Gerard (Gerrit) van Honthorst, Adoration of the Shepherds
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14″Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
Luke 2:1-20 (KJV)
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Floyd,I don’t know where you get all of those great paintings,but they are much appreciated..
He gets them on the black market. I’ve noticed some of them are from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist.
Thanks to Rufus,Outlaw,Rich,Fritz,Mike,Stephanie,Raoul,Tracy,Kit,Veruckt(my Tennessee bud)…Merry Christmas,feels like family here
That must make me the black sheep who only shows up with dirty laundry or needing money. Merry Christmas and May God Bless Us. Every One.
I thought that was me.
I found this while putting together The Culture Alliance’s Fiction Friday newsletter and thought I’d share it with the Threedonia crowd. I thought ya’ll might appreciate it.
Christmas at Sea by Robert Louis Stevenson
The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;
The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand;
The wind was a nor’-wester, blowing squally off the sea;
And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee.
They heard the suff a-roaring before the break of day;
But ’twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.
We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,
And we gave her the maintops’l, and stood by to go about.
All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.
We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared;
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard.
So’s we saw the cliff and houses and the breakers running high,
And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.
The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every longshore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.
The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;
For it’s just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessèd Christmas morn,
And the house above the coastguard’s was the house where I was born.
O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,
My mother’s silver spectacles, my father’s silver hair;
And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,
Go dancing round the china plates that stand upon the shelves.
And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;
And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessèd Christmas Day.
They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.
“All hands to loose topgallant sails,” I heard the captain call.
“By the Lord, she’ll never stand it,” our first mate, Jackson, cried.
. . . .”It’s the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson,” he replied.
She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good,
And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood;
As the winter’s day was ending, in the entry of the night,
We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light.
And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,
As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;
But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,
Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.
Merry Christmas, everyone! God bless you all!
Christos Razhdajetsja! Christ is born!
Slavite Jeho! Glorify Him!
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one!
Merry Christmas. God Jul.
Snow has fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow…
+JMJ+
Merry Christmas! =D
Froeliche Weinachten!
Gledelig Jul!
Stephanie, I think your iPhone is acting up again.
Is it wrong that I can’t read that passage without hearing Linus’s voice?
Mike: This is, indeed, the passage our church reads on Christmas Eve, and being true to my generation, I had to mention Linus and A Charlie Brown Christmas during my 12/24 sermon!
Ha ha ha. That’s German and I hope Norwegian
The Norwegian’s fine.
+JMJ+
Here’s Filipino, then:
Maligayang Pasko!
Merry Christmas, Threedonians!
Here is a rendition of The Wexford Carol by Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss I came across last year after the holdays, too late to post. But Ikept it for this year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZjg_Igoc
cheers,
Pam
Merry Christmas everyone.
i fashioned a small, nerdy present for y’all for christmas. well, for me, but y’all can share.
the comments feed on the site only includes the last 10 comments, and i miss out on at least half of them since Google Reader will only update feeds once on hour and there’s a lot of chatty kathy types around here. i built a tool on my site that accumulates all the comments into a new feed. put this url in your favorite rss reader and never miss out on a comment again (money back guarantee):
http://clabs.org/threedonia/comments.xml
Merry Christmas, Threedonians!
via ken levine, jack bauer interrogates santa
Merry Christmas, Threedonians, and God bless us, everyone!
Joy to the world the Lord is come! Let earth recieve her King!
Let every heart prepare him room…
And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing and heaven
and heaven and nature sing!
He rules the world with truth and grace! And makes the nations prove!
The glories of his righteous and wonders of his love and wonders of
his love and wonders and wonders of his love.