Changed theme on new site. Lots of options to fiddle with. I like the general layout but I’d like to tweak some colors, fonts, text size, and margins. Content gets too wide; thought I limited it. Not sure what it looks like on phones and such – need to use them to tell. Someone will let me know.
Bear with me please. Login and register if the site allows, otherwise don’t worry about it for now. Meanwhile, let’s enjoy the last month of American Digest. It’s been an interesting group these last couple of years.
ghostsniperDecember 23, 2024, 12:40 PM
2 Years Ago Today
=============
The following is the text from 2 years ago today and one of the best things Gerard ever wrote on AD, in my opinion.
Last Minute Shopping
by Vanderleun on December 23, 2022
One of the abiding delusions of the male mind is the belief it is actually possible to put off critical Christmas shopping until late on the 23rd of December. I am the apostle of this delusion. I take comfort in this false belief every year. No amount of actual experience ever shakes my conviction that it is not only possible to shop like this but economically prudent too. And every year this faith is tested and found wanting. Whatever I may save in last minute markdowns I pay for in this evening’s glowing and gut-wrenching angst.
So there I was waiting at the “Information” counter in the local Barnes & Noble in search of, well, “information.” I simply wanted to know if this gigantic repository of games, gags, cards, calendars, coffee, and, oh yes, books had a certain title and where it might be located. I was one of a small cloud of befuddled customers hovering about the source of “Information” and the service in the store at this hour of the evening on this last day was not exactly “crisp.”
Bluntly stated, the “information” staff of 2.5 employees had had it. Burnt out, tired, tried to the breaking point, they were still going through the corporate mandated methods of “helping” customers locate what they were looking for. At Barnes and Noble these days that means, as it means at so many other stores, a quick look-up and then a guided tour to the book the customer has requested, a hang-out until the clerk is sure they’ve found it, and then an inquiry of that person whether or not they need anything else. People have gotten married on flimsier relationships.
This mandated hand holding means that those needing a simple data-base query run and simply to be told “That’s under the author’s name in Philosophy over there,” tend to build up at the desk in hordes. And in these hordes on this night nobody’s happy. Add to this stituation people actually calling on the phone with “information” requests and you can see the slow steam beginning to rise off the assembled.
Your real need to know means nothing to the “information” clerks of Barnes and Noble. They must, MUST, comply with corporate protocol lest some corporate quality control spy find they are doing things efficiently according to the situation and fire them. They know they could make things run smoother, but they also know they can’t. I understand this and, most of the time, I try to hobble my impatience and irritability out of empathy for their plight. Working retail on this day is not a stroll through a heaven of angels wings, babies bottoms, and hot chocolate with teeny tiny marshmallows on top.
However, this was the witching hour of Christmas shopping for me and I was getting ticked off as my, MY!, evening ticked away. The store was crowded and shabby by this point. The lines of my fellow sufferers (90% fellow male procrastinators) were long and growing longer. You could feel their nerve tissues fray and almost see the sparks glinting where the nerves were touching each other and sizzling.
Just when I thought it would be my turn at last to get my measly little question answered and get my own personal guided tour to the book I needed the phone rang at the “Information” desk and the woman, who should have been MY GUIDE THIS INSTANT!, took the call. She listened and said, “I’ll see.” Then she turned and disappeared into the bowels of the store.
Finally peeved I couldn’t help saying out loud in a scathing tone as she departed, “Jesus CHRIST!”
Without missing a beat the man waiting next to me turned and said, “Well, that’s Who we’re here for, isn’t it?”
In the serious practice of Zen meditation, the jikijitsu walks behind the meditators in the hall with a keisaku, a flat stick. If you are having a problem with the depth of your meditation, your focus, you bow slightly in your Zazen posture as the jikijitsu walks by and he gives you a quick and solid rap on the shoulders with the stick. This snaps you into it.
