff those mile long receipts (fat with coupons) into my wallet so I can make way for the next customer. From now on I will calmly stand there and tear off the coupon portion (which is mostly for products I don't use anyway) and hand it back to the cashier. The first "R" of recycling should be "Refuse".

BETTER
Kohls, Pier One, Giant Eagle and Famous Footwear: At least their coupons or customer cards are gift card sized so they fit in your wallet and you have them with you when you get to the check-out. I like the way Famous Footwear's $'s-off cards roll over to the next cycle if you don't use them. Also, if you forget the card they can look up your discount using your phone number. Kohls coupons are also great because they take a percentage off of the whole order (which actually encourages me, the shopper, to fill my cart - smart cookies at Kohls!). Kohls bucks fit in my billfold but they always expire before I get back. That just makes me sad. :( I wish all three of these stores would just issue me a customer key chain card that would accumulate my non-expiring rewards (like Giant Eagle does for fuel perks). Then I would never feel sad about missing out on a deal I had earned. Giant Eagle issues coupons on brands or products you buy and they're not attached to the receipt (which is less annoying) but they're never in my wallet when I need them. I do like their key chain customer card though because it's always there so I always have access to the fuel perks I've earned. Since they stopped their food perks program, though, we've gone back to shopping elsewhere for gas except when we have enough fuel perks to use at Get-Go.

BEST
Heinens: No gimmicks. Simply the best food and service possible for the best price possible.  Their house brand is usually organic, plus they specialize in delicious healthy food, and they have the best selection of fresh and local produce. They do issue a customer card that they scan for sale prices and occasionally attach a coupon  to your bill for a free item (usually a choice between a couple of new, seasonal or promoted items) but this is a minimal annoyance. I often forget to bring back the coupon for the free item but it's just a tiny piece of paper every once in a while so it doesn't wear on me too terribly. Still, I wish they would just have the free items there by the checkout. All in all shopping at Heinens makes me happy. The only time I feel sad is when when I forget my bags and I have to take my groceries home in plastic. :( 

ARRRGHHH!!!
Amazon just told me that I have to get THEIR Visa card to get the free 2-day shipping.
DARN YOU AMAZON!!!!!

Caedmon

...inspired, no doubt, by the original Caedmon; who was in turn inspired by "The Maker-Man".

Caedmon was an illiterate cowherd of the middle ages who composed many songs of praise. This one, transcribed by a contemporary named Bede, is the only one that survives. It is the earliest documented poem in the English language. No wonder Caedmon has been an inspiration to writers of verse and song through the ages...(and to me as I ponder my empty house and procrastinate completing my final assignment for Friday's class).

Found this information online:

"Caedmon's Hymn to God

(From Old English)
This is the earliest documented oral poem in English history. The Hymn itself was composed between 658 and 680 by Caedmon, who composed it to honour God the Creator. Like many Old English and Anglo-Latin pieces, it was designed to be sung aloud and was never physically recorded by Cædmon himself, who was an illiterate cowherd of the early Middle Ages. However, it was written and preserved by other literate individuals, and was recorded in the earlier part of the 8th century. It survives today in at least 14 verified manuscript copies. It is attributed to Caedmon by Bede in his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum and survives in a Latin translation as well as in vernacular versions written down in several manuscripts of Bede's Historia. Though he was known to have composed a great many other hymns this is Caedmon's only surviving work.

Cædmon's Hymn to God
By Cædmon

Latin Version:
Translated by Bede
(with Modern English from http://www.heorot.dk/bede-caedmon.html copyright Benjamin Slade 2002-3)

Nunc laudare debemus auctorem regni caelestis

Now we ought to praise the maker of the heavenly kingdom

potentiam Creatoris, et consilium illius

the power of the Creator, and his intention

facta Patris gloriae: quomodo ille,

the deeds of the Father of glory: how he,

cum sit aeternus Deus omnium miraculorum auctor exstitit;

since he is the eternal Lord of all miracles has been the author;

qui primo filiis hominum
5
who first for the sons of men

caelum pro culmine tecti

heaven for a roof above

dehinc terram custos humani generis

next, the earth, the keeper of the human-race
omnipotens creavit.

the all-powerful created.

Modern English Version:
translated by A.Z. Foreman
Hail now the holder of heaven's realm,
That architect's might, his mind's many ways,
Lord forever and father of glory,
Ultimate crafter of all wonders,
Holy Maker who hoisted the heavens
To roof the heads of the human race,
And fashioned land for the legs of man,
Liege of the worldborn, Lord almighty.

