Posted by Pistol Pete
Got most of our shopping done yesterday. Today we went to the bank for gift cards for daughters then had a nice lunch.
DONE,DONE,DONE!!!!
Thought I’d put some videos from their album,Duck The Halls together for you. Just kick back and enjoy.
Filed under Funny Stuff, Holidays, Phil Robertson
I used Christmas-sy oils … pine, frankincense, orange, clove, cinnamon and rose. It smells FABULOUS.
Posted by Pistol Pete
Tomorrow is one of those rare times when Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fall on the same day.
First off,my thoughts and prayers go out to Chrissy,Ting and any lurkers who may be faced with 6-12 inches of global warming by tomorrow.
This is the time of year I remember most fondly and miss Granny the most. Many of my happiest hours were spent breaking up the stale bread into her double roaster for the dressing and smelling the necks and giblets she cooked for an entire day so they would be tender enough to cut up and go into the concoction with celery,apples,and whatever else she used. Her fruit salad (which uncle Roger still talks about) was made of bananas,grapes,tangerines,apple and pears in kind of a milky mayonnaise fluid. She always had pumpkin,mincemeat and banana cream pie along with aunt Evelyn’s German chocolate cake. We’d always have 35-40people,but no one was ever turned away. We’d go out to milk and do chores,like every other day,and when we came in a few hours later the glorious smell of roasting turkeys wafted through the house.
After dinner me,my cousin Bobby, and my retarded cousin Scott would go out to the compost pile behind the barn to look for holes. Compost absorbs heat and reptiles,being cold-blooded, would burrow into it to survive the winter. We’d roll up our sleeves and stick our arms into these holes and feel for garter or corn snakes which we’d chase our sisters with. We knew we’d get walloped for doing it,but it was fun anyway. Sometimes Bobby would bring his BB gun and we’d sit by the barn gate and take potshots at the breed bulls’ balls. Boy,did that piss him off. Grandpa was none too pleased,either, since I guess that bull served a purpose. All I knew was every time I got near it he’d chase me. Guess he held a grudge.
Many Thanksgivings have come and gone since those days and I’ve spent them in different ways with different people. But the day is not about food,football games or parades. It’s about giving thanks to Almighty God for all you’ve been blessed with and sharing with the ones you love most,and thinking of them when you can’t be there with them.
FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, GOD BLESS AND KEEP EACH AND EVERY ONE WHO PASSES BY HERE.
Filed under Holidays
The American Humanist Association (AHA) should drop the “Humanist” and just call themselves what they really are: Godless Bullies With Lawyers
According to the dictionary, Humanism is “concerned with the interests, needs, and welfare of humans.” So why are they threatening small schools with law suits for filling boxes with toys, candy and hygiene items to send to disadvantaged children around the world for Christmas?
Some critics have tried to compare AHA to Ebenezer Scrooge – but that’s really unfair. Even Scrooge had a heart.
One of the threatened schools shut down their Operation Christmas Child project, but the students and parents at SkyView decided to stand up to the AHA bullies by moving their operation to a public sidewalk.
And they used their public venue to send a message back to the American Humanist Association, a message that said Operation Christmas Child is not about politics.
It’s about making sure poor children have toys on Christmas day.
Source:
H/t Pistol Pete
On Thursday, we’ll be posting nothing but FUN stuff. Decorations, holiday themed food pics, jokes and our fave costume pics.
If you have something to share, but do not have posting privileges here, please email them to me @ Chrissy@ChrissyOriginals.com.
See you there!
P.S., Lil Buzz made Joyful Jack at Pre-School. Isn’t he cute?!