In this case, this man’s observation snapped me out of it like a sharp whack on the shoulders from a keisaku. Snapped me out of my bitter mood and back into the reality of the Christmas season instead of the illusion of the bookstore.
“Thanks. Thank you,” I said. “You’re absolutely right. He is the reason we’re here. I needed that.”
We both laughed. I shook his hand and left the store and my remaining little needs behind. I’d just gotten what I needed.
Outside in the parking lot you could see the getting and spending still going on in the dark. Beyond the parking lot were the roads and the woods and the streams and the mountains all under a white shawl of snow. Driving back through the whiteness I realized I didn’t need to buy any more gifts for anybody. We all already have more gifts than we need or know how to use.
What we all need for Christmas is often the last thing we want — a sharp whack from a keisaku wielding jikijitsu focusing us to simply accept, at the very last minute, His gift.
ghostsniperDecember 23, 2024, 12:41 PM
Research Finds Faults in Santa Claus Workplace Safety
Paper finds Santa at risk: sleigh safety, cardiovascular risk, mental health
During the holiday season, we imagine the joy that Santa Claus will bring to our families. Some households suggest an attempt to step outside self-centered viewpoints to consider the holiday from a Santa-centric paradigm of enjoyment by offering a cup of brandy, cookies and milk, or even carrots for his reindeer. However, as a society we systematically fail to take into account issues of workplace safety that affect or have the potential to affect Santa Claus and his ungulate co-workers every Christmas Eve. A commentary by University of Alberta medical researcher Sebastian Straube, published in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, hopes to shed light on these chronic and acute safety concerns while examining the research landscape of the field of Santa Safety Studies.
First and most obviously, the paper explores sleigh safety. “Though there is uncertainty about whether Santa or the reindeer ought to be considered as the operator(s) proper of the sleigh,” the paper writes, “the consumption of alcohol during work would typically be discouraged, even if Santa were a sleigh passenger only.”
By encouraging what we see as Santa’s enjoyment of the Christmas journey and/or imagining that our alcoholic offerings somehow fortify Santa for said journey, are we in fact undermining his safety? The potential for alcohol-related sleigh accidents is especially troubling in light of the fact that, as the article points out, Santa routinely travels without copilot or radio operator, in a sleigh that is not “manufactured to the engineering standards of the twenty-first century.” Without seatbelts, airbags or radar-based collision systems and with the real concern “whether Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s highly vascularized olfactory organ functions adequately as a beacon light for other aircraft,” should we as a society enable the ancient elf’s consumption of intoxicating beverages?
This is without taking into account St. Nick’s obvious cardiovascular risk factors, namely obesity and, at times, smoking. The article points out that Santa must be considered a “shift worker who works a significant amount of seasonal overtime,” and in this population, specifically, cardiovascular risk factors (along with acute stress and over-consumption of unhealthy snacks including milk and cookies) have been shown to greatly increase the chance of adverse cardiovascular events including stroke and coronary heart disease.
Additionally, Santa Claus does not, apparently, alter his work uniform to match the widely-varying temperature demands of the altitudes and geographic locations in which he works. A table of U.S. Standard Atmosphere Heights & Temperatures shows that a sea-level temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit equates to approximately -12.3 degrees Fahrenheit at 20,000 feet. If we presume St. Nick’s iconic red suit and hat are adequate to protect against frostbite and hypothermia at altitude and with the significant wind chill of traveling at what the Fermi Lab calculates as nearly light speed, then the same suit must contribute to the chance of heat stress at lower altitudes and speeds. In fact, “Little is known about the efficacy of his fur-lined red suit in thermal regulation, and carrying his sack of presents would reasonably increase his physical workload, exacerbating heat stress further,” the paper writes.
Stress and physical demands undoubtedly place great demands on Santa’s mental health. The paper points out that his near omniscience (“He knows when you are sleeping”…etc.) coupled with repeatedly checking extensive written records (“He’s making a list; he’s checking it twice”), seems to hint at the possibility of an obsessive disorder, writing that, “Recent evidence does link work stress with many common mental disorders.”
