Quite a lot of religion
John R Levine
Sarah and I went to our church's annual Christmas eve candlelight service
tonight. It was held at the neo-Gothic Sage Chapel on the Cornell campus.
Cornell is non-sectarian and holds all sorts of services over the course of
the year, but Ezra Cornell, who's buried in a crypt under a statue of himself
in the back of the chapel, was one of the founders of the Ithaca Unitarian
church, so we get the chapel on the day that counts.
Sarah was wearing her brand new snowsuit and boots. I ordered them from
REI's web site on Monday night, no particular hurry, her old ones were OK and
I remember how much I hated getting clothes as presents so I don't do that,
so since we didn't care whether they showed up before Christmas, they did.
(A cookbook I ordered for Tonia at the same time, also no hurry, arrived
yesterday.)
You're allowed to park in any space on the campus, which, if you're familiar
with Cornell's usual fiercely enforced parking nomenklatura, is evidence of
divine intervention right there. We parked a block away and walked through
the new snow (finally!) past the library bell tower, where a very cold person
was playing Christmas carols, to the chapel. It was jammed, every pew was
filled, but we snagged an empty seat behind the choir. That meant we were
right in front of the organ which was VERY, VERY, LOUD but that was OK
because the organist was good.
Back when I was a youth in New Jersey I went to the Christmas eve
candlelights there (Princeton is Presbyterian, we didn't rate, so it was at
the church) which lasted maybe half an hour. But when you only have the
chapel one night out of the year, you have to make the most of it. We got
comfortable, Sarah sat in my lap looking down at the throng.
First there was a reading from Isaiah. Then we stood up and sang "O Come, O
Come Emmanuel". Then we sat down for another reading. Then we stood up to
sing "O Come All Ye Faithful." ("Mama knows this one, with the
glo-o-o-orias" whispered Sarah.) Then a reading from Luke Ch 1. Then the
choir sang the first anthem. Then a reading from Luke Ch 2. I unzipped
Sarah's snow suit a little more since it was warming up, but she was still
paying close attention. Then we hopped up to sing "Angels We Have Heard on
High". Then another reading. Then the choir sang a pair of anthems by
Praetorius. I started wondering when Sarah was going to explode. I asked if
she weres hot, she was, we took off the snow suit and boots, very quietly,
just in time to stand and sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem". Then the
offertory, a cello solo, proceeds to benefit the multi-church food pantry and
our church's "babies first" program that provides essential stuff to indigent
local mothers. Sarah whispered she was tired, I whispered back that she
could snooze in my lap, but she didn't, still paying attention. Then another
reading and another anthem. Then the minister gave the homily, the details
of which I forget, something about stars and wise men with research
assistants.
All this time we were clutching a pair of candles we'd gotten as we entered.
They turned off the lights, the ushers lighted big candles from one up at the
altar, then fanned out to pass the light from hand to hand while the cello
and violin played Silent Night, to quite touching effect. Once the light was
spread all around, we sang (sitting) Silent Night. Sarah still was quiet and
interested, although she's sure what we sang was called "Quiet Night", not an
unreasonable viewpoint since many of the other kids in the congregation were
decidedly unsilent by that point. Then the closing reading, stood once more
to sing "Joy To the World", and an organ postlude.
On the way back to the truck we watched the moon coming up as the cold person
played more carols for us. (Sarah had to point out to me where the moon
was.) Contrary to rumor, it's not the brightest moon in 133 years, it's maybe
the brightest in 8 years, but it still lit the snowy campus quite
evocatively.
Honestly, if I'd realized the service would last an hour and 20 minutes, I'm
not sure I would have brought Sarah. But I'm glad we did, we both had a good
time, and for such a little girl, that service with all the things to see in
the chapel, all the music, and all the people, meant much more than a service
in the church would.
My presents are at last wrapped (what did people do before there was scotch
tape?) and it's time for bed. We send greetings to all, suitable for both
the season and any cultural or religious celebrations appropriate to whatever
ancient or newly created and/or adapted tradition you may choose to honor.*
Regards,
John Levine, jo...@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Sewer Commissioner
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* - We're Unitarians, we can't help saying things like that.
--
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u...@iecc.com, and see http://sruu.iecc.com for the FAQ and posting policy.
Dave64052
Levine <jo...@iecc.com> writes:
>[snip long, story]
>Honestly, if I'd realized the service would last an hour and 20 minutes, I'm
>not sure I would have brought Sarah. But I'm glad we did, we both had a good
>time, and for such a little girl, that service with all the things to see in
>the chapel, all the music, and all the people, meant much more than a service
>in the church would.