Filed under Holidays, Little Sprouts
The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1 Georgia: Button Gwinnett Lyman Hall George Walton
Column 2 North Carolina: William Hooper Joseph Hewes John Penn South Carolina: Edward Rutledge Thomas Heyward, Jr. Thomas Lynch, Jr. Arthur Middleton
Column 3 Massachusetts: John Hancock Maryland: Samuel Chase William Paca Thomas Stone Charles Carroll of Carrollton Virginia: George Wythe Richard Henry Lee Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Harrison Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee Carter Braxton
Column 4 Pennsylvania: Robert Morris Benjamin Rush Benjamin Franklin John Morton George Clymer James Smith George Taylor James Wilson George Ross Delaware: Caesar Rodney George Read Thomas McKean
Column 5 New York: William Floyd Philip Livingston Francis Lewis Lewis Morris New Jersey: Richard Stockton John Witherspoon Francis Hopkinson John Hart Abraham Clark
Column 6 New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett William Whipple Massachusetts: Samuel Adams John Adams Robert Treat Paine Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins William Ellery Connecticut: Roger Sherman Samuel Huntington William Williams Oliver Wolcott New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton
Filed under Declaration of Independence, Holidays
I would wish a sincere Happy Mother’s Day if anyone came here. But they do not so I’ll just make it a remembrance of my long-dead mom and granny and celebrate DW as she truly is a treasure.
Filed under Holidays
On the first day (of Sukkot), you will take for yourselves a fruit of a beautiful tree, palm branches, twigs of a braided tree and brook willows, and you will rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. -Leviticus 23:40
This Jewish custom reminds me a tiny bit of our palms on Palm Sunday custom. During the Sukkot Blessings, the faithful wave four species of plant. In the left hand, one holds an etrog. This is a citrus fruit similar to a lemon native to Israel; in English it is called a citron. In the right hand, one holds a bundle of branches containing one palm branch, two willow branches and three myrtle branches.
There are two primary explanations of the symbolic significance of these particular plants. I love how these two remind me of teachings in the New Testament!
One: They represent different parts of the body – The long straight palm branch represents the spine. The myrtle leaf, which is a small oval, represents the eye. The willow leaf, a long oval, represents the mouth, and the etrog fruit represents the heart. All of these parts have the potential to be used for sin, but should join together in serving God.
Two: They represent different kinds of Jews – The etrog, which has both a pleasing taste and a pleasing scent, represents Jews who have achieved both knowledge of Torah and performance of mitzvot. (Mitzvot: A precept or commandment of the Jewish law.) The palm branch, which produces tasty fruit, but has no scent, represents Jews who have knowledge of Torah but are lacking in mitzvot. The myrtle leaf, which has a strong scent but no taste, represents Jews who perform mitzvot but have little knowledge of Torah. The willow, which has neither taste nor scent, represents Jews who have no knowledge of Torah and do not perform the mitzvot. We bring all four of these species together on Sukkot to remind us that every one of these four kinds of Jews is important, and that we must all be united.
From 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. If a foot should say, “Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety. God has constructed the body so that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.
From the Gospel According to Matthew, Chapter 13: Jesus taught this parable. A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. … The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
VERY FUN SITE HERE @ http://biblebeltbalabusta.com/jewish-lego/
Excerpt: “The intersection of Jewyness and Lego is pure win. Why? LEGO doesn’t “do” Jewish. By default, anything Jewy we make out of Lego is a hack, i.e. creative modification: two words that are so Lego to begin with. When we build Jewish Lego, we convert the world’s best construction toy to Judaism. Then, add the simple tactile pleasure of messing about with Lego, and the simple pleasure of inviting your kid to do the same.”
The blog’s author is a creative Jewish mom who does wonderful things with and for her family to celebrate their faith. She makes me wish I had learned about Jesus’ Jewishness while I was still raising kids. Our parish did a Seder meal each year and my dd remarked recently how important that was to her and how few Christians she knows have any understanding of the Seder. It would’ve been so fun to include lots of the other Jewish traditions to our Christian home.
My husband would’ve had a ball building a sukkah in the back yard with the kids, that’s for sure! LOL And what fun to think about how, “When Jesus was a boy, he and his mom and dad built a sukkah every year and prayed in it and ate in it and slept in it too, just like we’re doing.”