The paper concludes with the following recommendation: “Given the above-mentioned concerns from an occupational health perspective, we feel that it is time to adopt an evidence-based approach to develop, firstly, a comprehensive workplace occupational health program for Santa, and, secondly, a standardized and reproducible protocol for assessment of Santa’s fitness for work.”
I for one will be doing my part this Christmas to improve the workplace safety of this stressed, aging and at-risk elf who has been so insensitively characterized as unwaveringly “jolly.” Instead of setting out brandy, milk and cookies, you can please mail them directly to me.
Christmas has been hijacked from a Christian holy day to a day of commercial self-gratification, and few people seem to care. When examining the roots of Christmas, one finds that by the fourth century, the Christian church had established itself as the official faith of the Roman Empire and had as one of its objectives the elimination of paganism.
To accomplish this the church adopted many pagan holidays and beliefs and rebranded them as Christian holy days. In essence they absorbed the pagan masses while simultaneously growing their numbers. One such rebranding took place in the late 330s AD when Pope Julius 1 declared, “December 25th, Christ born in Bethlehem, Judea.” Dec. 25 was chosen because many pagan gods were supposedly born on that day. It only made sense to substitute Christ in place of the pagan gods’ birthdays, and while the church didn’t know it, they were actually incorporating a day when the Immaculate Conception took place.
A quick internet search shows that human life begins at conception, not birth, and a normal human pregnancy is approximately 280 days.
Many scholars debate the year Jesus Christ was born but agree that it was in the fall. It is my opinion, when facts and dates are aligned with Holy Scripture, that Christ was born Sept. 29, 2 B.C., which was, according to God’s holy calendar, the Feast of Trumpets, a time to repent, a new beginning, a new year. In light of Christ’s human life beginning at conception I believe Christmas, Dec. 25, is a much more important date than most Christian churches realize.
DTDecember 23, 2024, 8:24 PM
Is it really important that the “exact” day be honored? Is the change of calendars during the past 2000 years taken into account? I am >not< knocking your comment but I think it's more important that the event itself be honored (properly) than trying to determine the exact day. If the exact day date itself was important, I'm sure it would be known; one of the disciples would have mentioned it. "December 25" of now is not the December 25 of only a few hundred years ago.
__________________________________
— The Gregorian calendar did not exist before October 15, 1582.
— Augustus corrected errors in the observance of leap years by omitting leap days until AD 8. Julian calendar dates before March AD 4 are proleptic, and do not necessarily match the dates actually observed in the Roman Empire.
— Use of the Gregorian calendar in the United States stems from an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1751
ghostsniperDecember 24, 2024, 3:41 AM
Glad to see you here Joe, keep posting stuff.
Don’t forget to check in at the new site too: https://newamericandigest.org/
DT, I am under the impression that you do not understand what I wrote.
DTDecember 24, 2024, 5:08 AM
Perhaps not. I got the impression you were suggesting that the specific date of Jesus’ birth was of importance.
That Christmas has become “a day of commercial self-gratification” has been an issue as long as I can remember. FDR changed Thanksgiving for the merchants of Christmas … though it has been within my lifetime that this country went from a nation of producers to a nation of consumers. Buy, buy, buy – don’t worry about debt – buy NOW. To the point where Christmas sales can make or break a merchant.
I am familiar with the history of Constantine; I have visited Constantinople and walked along the paths of Ephesus. Visited Disciple John’s grave. Passed near Nicea (now Iznik) but didn’t have time to stop. Doesn’t make me “holy” though. Very interesting history; the foundations of “Western Civilization”.
I will admit that by common definition, I am probably not Christian although I celebrate and respect Christian holidays for the purpose intended. I was raised “hillbilly Presbyterian”.
I’d quibble a bit about life begins at conception but that’s the ADHD in me (a useful trait in my profession). I believe it begins about 1 week after conception – 8 days later if I recall – but I accept your point on that.
