Seeker

Today the wooden figures of the magi have completed their arduous journey across our living room and reached the crib on the mantelpiece. Yes, the crib is still there. The other Christmas decorations are gone, but the 'wise men' have only just found what they seek. I think they should be allowed to remain in wonder for a while, before they return home "by a different way", don't you? Even though, some years ago our dog ate the wooden baby Jesus, so all the magi can see is a wooden cross resting on Jesus' coffin-shaped crib. Maybe there's a message there. Today the 12 days of Christmas give way to the start of Epiphany. The celebration on 6th January focuses on the strange outsiders from the east, the magi, people obsessed by study and interpretation of the movements of planets and stars. They followed the direction of a new star, expecting to find a new special king. What they found was a toddler with his parents, in an ordinary house in Bethlehem, on ...

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning,- Jesu, to thee be glory give'n; word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. Wishing all who read this a peaceful and joyful Christmas.  Image Credit: unknown Austrian painter c. 1400, Wikimedia Commons

I'm sorting Christmassy things and found the nativity set with Mary, Joseph, a manger, shepherds, wise men, a donkey and sheep. It did have the Baby, but sadly he got eaten by our dog c. 1991 and hasn't been replaced. On Christmas Eve I place a small cross on the manger, to represent Jesus. It is one of our Christmas traditions.  This year I'm tempted to add an 'El Caganer', such as this one - a Catalonian tradition. You can see what he's doing. That would give the grandchildren a great giggle. Since the 17th century in the area of Catalonia, Spain, nativity scenes (or even nativity plays) include the figure of someone in the act of defecation. This was often a peasant, but now you can buy them in many forms , including public figures like footballers, politicians, religious people and royalty. 'El Caganer' (literally 'the shitter' or 'the crapper') is usually placed discreetly hidden behind a bush or other characters. Then c...

After a school nativity play, I cannot get the song, "I'm a very grumpy sheep, a very grumpy sheep..." out of my head. The 'sheep' played his part most convincingly, as did the other 4 - 7 year olds in the cast of the popular children's musical 'The Grumpy Sheep' composed by Caroline Hoile. It was fun and tear-jerking. Later I 'grumped' around my study, trying to achieve a degree of order and cleanliness ready for Christmas and for a visiting family member to use it as a bedroom. Our compost bins are now enriched with a lot of shredded paper. I can see almost all the study floor and it's now clean! So, in the words of the transformed grumpy sheep after he'd been dragged unwillingly to see the baby in the manger, I can now sing, "I'm a very smiley sheep, a very smiley sheep..." This simple repetitive ditty is meant to be memorable, but I'm ready for a change of song in my head now please. I came across a so...