HandiCapable

I didn’t see three ships, because we’re in the piedmont, between the mountains and the sea. The beat of those twelve drums are fading away as I quietly sit and dream in these last few hours of Christmas Day.

I got some pretty amazing stuff from my family, including a new keyboard, one of my favorite movies on dvd (”Stardust”), and a lovely lacey top. Also got a gift from a friend that came with an explanation dripping with sarcasm, so my reception of the gift was one of confusion. We all went to see the movie “Marley and Me” tonight, and laughed and cried, and ran home to hug and kiss our own Marley, who we call Beau.

Tomorrow we drive ten hours to visit my brother Andrew and his family… aka, spoil my nephew completely. So in a way, Christmas isn’t really over yet. We still have colored lights to see, gifts to open, and desserts to eat, and family to enjoy. I hope your Christmas isn’t quite over either. Merry post-Christmas day to you all, and to all a good night.

Sorry again for the delay… I’m telling you, the last four days just aren’t as interesting to write about as the others. No secret cultural message in dancers and musicians… Music is indeed a universal language.

The ten lords a-leaping bring to my mind the image of James Marsden in “Enchanted” - my favorite role Marsden has played so far. If you’ve seen the movie, I imagine you understand what I mean, and may even be chuckling over the remembrance of it. And can you think of the famous “ten” in the Bible the lords represent? That’s right, the commandments.

The eleven pipers piping are supposed to represent the eleven faithful disciples, but they hold a deeper significance for me this year than they ever have before. Over the summer, I read the “Anne of Green Gables” series by L.M. Montgomery, and the last book, “Rilla of the Island” was my favorite. It was certainly the darkest of all the books, taking place during WWI, and following the lives of the women as their sons and brothers and husbands went to war. I confess I cried a lot. What does this have to do with the eleventh day? Well, a theme in the book is the children’s story of the Pied Piper, though it becomes twisted… the boys hear the call of the piper to go to war, and when he calls, they are compelled - almost bewitched - to follow. Even on the battlefield, in the face of certain death, they hear the call and follow. A very haunting thought, and doesn’t really fit with the merry making of the 12 days, does it? But it reminds me of the bittersweetness of life, especially as you grow up. Christmas still holds magic for me, but it also reminds me of the risk of being in relationship with people and yet the need we all have for relationship… it’s a call in our hearts to lay ourselves on the line for the sake of love and life. When that piper plays for you, will you follow? It is worth all it costs.

*sigh* I was hoping I could do this blog daily without having to double up any of the days of Christmas. But yesterday I was having so much fun with my family, I just didn’t get around to it. So…

The remarkable thing concerning the eight maids a-milking, is not that there were eight of them, but that they all milked one German cow that only produced chocolate milk, which is my kind of cow! Here’s the proof: http://www.aviso.net/holidays/christmas/mf/1999/mf_0899.htm.

Oh yeah, and the eight maids a-milking also represent the eight beatitudes Jesus spoke of in Matthew 5:1-16.

The nine ladies dancing are pretty much just that… a bunch of ladies having a good time, enjoying the music of the birds and celebrating all the good stuff their true love gave to them.

However, they also represent the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control… and the kids in my youth group could tell you what kind of fruit each fruit is and why!

In my search for significance of the seventh gift, I discovered that the seven swans are to blame for the leaning Tower of Pisa! How droll! I don’t know who wrote this little poem, but it made my day, so I will share it’s cleverness with you:

“On a tall tower seven swans sat.
One was skinny but six were fat.
All day long they did dine
on pasta, bread, and vintage wine.
Too stuffed to swim,
they caused a scene
when the tower began to lean.”

So there you go, the seven swans were Italian, and caused all sorts of problems because they ate too much. The zoo-keepers are right: the moral of the story is, do not feed the birds.

The seven swans a-swimming also represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and for the details I refer you to none other than the Bible: Romans 12:6-8. Read and enjoy!

If you’ve been reading this week, you may be eagerly anticipating the significant meaning of the “six geese a-laying.” Well, laying eggs is a universally recognized symbol of new life… and there are six geese to represent the six days of Creation, six days where God’s creative genius brought forth all sorts of new life. So there you have it - six geese a-laying.

I have a couple questions about the song itself… like, why are there so many birds? and why do days 6-12 follow a pattern of a subject and action? 1-5 are just the gifts, but the rest are gifts that do things… there must be something significant in that, don’t you think? Perhaps it reflects our need for something more than just things - we need to receive acts of love and kindness, and have joyful experiences. And why do the dancers - ladies and lords - come before the music - pipers and drummers? Things for you to ponder on this, the sixth day of Christmas.

There were five smoked kielbasas, five ivory combs, and of course, five golden rings… the part of the song everyone knows, even if they don’t know the rest. So sing it with me with great gusto!

Amazingly enough, the five golden rings have a purely Christian significance, as far as I can find:

“A ring, or a circle, has no beginning or end but is continuous. Thereby, the ring reminds us of both God’s eternity — His permanent, faithful, and continuous love for us– and the circle of faith– God’s love for us, our love for Him, and our love for our neighbors. Moreover, gold is a pure element, and God’s love is a pure, unconditional love.”

