I, J, K, L Christmas Alphabet Blogging

I decided to the follow the advice that a friend gave to someone else: make a list for the letters that you are missing.  So with this post I hope to be on the same letter as Marcy over at Ben and Me.

This my Merry Christmas Edition of Alphabet Blogging:

 I is for Icon of the Nativity of Christ

Nativity of Christ Icon

For information about the icon: the symbolism and theology you can read the Orthodox Wiki article: Nativity Icon

J is for baby Jesus in the Manager:

The phrase “baby Jesus in the manager” brings two things to mind or rather I hear two things.  I hear the song “Away in the Manager” (which bugs me with the line “no crying he made.”  He was a baby.  He cried.  He was fully human. He did not sin.  Crying is not a sin.  Crying is a human baby means of communicating. Rant over.) and the other is a CCM song.  Casting Crowns?  Third Day?  Oh it’s Third day and the song is “Born in Bethlehem.”  I always hear “baby Jesus lying in a manager” when I think of the phrase ‘baby Jesus in a manager.”


 

K is for King of Kings: (or King of the Jews or just plain King!)

Currently my most favorite Christmas song is “How Many Kings” by Downthere. I don’t know any of that band’s other music.  I just love this song. My favorite lines:

“How many gods have poured out their hearts to romance a world that is torn all apart and how many Fathers gave up their sons for me?”

I like Christmas music that is very Christ centered.  It doesn’t have to just be about the night He was born.  I’m discovering that I really like the songs that focus more on who is Christ (the Incarnation of the Living God) and why He was born (to reconcile and redeem fallen creation).  (Check out my post: Christmas: It’s not a Birthday Party)

 

 

L is for Lasting 12 Days:

Although I’ve always known that there are 12 Days of Christmas and I grew up in a home where the tree did NOT come down until after New Year’s Day, we didn’t really celebrate the 12 days of Christmas.  When we became Orthodox, we shifted our Christmas thinking.  Advent (Nativity Fast, also known as little Lent) is a time of preparing.  We focus on the waiting and the anticipation of the birth of the Savior. We don’t start the celebrating part until Christmas Eve Liturgy.  I do a bit of decoration like an advent calendar and a few other things and around December 1st we put up a tree but we have other things to celebrate such as Thanksgiving, The Entrance of Mary, St. Nicholas Day to name a few.  Our church does do a Christmas program the Sunday before Christmas but it’s part of the *anticipation* of the Christmas Celebration Season.  Honeybear takes off work starting with December 24 and he goes back on January 6th.  The girls and pause in our school work from about a week before Christmas return January 7th.  (Sometimes we start back a little earlier since Daddy goes back to work.) During this time we’ll get together with friends.  We’ll eat special foods.  We’ll relax.  We’ll play games.  I just wish we had time at Pascha to celebrate like this for the 40 days of the Paschal Season.

 

Blogging Through the Alphabet

Check out this week’s letter!

Comments

  1. You have a lovely blog!
    (I'm visiting from TOS Rev Crew message boards) I went over to like your fb page as well.....Enjoyed reading and look fwd to more!

    Peace!

    ReplyDelete

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