Don’t you just LOVE how creative Jews can be? My fave is the pickup truck. Hey, if the only piece of outdoors you’ve got a legal right to is your parking space, well, then that’s where you put your sukkah! Is it any wonder these people are the apple of God’s eye?! 🙂
In honor of the holiday’s historical significance, we are commanded to dwell in temporary shelters, as our ancestors did in the wilderness. The temporary shelter is referred to as a sukkah (which is the singular form of the plural word “sukkot”). Like the word sukkot, it can be pronounced like Sue-KAH, or to rhyme with Book-a.
The sukkah is great fun for the children. Building the sukkah each year satisfies the common childhood fantasy of building a fort, and dwelling in the sukkah satisfies a child’s desire to camp out in the backyard. The commandment to “dwell” in a sukkah can be fulfilled by simply eating all of one’s meals there; however, if the weather, climate, and one’s health permit, one should spend as much time in the sukkah as possible, including sleeping in it.
Many Americans, upon seeing a decorated sukkah for the first time, remark on how much the sukkah (and the holiday generally) reminds them of Thanksgiving. This may not be entirely coincidental: I was taught that our American pilgrims, who originated the Thanksgiving holiday, borrowed the idea from Sukkot.
The pilgrims were deeply religious people, living their lives in accordance with the Bible. When they were trying to find a way to express their thanks for their survival and for the harvest, they looked to the Bible for an appropriate way of celebrating and found the fall harvest festival of Sukkot.
This is not the standard story taught in public schools today (that a Thanksgiving holiday is an ancient English pagan custom that the Pilgrims brought over), but that story doesn’t fit with the Pilgrims’ strict biblical views.
Comments Off on More about Sukkot
Filed under Holidays
Today is Monkey Mama’s due date. Can you imagine a better one?! 🙂 Plus, we have crocuses at our house, so maybe winter really is finally over.
Filed under Holidays
I was confused by a couple of things I noticed in the Jewish holiday schedule. For example, Exodus 23:14-16 says, “Three times a year you shall celebrate a pilgrim feast to me.” These are designated as the feasts of
(1) unleavened bread,
(2) the grain harvest, and
(3) the ingathering.
I already knew that the Feast of First Fruits falls during the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. Since First Fruits is a harvest grain offering, I was puzzled why the second festival is for “the grain harvest” and then why is there yet a third harvest festival for “when you collect your produce from the fields.”
Three harvest festivals? We only have the one at Thanksgiving. Not that I know diddly about farming. And of course, the climate is very different in the Middle East. But when I was young and asked Ma or Pa Hyphen a question, they always gave me the same answer. “Go. Look. It. Up.” That used to mean, “Hit the dictionary and the World Books.” Now it means “Hit the internet.”
SPRING = GRAIN harvest
Pilgrim Holiday (1) The Feast of Unleavened Bread celebrated the BARLEY harvest.
Pilgrim Holiday (2) The Feast of the Grain Harvest celebrated the WHEAT harvest.
SUMMER = FRUIT harvest
Pilgrim Holiday (3) The Feast of Ingathering celebrated the FRUIT harvest.
AUTUMN = OLIVE harvest: Most of the olive harvest is after the autumn Holy Days.
I’m still puzzled about one thing. Does anyone know why they call Rosh Hashanah “New Year” when it is celebrated on the first day of the SEVENTH month?
Sources:
Harvest Seasons of Ancient Israel @ http://www.gci.org/law/festivals/harvest
Jewish holidays @ http://www.chabad.org/holidays/default_cdo/jewish/holidays.htm
Jewish holidays @ http://www.hebcal.com/holidays/
Jewish festivals @ http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/books/festivals_2/2.html
Pentecost @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost
Sukkot @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot
Comments Off on Jewish holidays and harvests
Filed under Holidays
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