christmasLately there have been stories about the skin color of Jesus.  I recall that my Catholic catechism lessons taught me that I was made in the image and likeness of God. All those paintings of Jesus at the time of his birth he is portrayed in the image and likeness of the artist who created the painting. We have no pictures of Jesus so we can only guess what he looked like. We know he was born of Jewish parents who lived around Judea.

It shouldn’t matter his color. If you are a follower of his teachings will you reject them if it turns out he wasn’t the color you prefer?

So this is a time to put the arguments aside and to let everyone believe as they will. In as much as Christmas is a national holiday, I wish you all a Merry Christmas whether you are a Christian or not in the same way I wished you a Happy Thanksgiving whether you felt like giving thanks or not.  Enjoy the day and make it a peaceful one.

Oh, I can’t quite end at that. This I am told is a true Christmas story. It came to pass in one of the years following the end of World War II that the Japanese began to hear more and more about the Christmas holiday in America. It seemed to many that it was a good idea and slowly the holiday spirit of Christmas came to Japan even though the people who believed in Christ can barely be measured and the knowledge of the average Japanese person about Christianity is similar to the knowledge of the average American about Shinto and Japanese Buddhism..

The Japanese love holidays so gift giving became the major part of the season. Gifts means merchants who provide them to willing customers and merchants who want to attract customers to their stores. So Christmas displays became common.

One merchant thought it appropriate to show what he believed to be the true meaning of Christmas in his store. He did a little studying of America and learned of the Santa Claus tradition and studied a little about Christ and learned of His life. Finally he came up with the manner in which he would decorate his store.

He had created this large figure which he thought was the perfect symbol of the day. He had it hidden under a large cloth covering. He then advertised that he would be taking off the cover at such and such a time on a certain date and suggested no one would want to miss this great event commemorating Christmas.

When the day came people crowded into his store and stared at the cloth colored object that was 20 feet high facing the main entrance of the store. Amid much fanfare the string holding up the cloth was cut. When the cloth dropped it showed a large crucified Santa Claus nailed to a large wooden cross.

Merry Christmas

 

8 Comments

  1. Merry Xmas to Matt and all the members who post here.
    I want to let the boys from the D Street projects I forgive them
    for trying to give me a beating when I was a lad living on Endicott street
    in the West End and had ventured
    into enemy territory at the Gate of Heaven dances.
    May we all break unto new investigative realms in 2014 as
    we become Mr. Watson to Matt’s Sherlock Holmes.

    • ms:

      You should have known better than being an outsider going to the Gate of Heaven dances. Even though I grew up in Southie after I left when I returned in my teenage years I felt myself in jeopardy and never, ever ventured to one of the dances where the boys would be boys. As for 2014 – it’s difficult defeating a fire spouting dragon hiding in a cave with one’s bare hands.

  2. MTC,

    Do you remember when you were young living in Old Harbor on Cristmas eve looking out your window and
    Worrying how Santa and his sleigh would be able to get to your house? well you had one other problem you had to worry if he went to the ” GAUGHANS ” first they had nine kids .ANOTHER GREAT FAMILY FROM OHC.
    Shorty always speaks well of you!

    • 251:

      Good memories – some of the earliest of my life all before I reached double figures – the Gaughans, a great family, Jimmy my best friend, Joey would become one later and he left us too soon, Shorty the wise one and the tough one, – I knew the others later on but as a kid the only two were Shorty and Jimmy – I still recall Mrs. Gaughan trying to get Jimmy to tie his shoes and saying “Matty knows how to try his shoes, don’t you Matty?” and trying to be a big shot at 5 years old answering untruthfully “yes” and being highly embarrassed (as you can tell since I still remember it) when she said “show Jimmy.”
      I remember one year getting a gift for Christmas and a month or so later it was missing. I searched everywhere for it. One day I was in the cellar of the Gaughan’s house and looked up and notice they had packages above the pipes. I figured if I could only get up that high and open them I’d find my gift. Yes, lots of Gaughan memories as different as the two I mentioned.
      One last memory of looking out of the front window in the summer from #18 over to the Niosi’s small yard at #20 and then across the street. I was doing this because my mother told me “the grass is always greener in the neighbor’s yard.” All the grass looked the same to me but because my mother never lied I figured the problem was with my eyesight.

  3. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Mr. C. Thank you for today’s post, too! What a laugh!

    Off-topic: You posted something a few weeks ago, making reference to the song “Personality.” Here is a link to the playlist of a recent radio show on MIT’s radio station. The show features the hit songs from the week of June 22, 1959, as compiled by radio station KPHO, Phoenix, AZ. “Personality” is on the list:

    http://www.track-blaster.com/wmbr/playlist.php?id=15025

    Here is a link to the show itself:

    http://wmbr.org/m3u/88_Rewound_20131221_0600.m3u

    Hope you enjoy the show!

    GOK

    • GOK:

      Thanks. Went to site and arrived in the middle of “Sea of Love.” The program is from June 22, 1959, so it should bring back some nice memories.

  4. merry Christmas to vou and yours and aspecial one to JC