Thanks for describing your Christmas Eve.
I'm sure part of the joy Sarah had was just spending quality time with you too.
And for Sarah, (you didn't mention her age, I expect she is your
grand-daugher?) everything might have been like a "first", thus even more
exciting. You knew what to expect, maybe she did not.
>My presents are at last wrapped (what did people do before there was scotch
>tape?) and it's time for bed. We send greetings to all, suitable for both
>the season and any cultural or religious celebrations appropriate to whatever
>ancient or newly created and/or adapted tradition you may choose to honor.*
>>Regards,
>John Levine.....
Do you mean the Wise Men from the East, visiting Jesus, did not have Scotch
tape, and gave him unwrapped presents? Isn't that cheap? Oh well....
Personally, I love those new brightly colored sacks with handles, where you can
drop a gift inside, put some tissue over it, and bingo, no need to wrap
anymore. Sacks are a great invention, what took humanity so long? <grin>
And the "generic" holiday card, that's really needed with Hannakah, Ramadan,
Yule, Christmas, Kawanzaa all in one month. (On the otherhand, Hallmark Cards
just added a new line of cards for Hispanics, I expect they will soon discover
pagans, by next December).
That's what I love about Santa Claus too, he may appeal to all, and no
religious affiliation required. Being a good Capitalist helps, though, to get
into the "buying/consumption spirit."
Who discovered St. Nick? I mean was the writer of "Tis the Night before
Christmas" really a Christian? Never thought about it before, anyone know?
Regards,
Dave
Glendower
POB 520291
Independence, Mo. 64052
me...@my-deja.com
any possible way be adhered to in the context of contemporary
Christianity.
But then, I am at a very early stage in my journey.
> >[snip long, story]
> >Honestly, if I'd realized the service would last an hour and 20
minutes, I'm
> >not sure I would have brought Sarah. But I'm glad we did, we both
had a good
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
BlueNikki
>I continue to be fascinated with the notion that Unitarianism can in
>any possible way be adhered to in the context of contemporary
>Christianity.
Some UUs or Unitarians/Universalists can feel so strongly about their
faith just as some Atheists feel so strongly about their philosophy
that they incorporate it into their *lifestyles*. UUism is part of
my lifestyle, Menji. I feel UUism is only but one factor that drives
me to be the best I can be (stealing the military slogan here!).
>But then, I am at a very early stage in my journey.
Same here. A couple of things I have learned so far are.....
1) Try not to assume *too much* too early ;-)
2) Don't expect that the posters of SRUU and ARUU (and other UU
forums and bulletin boards) are the sole representations of all UUs
everywhere and the UUA itself. Hell, as much as I love most of the
posters here and in ARUU, I very STRONGLY interject that we UU posters
are ~~~ N O T ~~~ a good sample or representation of all UUs
everywhere. You can take THAT to the bank, Menji! ;-))) Just the
same with atheist newsgroups....I know for sure that the people there
are not a good sample of all A/atheists everywhere. :o)
Learning is the same as breathing to me,
Nikki
Marie Houck
dave...@aol.com (Dave64052) wrote:
> That's what I love about Santa Claus too, he may appeal to all, and no
> religious affiliation required. Being a good Capitalist helps, though,
to get
> into the "buying/consumption spirit."
No, Santa Claus the name given to a Catholic saint (St. Nicholas); if you
want his full story, I'm sure you can find it.
And I can assure you, based on a discussion I'm reading on another
newsgroup, that there are those (in this case, Orthodox Jews) who find
Santa Claus to be a VERY Christian symbol, since it is a symbol used for a
VERY Christian holiday. And, yes, they know about the pagan roots of many
of the traditions, but, let's face it, "Christ's Mass" IS a major
religious holiday for (most) Christians. The fact that some of us who
don't describe ourselves as Christians ALSO celebrate it, and find ways to
justify that, is pretty irrelevant to those in minority faiths who begin
to feel somewhat oppressed by the ubiquitisnous of this particular
Christian holiday. In a way, the fact that some may claim it is NOT
religious reinforces THEIR point: this culture is so relentlessly
Christian that we start to think of this Christian holy day as a cultural
holiday -- from the point of view of those who do NOT celebrate Christmas,
this is pretty offensive. How would YOU like to be asked how you can
"deprive your children of the joy of Christmas" if you were Jewish?