Old English Version:
translated by A.Z. Foreman
Nū sculon heriġean heofonrīċes weard,
Meotodes meahte ond his mōdġeþanc,
weorc wuldorfæder, swā hē wundra ġehwæs,
ēċe Drihten, ōr onstealde.
Hē ǣrest sceōp eorðan bearnum
heofon tō hrōfe, hāliġ Scyppend;
þā middanġeard monncynnes weard,
ēċe Drihten, æfter tēode
fīrum foldan, Frēa ælmihtiġ."

Follow this link for a video reading of this hymn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29v_adW9dn0

Are they trying to make me feel old?

First of all, let me explain...I'm not vain; especially about my age. Still, I have reached the point in my life at which my diminishing eyesight and flexibility are making it near impossible for me to paint my own toenails. I'm also finding it increasing difficult to call to mind the word or name I need just when I need it. Case in point: In '08 when I saw my first Obama bumper sticker and (because of the diminishing eyesight and fried brain thingy) thought it said Osama; I thought "What? What does that mean?" I spent the whole election season sounding like some twit out of an SNL skit as I kept verbally tripping over "Obama-Biden", and endeavoring not to let it come out like "Osama BinLaden". I mean, seriously, try to say that six times quickly. It's a friggin' tongue-twister. Then Obama got elected and I thought "Great! I'm even older than the president now!" But at least Biden was out of the news. Mercifully the press changed Osama's name to Usama when he was executed, or school children for generations would have been stymied by that one. I'm also breathing a sigh of relief that Michele Bachmann has withdrawn from the current presidential race, but I'm just paranoid enough to think that she might show up again as the second name on a Republican bumper sticker for 2012. I'm imagining the challenge to newscasters everywhere reporting stories like the following. "Michelle Obama campaigns for her husband, Barack Obama, as Mitt Romney considers Michelle Backman as a running mate".Perhaps they could warm up the old vocal instrument by reading the bumper stickers six times quickly: "Barack Obama/Romney-Bachmann;Barack Obama/Romney-Bachmann;Barack Obama/Romney-Bachmann;Barack Obama/Romney-Bachmann;Barack Obama/Romney-Bachmann;Barack Obama/Romney-Bachmann;Barack Obama/Romney-Bachmann;..." You see what I mean, right?

you're welcome here

Haste ye back, we love you dearly,
Call again you're welcome here.
May your days be free from sorrow,
And your friends be ever near.
May the paths o'er which you wander,
Be to you a joy each day.
Haste ye back we love you dearly,
Haste ye back on friendship's way.

I attended a small village Ceilidh in Scotland in 1991. At the end of a night of food, drink and dance, when everyone had pitched in to put away chairs and wipe down tables, the men of the town gathered to sing this song to our little group. It was the sweetest send-off ever, and it reminded me of how much we've lost of old world entertainment and hospitality over here in the new world. Apparently it's often sung to departing guests at the end of a party, especially at New Years.
Kinda sweet, right?

ringing out the old

Auld Lang Syne
(Old Long Since, or, Long Ago)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne* ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

(The English version of an old Scots-Dialect song taken down by Robbie Burns, in Scotland, in 1788)

December 31st, traditionally known in Scotland as Hogmanay, is the last night of the old year. It's a time to gather with family and friends to share food and drink as you look back over the past year, and prepare for the next. The house should be spruced up, table set, candles lit, food served, and family and friends of long ago and far away remembered with toasts made and tales told.
As midnight approaches arms are clasped and Auld Lang Syne sung. At the stroke of midnight, bells peal, kisses and hugs are exchanged, and doors are flung open to let in the fresh, cold air of the New Year. Then out everyone pours, into the night, to ring in the New Year with light and noise. Later, as we come back in, the "first footer" (first of the New Year to cross the threshold) receives a gift (a sip of whisky, or a sweet or salty treat).

Now, I'm wondering...when did we decide that our New Year's celebrations had to be costly and distant? When did our fellow celebrants become strangers who had purchased tickets to the same event? When did pop singers start to do our singing and dancing for us? When did New York become the official venue of the New Year? Isn't the world round? Doesn't the New Year still arrive at each of our doorsteps in the fullness of, well, time? Why, then, do we feel so removed as we gaze pathetically from our couches at the lucky pilgrims to Time Square's calendrical mecca? And when, exactly, did the singing of "New York, New York" replace "Auld Lang Syne"? I'm just wondering...

11/11/11/11

Remembrance Day 2011
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
Always Remember
Never Forget

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

by John McCrae, May 1915