Other than I’m going to delete most of the present posts on the new site, I’d want to copy your comment as a post on the new site. I’d be pleased if you allowed me to take your similar comments as posts there. I don’t really want the new site to be “me” with commenters. I need to figure out a way to accept “guest” posts in an easy manner while keeping spammers out.
DT, Yes, I actually suggested an actual date of His birth and its relationship to what are Biblical Holy Days. These are not Jewish Holy days as the scope of people they cover is innumerable. I am also suggesting that what the Roman Catholic Church calls the Immaculate Conception–the conception of Mary, is way off base, that the real Immaculate Conception took place on a certain date and that date would be what we label December 25 (Christmas) and it was the result of the Holy Spirit impregnating Mary. As Christians we are taught that it is the Holy Spirit that gives life. I agree that calendars have changed but time hasn’t. Also, within one hour of when the sperm unites with the egg, wham, the basic life-form of the person is set.
SKDecember 24, 2024, 5:02 AM
Well, whatever the actually date, declarations or calenders used to arrive at 25 December, I wish everyone here on this site, and their loved ones, a peaceful, happy Christmas Eve and festive Christmas Day.
jim reibelDecember 24, 2024, 5:02 AM
Ghost
Thanks for the reminder of his post from 2 years ago. Great stuff! I miss him. Thanks to Neo, you and other regulars for keeping this going. I will drop by the new site and watch how things develop there.
Best wishes to everyone. Remember what Gerard wrote just 2 years ago. That sharp rap is what we all really need.
My copy of “THE NAME IN STONE” just arrived. I am highly impressed with the quality for a paperback. Neo, thank you for keeping your promise to Gerard. In this day and age keeping one’s word is priceless.
If others are like me we cannot believe how fast time has passed.
Casey KlahnDecember 24, 2024, 2:03 PM
Got mine today, as well! It’s a gift and I’ma wrap it up and place it under the tree.
ghostsniperDecember 24, 2024, 6:33 PM
Mines under the tree right now, for my wife.
ghostsniperDecember 24, 2024, 6:33 PM
…and to all a good night.
AnneDecember 25, 2024, 8:18 PM
Merry Christmas and a wonderful New American Year!
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Changed theme on new site. Lots of options to fiddle with. I like the general layout but I’d like to tweak some colors, fonts, text size, and margins. Content gets too wide; thought I limited it. Not sure what it looks like on phones and such – need to use them to tell. Someone will let me know.
Bear with me please. Login and register if the site allows, otherwise don’t worry about it for now. Meanwhile, let’s enjoy the last month of American Digest. It’s been an interesting group these last couple of years.
2 Years Ago Today
=============
The following is the text from 2 years ago today and one of the best things Gerard ever wrote on AD, in my opinion.
You can read the original here:
https://americandigest.org/last-minute-shopping/
Last Minute Shopping
by Vanderleun on December 23, 2022
One of the abiding delusions of the male mind is the belief it is actually possible to put off critical Christmas shopping until late on the 23rd of December. I am the apostle of this delusion. I take comfort in this false belief every year. No amount of actual experience ever shakes my conviction that it is not only possible to shop like this but economically prudent too. And every year this faith is tested and found wanting. Whatever I may save in last minute markdowns I pay for in this evening’s glowing and gut-wrenching angst.
So there I was waiting at the “Information” counter in the local Barnes & Noble in search of, well, “information.” I simply wanted to know if this gigantic repository of games, gags, cards, calendars, coffee, and, oh yes, books had a certain title and where it might be located. I was one of a small cloud of befuddled customers hovering about the source of “Information” and the service in the store at this hour of the evening on this last day was not exactly “crisp.”
Bluntly stated, the “information” staff of 2.5 employees had had it. Burnt out, tired, tried to the breaking point, they were still going through the corporate mandated methods of “helping” customers locate what they were looking for. At Barnes and Noble these days that means, as it means at so many other stores, a quick look-up and then a guided tour to the book the customer has requested, a hang-out until the clerk is sure they’ve found it, and then an inquiry of that person whether or not they need anything else. People have gotten married on flimsier relationships.