Marie Houck
Lance Brown
> And the "generic" holiday card, that's really needed with Hannakah,
> Ramadan, Yule, Christmas, Kawanzaa all in one month. (On the
> otherhand, Hallmark Cards just added a new line of cards for
> Hispanics, I expect they will soon discover pagans, by next
> December). That's what I love about Santa Claus too, he may appeal
> to all, and no religious affiliation required. Being a good
> Capitalist helps, though, to get into the "buying/consumption
> spirit."
Oh, it is already fairly easy to buy Pagan (or at least
Pagan-compatible) Christmas cards. There are plenty around wishing a
'happy holiday season', or even a 'Merry Yule!', for example.
--[Lance]
Knut Klaveness Heidelberg
wrote:
> There are plenty around wishing a
>'happy holiday season', or even a 'Merry Yule!', for example.
Here in Norway we don't say Christmas at all. We keep to the old Norse
"jol" or as in modern Norwegian "jul". On our Christmascards you find
"God jul" which is the same as "Merry Yule". Christian or not, all
Norwegians say "Merry Yule" ("god jul") ;-))
Best wishes from Knut Klaveness Heidelberg in Norway
http://home.sol.no/~kheidelb/
John R.Levine
>I'm sure part of the joy Sarah had was just spending quality time with you too.
> And for Sarah, (you didn't mention her age, I expect she is your
>grand-daugher?) everything might have been like a "first", thus even more
>exciting. You knew what to expect, maybe she did not.
It's true, she's only 3 and a half and she's never been to a real
church service before. But sheesh, I'm not that old, I'm her father.
See http://www.iecc.com/willow for some pix of our recent junket to
Niagara Falls.
>Do you mean the Wise Men from the East, visiting Jesus, did not have Scotch
>tape, and gave him unwrapped presents?
I use a toothpaste with myrrh, it promotes healthy gums, and I figure
that if it was good enough for the baby Jesus, it's good enough for
me. But the tube of toothpaste is kind of an odd image at the manger
along with a golden chalice and smoldering incense.
In response to the person who was wondering about Unitarianism and
conventional Christianity, I see two rather different parts of any
religion, the dogma and the practice. Modern Christians are quite
unusual in claiming (roughly) that only faith is important. I can't
agree, and I think it's important even if one rejects the supernatural
claims of Christianity to know about the practice, both for its own
merits and because it's so completely intertwined with our history and
culture. A Christmas eve candlelight service is about as Christian a
practice as I know.
Regards,
John Levine, jo...@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Sewer Commissioner
Finger for PGP key, f'print = 3A 5B D0 3F D9 A0 6A A4 2D AC 1E 9E A6 36 A3 47
me...@my-deja.com
fanaticism around the "millennium" madness. Our local daily (which is
an undisgiused front for the christian right) has been beating the
drums now for over a week. I can't wait for January.
> And I can assure you, based on a discussion I'm reading on another
> newsgroup, that there are those (in this case, Orthodox Jews) who find
> Santa Claus to be a VERY Christian symbol, since it is a symbol used
for a
> VERY Christian holiday. And, yes, they know about the pagan roots of
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Dave64052
(Marie Houck) writes:
> In a way, the fact that some may claim it is NOT
>religious reinforces THEIR point: this culture is so relentlessly
>Christian that we start to think of this Christian holy day as a cultural
>holiday -- from the point of view of those who do NOT celebrate Christmas,
>this is pretty offensive. How would YOU like to be asked how you can
>"deprive your children of the joy of Christmas" if you were Jewish?
>Marie Houck
Well, I've seen just as many Christians (probably as many as the number of
Jews) who object to the symbols of Santa Claus, and Xmas Trees because they
claim that these are sacrilegious, pagan, or even worse, from Satan. You just
can't please everyone.
<grin>
If I were Jewish, I'd celebrate Hannaka (Channaka, whatever) and tell my kids
they get more joy, because they get gifts everyday, and it's before Dec. 25th
even.
Seems like some Jews and even UU's will even volunteer to work on Christmas,
just to let Christians have their "joyous day" off. Heck,in unions jobs they
can earn double time and a half pay too. But, whose putting a price on
kindness. <grin>
Regards,
Dave
Glendower
POB 520291
Independence, Mo. 64052
Dave64052
Klaveness Heidelberg) writes:
>Here in Norway we don't say Christmas at all. We keep to the old Norse
>"jol" or as in modern Norwegian "jul". On our Christmascards you find
>"God jul" which is the same as "Merry Yule". Christian or not, all
>Norwegians say "Merry Yule" ("god jul") ;-))
>
Interesting. Just shows how hard it is to stamp out old pagan traditions.
