Greetings Garrison: Macy's wooden escalators, Silent Night and the Christmas story are all very real in our lives. Silent Night is in my opinion the most wonderful song ever. I play it on one of our 5 acoustic pianos in all 12 keys. We sang it load on Christmas Eve during communion at St. Patrick Catholic Church here in Fremont, Nebraska and felt our eyes water some. Thanks. RRoeder
And I thank you for the vicarious shopping trip. I hope to make a visit soon to ride Macy’s escalators even if I buy nothing. I love New York, and you give me hope for our collective future. Onwards and upwards!
x boxes, apples with rams inside, and other electronic devices have become the useless gifts under the Christmas tree today. Gold, frankincense, and myrhh may have been the superscillous gift that men brought of yore, but our wise men of Silicone valley have done more that their share to cloud our winter night skies, obscuring that star! Keep it bright, Garrison, with your lucid observations. Happy New light and New Year!
The gifts of the Nagi were gifts for a king and that's who they came to see (predicted by the conjunction of Saturn -- the "star" of the Jews -- with 2 other heavenly bodies?). Gold for royalty, and Myrrh for the eventual death of a monarch, fitting.
I'm late to the party, and out of town over the holidays, but writing this on Epiphany, the "Christmas of the Gentiles", how appropriate.
Oh, and it's Silicon Valley, a common mistake of non-chemists only aquatinted with silicones.
Being a King myself, and in name only, I have spent much time wondering about those three gifts my namesicks brought to the Holy Family. Symboylic they had to be. No poor Jewish couple had likely experienced both frankincense and myrrh, costly as they are. As for gold, everyone knows what it is, but likely never sees. How much was given the Holy Family during that visit, but surely not enough to stop Joseph from his carpentering, or his son, for that matter. The 3 King's gold must have been symbolics, as all of it its. Nobody says it better and more painfully than poet T.S. Eliots's rendition of the 3 Magi's visit:
The Journey Of The Magi
A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death."
More one can hardly ask than what those 3 visitors told the family of 3.
" A couple weeks ago....." Egad: the last bastion has fallen and the goths have finally breached the gates when Keillor himself leaves off the "of": For the love of "of", sir: will you not desist? I know, a "a couple of" in these days of efficiency in all things, has gained ground, but to be used by yourself:
...it is to weep, sir. 'Tis tantamount the the Archbishop of Canterbury spitting on the sidewalk. Think what your primary school tearchers would have written with the scarlet pencil of yesteryear.
Was thrilling to be in that audience at Town Hall those 'couple weeks ago' with Garrison! It also brought back memories of the previous times we were there in that same theatre when his show would be a live radio broadcast.
On the drive home we reminisced about the Christmas Day, don't remember how many years ago, we were fortunate to be two of those who took him up on the invitation he gave at his Town Hall Christmas show to join him at a small theatre in the Lincoln Center area on December 25th. Was a perfect Christmas celebration.
What i'd like to knnow, Garrison, is whether you package and send those shirts yourself (after storing them in your high-priced apartmetn in NYC) or have someone across the river in New Jersey do it for you. And do you enclsoe a gift coupon for one of your books together with the shirt? JS
Singing together, wherever it happens and whichever religion the song comes from, is a gift to the singers and to the listeners. Bravo and thanks for a beautiful account of the festivities.
As a member of a town and gown Chorale from nearby UMaine, I agree. Our holiday concert concluded with 4 massed choirs singing, in addition to our usual O Holy Night and the Hallelujah Chorus, a "cool" Deck the Halls. Moving and fun experience.
And our church choir went caroling after service on 12/17 to shut-in church members and in front of the Christmas Tree in downtown Bangor.
O Garrison, how absolutely refreshing to hear one of such reasoning genius tout a growing testimony of the Savior. Fire insurance or just final genuine listening to the Spirit, nonetheless, inspiring to hear your heart! — Doug Brewer. Holladay, UT
Greetings Garrison: Macy's wooden escalators, Silent Night and the Christmas story are all very real in our lives. Silent Night is in my opinion the most wonderful song ever. I play it on one of our 5 acoustic pianos in all 12 keys. We sang it load on Christmas Eve during communion at St. Patrick Catholic Church here in Fremont, Nebraska and felt our eyes water some. Thanks. RRoeder
Wonderful. Just what I needed. Looking forward to seeing all of you in February.
