Meat for the Hungry

Have you been n a u g h t y or extra n i c e this year? Will you receive a lump of coal in your stocking or everything you wished for? “You better watch out…Santa Claus is coming to town.” Remember, “He’s making a list; and checking it twice; gonna find out who’s n a u g h t y a n d n i c e …He sees you when you’re sleeping…knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!” [1] Aww, C h r i s t m a s fun!  Interestingly, a few days ago I stumbled upon a website where you can actually ask Santa if you are on the “ N A U G H T Y o r  N I C E ” list.  Yes indeedy,  folks!  Step right up, because at: http://www.claus.com/naughtyornice/nn_hmpg2.php you will find Santa’s  N i c e -o- M e t e r .   By typing in your name and then clicking the “ASK SANTA” button, you can see where you stand on Santa’s N a u g h t y o r N i c e scale.

“Any of you ready for a “Puritan Christmas”?” Andreas Köstenberger asked, in his blog, “A Puritan Christmas”. [1] Sure, I thought. But, how did the Puritan’s celebrate Christmas? Continuing to read, I was surprised to discover the Puritans did not celebrate Christmas. In fact, in Scotland, from 1580 through 1660, the Puritan’s controlled Parliament actually outlawed Christmas. When the Pilgrims immigrated to the New World, they did the same. Christmas, they had decided, was a pagan corruption of the true birth of our Savior, believing the word holiday, a combination of two words – holy and day – implied one day more holy than the next. “They for whom all days are holy can have no holiday,” [2] became their condescending response to Christmas, “…nicknaming it "Foolstide" and banning their flock from any celebration of it throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.” [3] Nevertheless, they may have a point. Consider our western traditions. Even the word, C h r i s t ...