The Encouragement of Light

 

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." 

John 1:5

How did the rose
Ever open its heart
And give to this world
all its beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light
Against its being.
Otherwise, we all remain
too frightened.

Hafiz (c.1320-1389)

The lyric poet Hafiz became a poet at the court of Abu Ishak and also taught at a religious college. He is one of the most celebrated and influential of the Persian poets. As the author of numerous ghazals expressing love, spirituality, and protest, he and his work continue to be important to Iranians, and many of his poems are used as proverbs or sayings. 

A ghazal is a form of poetry in Arabic literature that usually consisting of a series of couplets that are linked by a repeating rhyme scheme and refrain. Each couplet can stand alone while contributing to the overall theme of the poem. Typical themes of ghazals include love, longing, and melancholy. 

Hafiz’s tomb is in Musalla Gardens in Shiraz in southern Iran.

History of the 12 Days of Christmas

 

Many people think of Christmas as a single day. However, Christmas is a season sometimes referred to as "Christmastide".

Christmas is the annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the long-awaited Son of God. Christmas day is December 25 followed by 11 more days of Christmas! The Feast of the Epiphany on January 6 marks the end of the Christmas season.

The song that we are familiar with today was composed in 1909 by Frederic Austin, a British composer. Austin had access to the printed version of the song in the English children's book Mirth With-out Mischief which was published in 1780.

However, some musicologists believe that the 12 Days of Christmas was originally a French song. 

The "four calling birds" were “four colly birds", a British reference to blackbirds. In other old versions of the song, the partridge is replaced with a "very pretty peacock upon a pear tree." 

It is believed that this delightful and memorable song once served to teach children about the Christian Faith. Catholic families may have used it to secretly pass the faith onto their children at a time when Roman Catholics were persecuted in England. 

Each gift speaks of a different aspect of Christianity:

The Partridge in the Pear Tree is Jesus Christ on the Cross.

The 2 Turtle Doves are The Old and New Testaments.

The 3 French hens are the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

The 4 Calling Birds are the four gospels or the four evangelists.

The 5 Golden Rings are the first five books of the Old Testament (the Septuagint).

The 6 Geese A-laying are the six days of creation.

The 7 Swans A-swimming are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments.

The 8 Maids A-milking are the eight beatitudes.

The 9 Ladies Dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The 10 Lords A-leaping are the ten commandments.

The 11 Pipers Piping are the eleven faithful apostles.

The 12 Drummers Drumming are the twelve doctrinal points of the Apostle’s Creed.

The Christmas House

 

This Christmas may your home be a place where Christ is born in every heart.

The House of Christmas

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.

G. K. Chesterton

Keep a Holy (Non-commercial) Advent

Advent 1955 

by Sir John Betjeman

The Advent wind begins to stir
With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir,
It's dark at breakfast, dark at tea,
And in between we only see
Clouds hurrying across the sky
And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry
And branches bending to the gale
Against great skies all silver pale
The world seems travelling into space,
And travelling at a faster pace
Than in the leisured summer weather
When we and it sit out together,
For now we feel the world spin round
On some momentous journey bound -
Journey to what? to whom? to where?
The Advent bells call out 'Prepare,
Your world is journeying to the birth
Of God made Man for us on earth.'

And how, in fact, do we prepare
The great day that waits us there -
For the twenty-fifth day of December,
The birth of Christ? For some it means
An interchange of hunting scenes
On coloured cards, And I remember
Last year I sent out twenty yards,
Laid end to end, of Christmas cards
To people that I scarcely know -
They'd sent a card to me, and so
I had to send one back. Oh dear!
Is this a form of Christmas cheer?
Or is it, which is less surprising,
My pride gone in for advertising?
The only cards that really count
Are that extremely small amount
From real friends who keep in touch
And are not rich but love us much
Some ways indeed are very odd
By which we hail the birth of God.


We raise the price of things in shops,
We give plain boxes fancy tops
And lines which traders cannot sell
Thus parcell'd go extremely well
We dole out bribes we call a present
To those to whom we must be pleasant
For business reasons. Our defence is
These bribes are charged against expenses
And bring relief in Income Tax
Enough of these unworthy cracks!
'The time draws near the birth of Christ'.
A present that cannot be priced
Given two thousand years ago
Yet if God had not given so
He still would be a distant stranger
And not the Baby in the manger.

The Holy Babe in an Ox's Stall

From "Christmas" by Sir John Betjeman

"And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?

And is it true? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant,

No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine."

Dorothy L. Sayers on Aging

 

Dorothy L Sayers by Sir William Hutchison, 1957, (detail) 

Credit: National Portrait Gallery London

"As I grow older and older, 

And totter toward the tomb, 

I find that I care less and less, 

Who goes to bed with whom." - D. Sayers

Dorothy Sayers was 37 years old when her book Strong Poison was published in 1930. At that point, she was at the halfway mark of her life. She died at age 64. In Strong Poison she describes what it felt like to be growing older. She wrote this:

From now on, every hour of light-heartedness would be, not a prerogative but an achievement - one more axe or case - bottle or fowling-piece, rescued, Crusoe-fashion, from a sinking ship. (Chapter VIII)

Related reading: Murder by Arsenic: Reflection on Sayers' novel Strong Poison; Dorothy Sayer's Obituary; The Descriptive Writing of Dorothy Sayers; Dorothy Sayers' Wisdom; Last Morning in Oxford; D, Sayers: A Mind of Her Own; The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers; The Final Redemption of Cats

How to Win a Crown

Daniel’s Song

By Hope Ellen Rapson


Tempted in Babylon

A new name required,

He would not be one,

Caving into desire.



In that world’s kingdom,

He would stand with three,

Loyal to the One

Who made them free.



He worked with rich and proud,

Choosing integrity,

Neither cocky, nor cowed,

But with humility.



Among all who lie or cheat,

He knelt to praise, and pray,

The Holy God Complete,

His King, his Rock, his Stay.



Threats of loss, fire, or lions

Did not his heart control.

His body lived for God,

The One who owned his soul.



So may I bear salvation’s seal,

Whenever I stand or kneel,

I live for this alone--- to reveal,

The Holy God who’s real.