There are five rings to represent the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, which are the history of man’s fall from grace. However, in my study of the Pentateuch, I’ve also found that it is the covenant of God’s “permanent, faithful, continuous, and unconditional love” for his people. In fact, I don’t think there is a single story written in the Bible that does not go back this covenant of love. I dunno about you, but when I think of golden ring bands I think of wedding rings, and how they are used to represent an unbreakable promise (at least God says so), a covenant very similar to God’s.

So there you go. If you don’t yet know the depth of the covenant in the Pentateuch, I highly suggest that you read Genesis chapters….. actually, just read all of Genesis. And when you get through with that, read it again. And then read the other four books, because they are pretty crucial to the follow up of the covenant, too. It’s the introduction to the greatest love story of all time!

I had toast with cherry preserves on it this morning, and there were four whole cherries in the preserves on my toast. It must be a sign that someone loves me…

After much searching of the Internet, I bring to you some interesting facts about the fourth day of Christmas. Did you know that they weren’t really “calling birds” but were originally “colly birds,” which were the English way of saying “coaly birds,” which meant blackbirds, which have been kept as pets to sing? What a nice gift for the ladies… if it was for a man, however, another meaning may make more sense - game hunters kept pheasants named “calling birds,” because their song attracted other pheasants, which naturally makes a hunt easier. If you want more information, go to this website: http://www.shartwell.freeserve.co.uk/humor-site/caulibirds.htm.

The four calling birds also represent the four “evangelists” - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Their song has been heard throughout the world in the past 2,000 years, despite every attempt to silence it. And what a song it is! A song of freedom, grace, truth, and new life! The gospels are the good news of Jesus Christ, sung by missionaries and martyrs alike, because it is such good news that it is unstoppable.

Let us be a part of carrying on the gift that was given to us. Let our voices be part of the choir of calling birds that sing God’s praises!

And on to the third day of Christmas! Apparently, French hens lay really good eggs in the winter months, which makes for great egg Christmas dishes. Also, one website said that the french hens are a sign of goodwill between the English and the French, because in the ’80s, all the English eggs were deemed unfit because of a salmonella bacteria, so they had to buy their eggs from France. Interesting, eh?

Kevan and I decided that three French hens is just a sad sight to see, and we hope that they got inspired by the turtledoves and got together with the lustful partridge to make some noisy calling birds… I guess we’ll find out tomorrow, eh?

The Christian meaning is for the three virtues mentioned in I Corinthians: faith, hope, and love. I think that’s great, and if I ever have French hens, I will name them Faith, Hope and Love. And if I never have French hens… well, I still have the song and the Bible to help me remember what’s really important.

Two cups of tea for me this morning… to get me moving and thinking clearly about all I need to do today. But those two cups also gave me a little extra time to just be still and quiet before the Lord.

Today is the second day of Christmas, which the song says brings two turtledoves… Turtledoves represent lovers, but I think the Bible version is better: it represents the Old and New Testaments, the two parts of God’s love letter to us. I just finished my Old Testament class last night at Forsyth Tech, and one of the things I learned is how crucial the O.T. is to Christians even today. We need to read it in order to fully understand and appreciate the New Testament, not to mention there are valuable lessons to be learned in every O.T. story. There has to be two testaments - you can’t have one without the other.

 So that’s all I will say about it. Read the Bible - all of it, not just the parts you prefer - and obey what it says. Learn from it. Learn from the example of Jesus, and look at the whole beautiful gospel story from beginning to end - from sheep skins to robes of righteousness. God has a lot to say, and he wants you to read it!

On the first day of Christmas… I wrapped the last of my presents for my family!

I was curious to see what the partridge in the pear tree was all about, so I went to the greatest source of information: the Internet. (That was sarcastic. Everyone knows the greatest source is my dad, Robert Redford.) At any rate, here’s what I found:

“One of the many folk beliefs associated with fruit trees goes like this: a young woman who walks backward three times around a pear tree on Christmas morning, then gazes into its branches, can see the image of her future husband. In the song, the partridge in a pear tree may be symbolic of her suitor, since the male Alectoris Rufa, the red-legged partridge, is renowned for his lust.”

Well that’s just silly. I’d much rather find a cardboard blue-eyed elf (that would be my mmm… life-sized Legolas!) than a bird known for his lust… elves are much more chivalrous, especially when shooting long-range targets with arrows. So since this description wasn’t enough to make me want a partridge or a pear tree, I kept looking. What I found next was much more satisfying:

“But what most people don’t realize is that the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was created to be a teaching aid. The song is an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something of religious significance. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help young Christians learn their faith during a time of persecution… The mother partridge will lure enemies away from the nest of defenseless chicks in order to protect them. She will literally risk her life for her children. The bird’s willingness to die for its young made it an ancient Christian symbol of Christ. The pear tree represents the cross.”

Now that’s impressive! Talk about your first-day-of-Christmas gift! A much more noble love, I’d say, and certainly worth singing about.

I read I John 2:1-2 this morning, and the partridge reminds me of it:

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Praise God for the partridge - the Righteous One - who is our atoning sacrifice and the gift of eternal life. And thank God for the pear tree, the cross on which Jesus took all of our sin away, spoke on our behalf to the Father, and made us holy!