This mandated hand holding means that those needing a simple data-base query run and simply to be told “That’s under the author’s name in Philosophy over there,” tend to build up at the desk in hordes. And in these hordes on this night nobody’s happy. Add to this stituation people actually calling on the phone with “information” requests and you can see the slow steam beginning to rise off the assembled.
Your real need to know means nothing to the “information” clerks of Barnes and Noble. They must, MUST, comply with corporate protocol lest some corporate quality control spy find they are doing things efficiently according to the situation and fire them. They know they could make things run smoother, but they also know they can’t. I understand this and, most of the time, I try to hobble my impatience and irritability out of empathy for their plight. Working retail on this day is not a stroll through a heaven of angels wings, babies bottoms, and hot chocolate with teeny tiny marshmallows on top.
However, this was the witching hour of Christmas shopping for me and I was getting ticked off as my, MY!, evening ticked away. The store was crowded and shabby by this point. The lines of my fellow sufferers (90% fellow male procrastinators) were long and growing longer. You could feel their nerve tissues fray and almost see the sparks glinting where the nerves were touching each other and sizzling.
Just when I thought it would be my turn at last to get my measly little question answered and get my own personal guided tour to the book I needed the phone rang at the “Information” desk and the woman, who should have been MY GUIDE THIS INSTANT!, took the call. She listened and said, “I’ll see.” Then she turned and disappeared into the bowels of the store.
Finally peeved I couldn’t help saying out loud in a scathing tone as she departed, “Jesus CHRIST!”
Without missing a beat the man waiting next to me turned and said, “Well, that’s Who we’re here for, isn’t it?”
In the serious practice of Zen meditation, the jikijitsu walks behind the meditators in the hall with a keisaku, a flat stick. If you are having a problem with the depth of your meditation, your focus, you bow slightly in your Zazen posture as the jikijitsu walks by and he gives you a quick and solid rap on the shoulders with the stick. This snaps you into it.
In this case, this man’s observation snapped me out of it like a sharp whack on the shoulders from a keisaku. Snapped me out of my bitter mood and back into the reality of the Christmas season instead of the illusion of the bookstore.
“Thanks. Thank you,” I said. “You’re absolutely right. He is the reason we’re here. I needed that.”
We both laughed. I shook his hand and left the store and my remaining little needs behind. I’d just gotten what I needed.
Outside in the parking lot you could see the getting and spending still going on in the dark. Beyond the parking lot were the roads and the woods and the streams and the mountains all under a white shawl of snow. Driving back through the whiteness I realized I didn’t need to buy any more gifts for anybody. We all already have more gifts than we need or know how to use.
What we all need for Christmas is often the last thing we want — a sharp whack from a keisaku wielding jikijitsu focusing us to simply accept, at the very last minute, His gift.
Research Finds Faults in Santa Claus Workplace Safety
Paper finds Santa at risk: sleigh safety, cardiovascular risk, mental health
During the holiday season, we imagine the joy that Santa Claus will bring to our families. Some households suggest an attempt to step outside self-centered viewpoints to consider the holiday from a Santa-centric paradigm of enjoyment by offering a cup of brandy, cookies and milk, or even carrots for his reindeer. However, as a society we systematically fail to take into account issues of workplace safety that affect or have the potential to affect Santa Claus and his ungulate co-workers every Christmas Eve. A commentary by University of Alberta medical researcher Sebastian Straube, published in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, hopes to shed light on these chronic and acute safety concerns while examining the research landscape of the field of Santa Safety Studies.
First and most obviously, the paper explores sleigh safety. “Though there is uncertainty about whether Santa or the reindeer ought to be considered as the operator(s) proper of the sleigh,” the paper writes, “the consumption of alcohol during work would typically be discouraged, even if Santa were a sleigh passenger only.”
