The Promise of Christmas Solstice

 

"Close the door of hate

and open the door of love

all over the world."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

"There's much more to Christmas

than candlelight and cheer;

It's the spirit of sweet friendship

that brightens all the year."

- Anon

"A Star shines brightly

from above,

Church bells ring of

peace and love,

For on this glorious

Christmas Day,

Christ the King

was born this day!"

- Anon

A Christmas Prayer

for Our Children

by R.E. Slater

Bright and beautiful

our precious child --

Take dear Lord our loved Ones dear.

And hold them close Thy loving breast

all the while our holy trust.

Where in your Love 

protects and cares

by sustaining songs

of renewing life, amidst

twinkling stars of the night.

Bless your children dear --

upon your holy breast of tears

Hear our longings

that there they stay

warm and safe all their days.

R.E. Slater

December 23, 2020

@copyright R.E. Slater Publications

all rights reserved

Christmastime Solstice

by Cmk

It’s so dark and so cold and yet,

after the longest night of the year,

the sun still rises, 

the days get longer,

dare we hope again

the warming days ahead.

Look up into the night sky --

it's wonderments and praise!

#HOPE

Cmk

December 23, 2020

Is there a moment quite as keen

or memory as bright

as light and fire and music sweet

to warm the winter's night?

- Adam Christianson

Winter Solstice heralds the symbolic rebirth of the Sun, the lengthening of days, and the promise of renewing life. On the Christian Calendar it is preceded by Christ's Advent Coming at the nativity of Bethlehem promising spiritual death to the old way of life in exchange for the birth of new life. Christmas films, novels, poems, and songs, speak to the sustaining promise of God in Christ that what once was in Eden's fellowship with God, has come again at Jesus Christ's birth. Sealed by Christ's atoning redemption at the Cross of Calvary, to become forever new in resurrection glory, truth, and hope, and sustaining divine love. It is because of the Christian story that the phrase, "Love Wins," succinctly captures God's promise to man and creation of redeeming renewal upon the human heart and beast wherein all the old worlds of sin and death be renewed in Jesus' forgiving love of Christmas Day. - re slater

 

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

The winter solstice, hiemal solstice or hibernal solstice, occurs when one of the Earth's poles has its maximum tilt away from the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. At the pole, there is continuous darkness or twilight around the winter solstice. Its opposite is the summer solstice. Also the Tropic of Cancer or Tropic of Capricorn depending on the hemispheres winter solstice the sun goes 90 degrees below the horizon at solar midnight to the nadir.

The winter solstice occurs during the hemisphere's winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the December solstice (usually December 21 or 22) and in the Southern Hemisphere, this is the June solstice (usually June 20 or 21). Although the winter solstice itself lasts only a moment, the term sometimes refers to the day on which it occurs. Other names are the "extreme of winter" (Dongzhi), or the "shortest day". Since the 18th century, the term "midwinter" has sometimes been used synonymously with the winter solstice, although it carries other meanings as well. Traditionally, in many temperate regions, the winter solstice is seen as the middle of winter, but today in some countries and calendars, it is seen as the beginning of winter.

Since prehistory, the winter solstice has been seen as a significant time of year in many cultures, and has been marked by festivals and rituals. It marked the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun. The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days.

Winter’s Cloak
by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr


This year I do not want
the dark to leave me.
I need its wrap
of silent stillness,
its cloak
of long lasting embrace.
Too much light
has pulled me away
from the chamber
of gestation.


Let the dawns
come late,
let the sunsets
arrive early,
let the evenings
extend themselves
while I lean into
the abyss of my being.


Let me lie in the cave
of my soul,
for too much light
blinds me,
steals the source
of revelation.


Let me seek solace
in the empty places
of winter’s passage,
those vast dark nights
that never fail to shelter me.

*“Winter’s Cloak” is from The Circle of Life: The Heart’s Journey Through the Seasons by sisters Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr in which “using reflections, poems, prayers, and meditations, they explore the relationship between the seasons of the earth and the seasons of our lives.”

While everything was

Wrapped in a gentle silence

And night in its swift course

Was now half gone...

Your All-Powerful Word

Leaped from heaven...

Into the midst of our needy and lonely world...

The whole of creation in its nature

Was fashioned anew -

Protected by your hand - 

And gazing on marvelous wonders.

Wisdom 18:14-16, 19:6-9

The Bells of Christmas

by Eugene Field

Why do the bells of Christmas ring?

Why do little children sing?

Once a lovely shining star, 

Seen by shepherds from afar,

Gently moved until its light,

Made a manger's cradle bright.

There a darling baby lay,

Pillowed soft upon the hay,

And it's mother sung and smiled:

"This is Christ, the holy Child!"