BTW, I just heard that Sweden has abolished it's state religion, which was?
Was it Lutheran, or what?
Dave64052
Brown) writes:
>Oh, it is already fairly easy to buy Pagan (or at least
>Pagan-compatible) Christmas cards. There are plenty around wishing a
>'happy holiday season', or even a 'Merry Yule!', for example.
>
But, I just saw in my new year 2000 Almanac that there are about 27 million
UNchurched/not religious people listed under "Religions" in North America.
(If my memory is correct, don't quote me.)
Could these cards be more for the "irreligious", or atheist even?
Dave64052
<jo...@iecc.com> writes:
>In response to the person who was wondering about Unitarianism and
>conventional Christianity, I see two rather different parts of any
>religion, the dogma and the practice. Modern Christians are quite
>unusual in claiming (roughly) that only faith is important. I can't
>agree, and I think it's important even if one rejects the supernatural
>claims of Christianity to know about the practice, both for its own
>merits and because it's so completely intertwined with our history and
>culture. A Christmas eve candlelight service is about as Christian a
>practice as I know.
>Regards,
>John Levine,
Well, I was not "the person who was wondering" but I will add my two cents
about a "candle-light" ceremony.
If "light" is used as a symbol of Jesus, or God, or the Holy Spirit, I'd say
that is very "pagan." The Hebrew's, remember, had lamps that they never let
burn out, probably goes back to the days when humans first invented fire, and
felt that they'd lose fire/light/heat, if they let the lamp/embers burn out.
I think the use of fire, and light to symbolize God came long before
Christianity.
Yes, you are right, that in recent history, using candles or illuminaries to
light the path of the "shepherds" coming to search for Jesus, is a recent
creation.
Dan Parvaz
> light the path of the "shepherds" coming to search for Jesus, is a recent
> creation.
There are a couple of traditions like that here in the Southwest.
Historically, _luminarias_ or bonfires were lit outside the homes at
Christmastide, and _farolitos_ or little paper-bag lanterns were placed on
and around the home to "light the way" for the Christ-child to enter. The
practice of lighting bonfires has gone away, and the word _luminarias_ is
now used to refer to the lanterns. We had them all over our neighborhood
on Christmas Eve, and the overall effect was quite beautiful.
Pagan? Probably at least as pagan as caroling. The great thing about
rituals and symbols is that no one ever really owns them.
Cheers,
Dan.
Knut Klaveness Heidelberg
>In article <3867d3ff...@news.online.no>, khei...@online.no (Knut
>Klaveness Heidelberg) writes:
>
>>Here in Norway we don't say Christmas at all. We keep to the old Norse
>>"jol" or as in modern Norwegian "jul". On our Christmascards you find
>>"God jul" which is the same as "Merry Yule". Christian or not, all
>>Norwegians say "Merry Yule" ("god jul") ;-))
>>
>
>Interesting. Just shows how hard it is to stamp out old pagan traditions.
>BTW, I just heard that Sweden has abolished it's state religion, which was?
>Was it Lutheran, or what?
>Regards,
>Dave
Yes, Lutheran - as in Finland, Denmark, and Norway too.
Best wishes from Knut Klaveness Heidelberg in Norway
http://home.sol.no/~kheidelb/
Lance Brown
> But, I just saw in my new year 2000 Almanac that there are about 27
> million UNchurched/not religious people listed under "Religions" in
> North America. (If my memory is correct, don't quote me.) Could
> these cards be more for the "irreligious", or atheist even?
Quite possibly. Doesn't change the fact that some of the cards are
acceptable to Pagans as well. Now, when we see a card design with
"May the Lord and Lady bless you and yours in the new year!" for sale
I'll jump for joy!
--[Lance]
Dave64052
Brown) writes:
>Quite possibly. Doesn't change the fact that some of the cards are
>acceptable to Pagans as well. Now, when we see a card design with
>"May the Lord and Lady bless you and yours in the new year!" for sale
>I'll jump for joy!
>
>--[Lance]
>--
Well, I just bought a box of 1/2 price Xmas cards for next year, that had a
Santa Claus on it, but the bag of toys he carried was blue, with golden moons,
and stars on it. That's pretty unusual, I bet the artist/designer must have
gotten something past the card censors. <grin>
Regards,
Dave
Glendower
POB 520291
Independence, Mo. 64052
Michael James Tino
Thanks for your wonderful and moving story. It's made me all choked up, and
incredibly homesick for Ithaca. *sigh*
in peace,
Michael