By encouraging what we see as Santa’s enjoyment of the Christmas journey and/or imagining that our alcoholic offerings somehow fortify Santa for said journey, are we in fact undermining his safety? The potential for alcohol-related sleigh accidents is especially troubling in light of the fact that, as the article points out, Santa routinely travels without copilot or radio operator, in a sleigh that is not “manufactured to the engineering standards of the twenty-first century.” Without seatbelts, airbags or radar-based collision systems and with the real concern “whether Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s highly vascularized olfactory organ functions adequately as a beacon light for other aircraft,” should we as a society enable the ancient elf’s consumption of intoxicating beverages?
This is without taking into account St. Nick’s obvious cardiovascular risk factors, namely obesity and, at times, smoking. The article points out that Santa must be considered a “shift worker who works a significant amount of seasonal overtime,” and in this population, specifically, cardiovascular risk factors (along with acute stress and over-consumption of unhealthy snacks including milk and cookies) have been shown to greatly increase the chance of adverse cardiovascular events including stroke and coronary heart disease.
Additionally, Santa Claus does not, apparently, alter his work uniform to match the widely-varying temperature demands of the altitudes and geographic locations in which he works. A table of U.S. Standard Atmosphere Heights & Temperatures shows that a sea-level temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit equates to approximately -12.3 degrees Fahrenheit at 20,000 feet. If we presume St. Nick’s iconic red suit and hat are adequate to protect against frostbite and hypothermia at altitude and with the significant wind chill of traveling at what the Fermi Lab calculates as nearly light speed, then the same suit must contribute to the chance of heat stress at lower altitudes and speeds. In fact, “Little is known about the efficacy of his fur-lined red suit in thermal regulation, and carrying his sack of presents would reasonably increase his physical workload, exacerbating heat stress further,” the paper writes.
Stress and physical demands undoubtedly place great demands on Santa’s mental health. The paper points out that his near omniscience (“He knows when you are sleeping”…etc.) coupled with repeatedly checking extensive written records (“He’s making a list; he’s checking it twice”), seems to hint at the possibility of an obsessive disorder, writing that, “Recent evidence does link work stress with many common mental disorders.”
The paper concludes with the following recommendation: “Given the above-mentioned concerns from an occupational health perspective, we feel that it is time to adopt an evidence-based approach to develop, firstly, a comprehensive workplace occupational health program for Santa, and, secondly, a standardized and reproducible protocol for assessment of Santa’s fitness for work.”
I for one will be doing my part this Christmas to improve the workplace safety of this stressed, aging and at-risk elf who has been so insensitively characterized as unwaveringly “jolly.” Instead of setting out brandy, milk and cookies, you can please mail them directly to me.
Christmas has been hijacked from a Christian holy day to a day of commercial self-gratification, and few people seem to care. When examining the roots of Christmas, one finds that by the fourth century, the Christian church had established itself as the official faith of the Roman Empire and had as one of its objectives the elimination of paganism.
To accomplish this the church adopted many pagan holidays and beliefs and rebranded them as Christian holy days. In essence they absorbed the pagan masses while simultaneously growing their numbers. One such rebranding took place in the late 330s AD when Pope Julius 1 declared, “December 25th, Christ born in Bethlehem, Judea.” Dec. 25 was chosen because many pagan gods were supposedly born on that day. It only made sense to substitute Christ in place of the pagan gods’ birthdays, and while the church didn’t know it, they were actually incorporating a day when the Immaculate Conception took place.
A quick internet search shows that human life begins at conception, not birth, and a normal human pregnancy is approximately 280 days.
Many scholars debate the year Jesus Christ was born but agree that it was in the fall. It is my opinion, when facts and dates are aligned with Holy Scripture, that Christ was born Sept. 29, 2 B.C., which was, according to God’s holy calendar, the Feast of Trumpets, a time to repent, a new beginning, a new year. In light of Christ’s human life beginning at conception I believe Christmas, Dec. 25, is a much more important date than most Christian churches realize.
