PUMA For Life

My Christmas Blog Part 3: We Celebrate Two Revolutionaries

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be peaceful.

May all beings be free from all suffering.

 God bless the whole world, no exceptions!

We have two revolutionaries to honor today: Christ Jesus and George Washington. According to the Christian tradition, Christmas marks the birth of Christ Jesus, the Messiah. He came not as a King, but as a child born under humble conditions. He came to overthrow the old and bring in a new order. He was a revolutionary. He came to clean out the temple, kick out the moneychangers, throw out the priests, and let the people know that the Kingdom of God is within. He came to bring the good news. He asked in disbelief, “Do you not know ye are gods?” I would like to share one of my favorite Christmas carols with you today. It isn’t so much the words that draw this song to me, but the haunting melody. I get this vision of a wind blowing through bare tree branches. Sort of like what John says, “The wind blows where it will. You can hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going”. I hope it speaks to you as it speaks to me.

There was another revolutionary act that took place on December 25, but it was about one thousand seven hundred and seventy six years later. On the night of December 25, 1776, George Washington made the decision to attack the Hessian held town of Trenton , NJ. He led the ragtag Continental army across the ice-swollen Delaware River in a sleet and rain storm. To add to the difficulties, a significant number of Washington 's forces marched through the snow without shoes. The next morning they attacked to the south, taking the Hessian garrison by surprise and over-running the town. This is considered one of the most significant battles of the Revolutionary war. News of the victory re-inspired the languishing troops, and the rest is history. Hope you enjoy this “revolutionary” video:

Celebrating our Childlike Hearts

Christmas is for children.   That’s a common refrain.  And why shouldn’t it be, for on Christmas a child was born.  And as the story goes, that little child grew up to be a man who loved and respected children.

 

When his followers tried to block the children from coming to him, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heavenbelongs to such as these.” 

 

When his followers asked him who was the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven, Jesus called a child over and said, “Unless you humble yourself and become as this little child, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.  He who humbles himself and becomes like this child will be the greatest. And whoever welcomes a child like this also welcomes me.”

 

What a good idea!  Let’s spend some time today opening our hearts to the divine child within.  Let’s dream of candy canes and sugar plums and Santa Claus!   

 

I had so much fun selecting the videos for today’s celebration.  It brought back so many childhood Christmas memories. I just couldn’t winnow it down to two, so my childlike heart said, do all three.

 

I’m starting off with Alvin and the Chipmunks singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  This is a classic Christmas song that celebrates being different. Everyone has a purpose; it sometimes takes a while to learn what it is.  Enjoy!

 

   

The center of attention in any child’s Christmas dreams is, no not Jesus, but, yes, the jolly red-suited Santa Claus! Santa Claus is coming to town! “We say thanks to the Lord above, ‘cause Santa Claus is coming to town”. And no one can do a better job welcoming Santa than the whole Walt Disney gang.

  

Our last childlike song is one that is probably the first Christmas song many children learn (or, at least, used to learn). You learned it so well I bet you still remember all of the words. It honors the child whose birthday we celebrate on Christmas. This lovely version of Away in a Manger has some very sweet pictures of the baby Jesus.

   

I hope you will forgive me these few day for not writing about politics; sexism; cronyism; blago; obamabo; mo; dnc; or any number of other issues we pumas normally dwell on. Hey, Santa Claus is coming to town and I’m excited.