Just need to vent...

Okay, Corporate America, it's a CHRISTMAS party, not a Holiday party! It's a Christmas Tree, not a Holiday Tree. It's Christmas, not XMas.

Why is saying "Christ" so avoided?? Jesus is the reason for the season!! (Oh no, I said the dreaded J-word without using it in vain!!)

 

one might remember - Christmas is a concocted celebration via antithetical Roman celebrations - (gods of dark/winter overpowered by burgening warm seasons) removing pagan traditions and shlapped Jesus into the equation. The New Testament shows the Savior was born during a Time of Taxation as Joseph & Mary were required to return to their Origins for census purposes. Romans gathered taxes via grain - which were the most common element of exchange. Grain was brought about in Harvest Seasons around September/October. Christmas was 2 months later. Just something to keep in mind - that the Lord's birth was in late September early October.
Meanwhile - we all buy Christmas lights at Costco in July

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Well, Festivus is for the airing of grievances so that fits in here.

Hanukkah was about fuel economy - so Priusy!

==
Christmas was outlawed in Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1659 to 1681. Then repealed.

Edit. To be clear, the edict banning Christmas celebrating was repealed in 1681. So the Holy Day was back on. Hope I misled no one. Or Krampus will come for me for sure,

 

WOW!
Hanukkah was about fuel economy? !! Who knew!


.

 

Ev'rybody, I thought....

 

One day (night?) of oil burned for 8 days (nights?). Hanuconomy. Hybrid vehicles may not yet have achieved 8-fold economy increase. Maybe they never will ...

AND I'D LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THAT!

==
As a veteran Dept-store Santa, it would seem unseemly to complain about the commercialization of Christmas. De-Deification is linked but not entirely the same. A Panglossian view is that December holidays have been broadened in scope. Perhaps another will vent about that.

 

Wrong way drivers on interstates.

The deadliest US DUI crash (27 dead 34 injured - most of these grievously burned) could have been prevented by the same technology that keeps people from leaving airport parking lots without paying the outrageous fees for parking.

Fun Fact:
The drunk driver that caused that accident has a valid driver's license - today.

 

Headlines like "man killed after being shot in face by hunting partner."

I get that he didn't expire right there on the spot, and the writer wanted 'after' to convey that nuance, but unless some dude with cloak and dagger later snuck into his hospital room and offed him, he was killed by the shooting, not after.

I saw another writer handle it with "man dies after being shot ..." which seems ok.

There may be other things in the same headline to vent about, but there's my bit.

 

Oh believe me if we could be "shot to inconvenience" "shot to sore calves" or "shot to talk about your car warranty" instead of "shot to death" we'd take it. We need the variety for our shootings.

 

Wait, is somebody avoiding saying "Χριστός"?

I thought that was exactly the origin of the Χ.

 

The "X" stands for the cross.

JeffD

 

The "X" stands for the cross.

JeffD

 

I am persuaded (by the linked article as well as numerous others, not to mention the obvious spelling of Χριστός) that the Χ is the Greek letter chi that starts the word—the one that becomes 'ch' in our transliteration Christ—and has been used for centuries for that reason. That it looks a little like a cross seems to be one of those plausible-sounding after-the-fact explanations that sometimes crop up for things.

 

That...
One led to the other.

 

Good Christmas notes! Jesus never, actually, heard the name "Jesus" but His name was Y'shua. (The closest English name would be Joshua). When European folks translated the original texts into English, much of the Jewishness was lost. Mariam is Mary, Josef is Joseph, Yochanan is John, Mattityahu is Matthew, etc. The book "Jewish New Testament" re-translated it back to keep the original parts in there and is a great companion to a Bible study. (It wasn't the hem of Jesus' garment the lady touched for her healing, but the tzitzit on His prayer shawl.)
Y'shua was probably born in the spring because the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night. This was only done when the sheep were giving birth, which is in the spring, and they would help with the birth, dry them off in the cold, and protect them from predators.
There's no count of "wise men" visiting so it's not sure if it really was three but they did give three gifts to Y'shua in a "house" so He could've been around two years old. (And King Herod had all boys age two or younger murdered to try to kill Him....how sick and demented was that??) Thus the fleeing to Egypt fulfilled the ancient prophecy in Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a youth I loved Him, and out of Egypt I called My son”

 

Shepherd's worked many seasons of the year including fall. Rome's census (required so Rome could exact taxes from harvests) was done in the fall during harvest time ... not that anyone should fight & die over minutiae

.

 

I saw those tire puncture devises in car lots 40 years ago and wondered if they could be used
on highway exit ramps to stop wrong way drivers. Have never seen them for that use though.

 

^
I guess there's not enough money in preventing wrong-way driving deaths.

It's not as awkward as one might think considering most people who are shot are not shot to death.
I think the ratio is something like one out of every three, looking at the numbers....which is interesting when you consider that a majority of US gunfire deaths are self-inflicted.

Any US newspaper that covers a large city crime blotter will bear this out.
75 people shot, 13 fatally, in Chicago over violent holiday weekend - ABC News