Therefore bells for Christmas ring,

Therefore little children sing.

New Choral Music for 2020

https://global.oup.com/academic/category/arts-and-humanities/sheet-music/choral/new-cds/?cc=us&lang=en&

Sacred 1. O sing unto the Lord - Cecilia McDowall - SATB (with divisions) & organ 2. Angel voices ever singing - Bob Chilcott - SATB (with Alto solo) & organ 3. Come, my Way - David Bednall - SATB & organ 4. Solitude - James Whitbourn - SATB & guitar/piano 5. Locus iste - Will Todd - SATB (with divisions) & piano 6. O splendor of God's glory bright (That Easter day with joy was bright) - Mack Wilberg - SATB & organ/orchestra 7. This little light of mine - Mack Wilberg - SATB & organ/orchestra 8. Glory - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, arr. Terry Price - SATB & organ/brass Secular 9. Yes, I am your angel - Gabriel Jackson - SATB unaccompanied 10. Swept Away - Sarah Quartel - SSATBarB unaccompanied 11. The Lover's Ghost - Oliver Tarney - SATB & piano 12. When I am laid in earth - Henry Purcell, arr. Stanley Hofman - Soprano solo & SATB unaccompanied 13. Poems of Love and War – Howard Skempton – SATB unaccompanied 14. See the light – Sarah Quartel – SA & piano 15. Slow Down – Ian Assersohn – TTBB & piano 16. Piping down the valleys wild – Bob Chilcott – SATB & piano with optional bass & drum kit Christmas 17. Come and dance – Toby Young – SATB unaccompanied 18. Cradle Song – Bob Chilcott – SATB unaccompanied with optional congregation 19. The Angel Gabriel – Michael Higgins – SSSSAATBB unaccompanied 20. A Carol of Mary – Malcolm Archer – SATB (with divisions) & organ 21. Christ our Emmanuel – John Rutter – SATB & piano/organ/trio 22  Hail, heavenly beam – David Bednall – SATB unaccompanied 23. Christmas Welcome – James Whitbourn – SATB & organ 24. A spotless Rose – Becky McGlade – SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied 25. Brightest Star – Cecilia McDowall – SSATB unaccompanied 26. Gabriel's Message – Benedict Sheehan – SATB & organ/piano 27. Lo! He slumbers in his manger – Cecilia McDowall – SATB unaccompanied 28. Child of Light – Mack Wilberg – SATB & piano four-hands/chamber orchestra 29. Ring the bells – Alan Bullard – SATB & piano 30. I saw three ships – Andy Brooke – SATB & piano 31. His Praises We'll Sing – David Blackwell – SATB (with divisions) & piano 32. A little child there is yborn – Malcolm Archer – SATB & organ 33. Silent night – Bob Chilcott – SATB & organ Liturgical 34. Kyrie from 'St Martin's Mass' – David Bednall – SATB & organ, with opt. congregation 35. Gloria from 'St Martin's Mass' – David Bednall – SATB & organ, with opt. congregation 36. Sanctus from 'St Martin's Mass' – David Bednall – SATB & organ, with opt. congregation 37. Benedictus from 'St Martin's Mass' – David Bednall – SATB & organ, with opt. congregation 38. Agnus Dei from 'St Martin's Mass' – David Bednall – SATB & organ, with opt. congregation

Clement Clarke Moore - Twas the Night Before Christmas

The famous holiday story "'Twas the Night Before Christmas,"  was originally written as a poem by Clement Clarke Moore and titled, "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Moore wrote the poem just for his own children in the 1820s, but it has become universal.

Below is the full text from the popular Christmas tale. The text is courtesy of the Poetry Foundation via “The Random House Book of Poetry for Children” (1983).

A Visit from St. Nicholas

by Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes did appear,

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the housetop the coursers they flew

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.

His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly

That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

More about the Poet and Poem

The Poet - Poetry Foundation: Clement Clarke Moore

The Poet - Wikipedia: Clement Clarke Moore 

The Poem - Wikipedia: "A Visit from St. Nicholas"

G.K. Chesterton - The House of Christmas

 

The House of Christmas

 

 

There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay on their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honour and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.

A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.

This world is wild as an old wives' tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.