And I thank you for the vicarious shopping trip. I hope to make a visit soon to ride Macy’s escalators even if I buy nothing. I love New York, and you give me hope for our collective future. Onwards and upwards!
RE: stunning beauties behind the counters
Pictures, or it didn’t happen...
x boxes, apples with rams inside, and other electronic devices have become the useless gifts under the Christmas tree today. Gold, frankincense, and myrhh may have been the superscillous gift that men brought of yore, but our wise men of Silicone valley have done more that their share to cloud our winter night skies, obscuring that star! Keep it bright, Garrison, with your lucid observations. Happy New light and New Year!
The gifts of the Nagi were gifts for a king and that's who they came to see (predicted by the conjunction of Saturn -- the "star" of the Jews -- with 2 other heavenly bodies?). Gold for royalty, and Myrrh for the eventual death of a monarch, fitting.
I'm late to the party, and out of town over the holidays, but writing this on Epiphany, the "Christmas of the Gentiles", how appropriate.
Oh, and it's Silicon Valley, a common mistake of non-chemists only aquatinted with silicones.
Being a King myself, and in name only, I have spent much time wondering about those three gifts my namesicks brought to the Holy Family. Symboylic they had to be. No poor Jewish couple had likely experienced both frankincense and myrrh, costly as they are. As for gold, everyone knows what it is, but likely never sees. How much was given the Holy Family during that visit, but surely not enough to stop Joseph from his carpentering, or his son, for that matter. The 3 King's gold must have been symbolics, as all of it its. Nobody says it better and more painfully than poet T.S. Eliots's rendition of the 3 Magi's visit:
The Journey Of The Magi
A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death."
More one can hardly ask than what those 3 visitors told the family of 3.
Thanks, Ken.....and Emily, 2! :)
As before, gifts for a king, whom they sought.
And they found. In case there were any doubts!
" A couple weeks ago....." Egad: the last bastion has fallen and the goths have finally breached the gates when Keillor himself leaves off the "of": For the love of "of", sir: will you not desist? I know, a "a couple of" in these days of efficiency in all things, has gained ground, but to be used by yourself:
...it is to weep, sir. 'Tis tantamount the the Archbishop of Canterbury spitting on the sidewalk. Think what your primary school tearchers would have written with the scarlet pencil of yesteryear.
You weep too easily, sir, but I shall try to remember.
Chill.
Was thrilling to be in that audience at Town Hall those 'couple weeks ago' with Garrison! It also brought back memories of the previous times we were there in that same theatre when his show would be a live radio broadcast.
On the drive home we reminisced about the Christmas Day, don't remember how many years ago, we were fortunate to be two of those who took him up on the invitation he gave at his Town Hall Christmas show to join him at a small theatre in the Lincoln Center area on December 25th. Was a perfect Christmas celebration.
Thank you for the uplifting message. God blesses.
YOU are a radiant beam, Old Timer!! Merry Christmas! ( Day 3 of 12? ) Roger Krenkler L.A.
What i'd like to knnow, Garrison, is whether you package and send those shirts yourself (after storing them in your high-priced apartmetn in NYC) or have someone across the river in New Jersey do it for you. And do you enclsoe a gift coupon for one of your books together with the shirt? JS
My wife takes them around the corner to a dry-cleaning establishment which probably sends them over to New Jersey. Just my guess.
I’m willing to try wassailing this year.
For the wassail or the singing?
For the wassail of course...
Singing together, wherever it happens and whichever religion the song comes from, is a gift to the singers and to the listeners. Bravo and thanks for a beautiful account of the festivities.
As a member of a town and gown Chorale from nearby UMaine, I agree. Our holiday concert concluded with 4 massed choirs singing, in addition to our usual O Holy Night and the Hallelujah Chorus, a "cool" Deck the Halls. Moving and fun experience.
And our church choir went caroling after service on 12/17 to shut-in church members and in front of the Christmas Tree in downtown Bangor.
It sounds like you gave a lot of joy and beauty to a lot of folks. May you go from strength to strength!
Sometimes you hit the nail right on the head, Mr. Keillor. Just a lovely flow of needed words, in this Xmas zone or any other. Thanks!
O Garrison, how absolutely refreshing to hear one of such reasoning genius tout a growing testimony of the Savior. Fire insurance or just final genuine listening to the Spirit, nonetheless, inspiring to hear your heart! — Doug Brewer. Holladay, UT