Is it really important that the “exact” day be honored? Is the change of calendars during the past 2000 years taken into account? I am >not< knocking your comment but I think it's more important that the event itself be honored (properly) than trying to determine the exact day. If the exact day date itself was important, I'm sure it would be known; one of the disciples would have mentioned it. "December 25" of now is not the December 25 of only a few hundred years ago.
__________________________________
— The Gregorian calendar did not exist before October 15, 1582.
— Augustus corrected errors in the observance of leap years by omitting leap days until AD 8. Julian calendar dates before March AD 4 are proleptic, and do not necessarily match the dates actually observed in the Roman Empire.
— Use of the Gregorian calendar in the United States stems from an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1751
Glad to see you here Joe, keep posting stuff.
Don’t forget to check in at the new site too:
https://newamericandigest.org/
DT, I am under the impression that you do not understand what I wrote.
Perhaps not. I got the impression you were suggesting that the specific date of Jesus’ birth was of importance.
That Christmas has become “a day of commercial self-gratification” has been an issue as long as I can remember. FDR changed Thanksgiving for the merchants of Christmas … though it has been within my lifetime that this country went from a nation of producers to a nation of consumers. Buy, buy, buy – don’t worry about debt – buy NOW. To the point where Christmas sales can make or break a merchant.
I am familiar with the history of Constantine; I have visited Constantinople and walked along the paths of Ephesus. Visited Disciple John’s grave. Passed near Nicea (now Iznik) but didn’t have time to stop. Doesn’t make me “holy” though. Very interesting history; the foundations of “Western Civilization”.
I will admit that by common definition, I am probably not Christian although I celebrate and respect Christian holidays for the purpose intended. I was raised “hillbilly Presbyterian”.
I’d quibble a bit about life begins at conception but that’s the ADHD in me (a useful trait in my profession). I believe it begins about 1 week after conception – 8 days later if I recall – but I accept your point on that.
Other than I’m going to delete most of the present posts on the new site, I’d want to copy your comment as a post on the new site. I’d be pleased if you allowed me to take your similar comments as posts there. I don’t really want the new site to be “me” with commenters. I need to figure out a way to accept “guest” posts in an easy manner while keeping spammers out.
Merry Christmas, everybody
That includes you too ghostsniper.
DT, Yes, I actually suggested an actual date of His birth and its relationship to what are Biblical Holy Days. These are not Jewish Holy days as the scope of people they cover is innumerable. I am also suggesting that what the Roman Catholic Church calls the Immaculate Conception–the conception of Mary, is way off base, that the real Immaculate Conception took place on a certain date and that date would be what we label December 25 (Christmas) and it was the result of the Holy Spirit impregnating Mary. As Christians we are taught that it is the Holy Spirit that gives life. I agree that calendars have changed but time hasn’t. Also, within one hour of when the sperm unites with the egg, wham, the basic life-form of the person is set.
Well, whatever the actually date, declarations or calenders used to arrive at 25 December, I wish everyone here on this site, and their loved ones, a peaceful, happy Christmas Eve and festive Christmas Day.
Ghost
Thanks for the reminder of his post from 2 years ago. Great stuff! I miss him. Thanks to Neo, you and other regulars for keeping this going. I will drop by the new site and watch how things develop there.
Best wishes to everyone. Remember what Gerard wrote just 2 years ago. That sharp rap is what we all really need.
Jim Reibel
Best wishes to all for a very Merry Christmas.
My copy of “THE NAME IN STONE” just arrived. I am highly impressed with the quality for a paperback. Neo, thank you for keeping your promise to Gerard. In this day and age keeping one’s word is priceless.
If others are like me we cannot believe how fast time has passed.
Got mine today, as well! It’s a gift and I’ma wrap it up and place it under the tree.
Mines under the tree right now, for my wife.
…and to all a good night.
Merry Christmas and a wonderful New American Year!