Gilbert Keith Chesterton





Wikipedia Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gk_chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer.^[1] He wrote on philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction. Chesterton is often referred to as the "prince of paradox",^[2] The Time magazine, in a review of a biography of Chesterton, observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out."^[3]

 

Chesterton is well known for his reasoned apologetics and even some of those who disagree with him have recognized the universal appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man.^[3][2] Chesterton, as a political thinker, cast aspersions on both progressivism and conservatism, saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."^[4] Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox" Christian, and came to identify such a position more and more with Catholicism, eventually converting to Roman Catholicism from High Church Anglicanism. George Bernard Shaw, Chesterton's "friendly enemy" according to Time, said of him, "He was a man of colossal genius".^[3] Biographers have identified him as a successor to such Victorian authors as Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, John Henry Cardinal Newman, and John Ruskin.^[5]

 

 

More Poems by GKC - http://www.poemhunter.com/gilbert-keith-chesterton/poems/

 

Poem Hunter Biography - http://www.poemhunter.com/gilbert-keith-chesterton/biography/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24 Advent Poems for Christmas

 

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived,

reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. - Anon


*Many thanks to Journey with Jesus for collecting these poems -

http://www.journeywithjesus.net/PoemsAndPrayers/Advent_Poetry.shtml

Daily Readings for the Month of December

from Dec 1 to Christmas Day and Beyond

 

 

Dec 1 - Catherine Alder, Advent Hands

 

Dec 2 - Daniel Berrigan, Advent Credo

 

Dec 3 - John Betjeman, Christmas

 

Dec 4 - Sr. M. Charlita, I.H.M., Advent Antiphons

 

Dec 5 - G.K. Chesterton, The House of Christmas

 

Dec 6 - Sr. M. Chrysostom, The Stable

 

Dec7 - Pamela Cranston, ADVENT (On a Theme by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Dec 8 - Pamela Cranston, God's Annunciation

Dec 9 - Pamela Cranston, Poem for Christ the King

Dec 10 - John Donne, Annunciation

Dec 11 - John Donne, Nativity

Dec 12 - St. Ephraim of Syria (Ephrem of Edessa), From God Christ's Deity Came Forth

Dec 13 - U.A. Fanthorpe, BC:AD

Dec 14 - Christopher Harvey, The Nativity

Dec 15 - Denise Levertov, On the Mystery of the Incarnation

Dec 16 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christmas Bells

Dec 17 - Edwin Muir, The Annunciation

Dec 18 - Prudentius, Of the Father's Love Begotten

Dec 19 - David A. Redding, Adult Advent Announcement

Dec 20 - Brad Reynolds, Gaudete  (*gaudete - a medieval hymn or carol of "rejoicing")

Dec 21 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Annunciation to Mary

Dec 22 - Luci Shaw, Virgin

Dec 23 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, A New Year's Poem

Dec 24 - Brian Wren, Good is the Flesh

Dec 25 - Matthew 1.18-2.7 (Jesus' Birth), Luke 2 (Jesus' Birth)

Dec 26 - Mark 1 (Jesus' Ministry Begins)

Dec 27 - John 1 (Christ's Incarnation & Calling)

Dec 28 - John 2-3 (Jesus' First Miracle and Message)

Dec 29 - Romans 1 (Paul's Letter to the churches of Asia Minor)

Dec 30 - Readings in Psalms (5 Psalms in 30 Days covers all the Psalms)

Dec 31 - Readings in Proverbs (a chapter a day for a month)

Jan 1 - Chose a Bible Reading Plan (there are several; print-out the chronological as a guide).
            Understanding the OT will help when reading the NT. And understanding the NT will
            help when reading the OT. Same God, same faith, but now re-read through Jesus.

Jan 2 - Begin attending several churches to discover their traditions, customs and understanding
            of Jesus in relation to the living Christian faith. Begin reading Relevancy22 as a starting
            point for understanding the theological teachings of Christianity, its doctrines & dogmas.

Jan 3 - Begin Walk Thru the Bible's 5 Year Study (yes, it's old timey but it will bring the Bible
            alive through the twangy Texas accent of a beloved pastor now passed away in a common-
            sense approach to people and life's many twists and turns. The Bible is not meant to be
            hard to understand. This little audio study will tell of God's daily presence and love).

Jan 4 - Become acquainted with the Basic Theological Readings of the Bible. Five methods are
            summarily examined comprehensively - each method shows how to read the Bible from
            a different viewpoint that will help give an interpretive structure to Bible reading.

Jan 5 - St. John's Video Timelines Project - An Expansive Review of the Bible, church history
           and church doctrine at the reader's pace while continuing to read through Relevancy22.
           In a way, Relevancy22 is the contemporary twin to the St. John's Timelines Project.
           Where one examines the past, the other examines the directions of the church today.

 

 

 

For more on Advent and its meaning go to -

 

Celebrating Advent, It's Timeless Meaning and Discovery

http://relevancy22.blogspot.com/2012/12/celebrating-advent-its-timeless-meaning.html