Monday, October 10, 2005
Thanksgiving - in Canada only
Carry on complaining everywhere else...?
Before today's post turns into a sing-along-blog (for I want to share with you TLB regulars a gem of a Thanksgiving hymn from waaaaay back...) I guess I will -as I well should- participate in the tradition - and effectively give thanks to the Lord for all that He Does for me and for my dear ones.
I am thankful for a whole lot of things indeed (even if I don't show it always) - on many fronts and on many levels.
I am thankful that loved ones, family and friends are alive and well - I am hopeful that the dear ones who have departed are in fact better off; their journey ended, they must know bliss and eternal peace now - I believe it to be the case.
I am thankful for the food and assorted goods we all have - indubitably!
I am thankful for the ability to still laugh a good laugh - that always helps!
I am thankful for other things too... odd things... for instance, I am thankful for having druggies in my neighborhood; they are so fearful of the police, they keep quiet and are not the least bit troublesome to my people!
I am thankful the Red Sox are out of the race for another title - that will result in less nerve-racking nights hoping they manage to grasp another improbable extra-innings win because they placed themselves in such a dire "no margin for error" predicament again... As I get older, I really do not care for that sort of thing anymore! Same goes for NBA action - and it goes triple for NHL "sudden death overtime" (I always resented that appellation...).
I am thankful for all the jerks that walk the Earth today - and there seems to be more and more; verily, they are coming out of the woodwork now! For, with them all over the place like that, the genuinely kind-hearted ones, the good folks, the gems are all the more valuable and precious. :)
I am thankful for evil even - for without, logically, what would we bash?!? (These are the basics of any tale worth telling, of course - there has to be conflict; good versus evil is preferred over shades of grey versus shades of grey... but I digress!).
I am even thankful for all the trials and misfortunes that I have gone through in life - for these have forged the person that I have become today. As the story goes, we are like diamonds, precious stones that have to be cut into shape by the Grand Jeweler in order to truly be all that we can be. (And, as 007 fans and Flair fans know, diamonds are forever - so are our souls! It all comes together so well when we make *luminous connections* - does it not?). Another story has the devil being so envious -as he always is- of God's Creation (particularily of the blooming flowers and their resplendence) and that was when he concocted, in the darkness underground, precious stones that would cater to man's avarice and cause their perdition. These are all, of course, but stories... Still, the adversary is always capable of everything - never forget that, folks! And he does lurk...
I could go on indefinitely here - so many things to be thankful for out there, even when you do NOT throw in odd choices as I did in there... *lol*
To be able to see, hear, love, breathe, eat, drink, walk, talk, speak freely, vote, do the right thing, contribute to the greater good... have I forgotten something in there? Oh - yeah - to be able to READ... read me please! *lol*
But it is time, I think, to cut to the chase - and sing along to the hymn!
Straight from the year of our Lord 1844... here is The Thanksgiving Hymn: "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" (come along now, will ya?) *lol*
"Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;
Come to God's own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.
"All the world is God's own field, fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.
"For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day all offenses purge away,
Giving angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store in His garner evermore.
"Even so, Lord, quickly come, bring Thy final harvest home;
Gather Thou Thy people in, free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified, in Thy garner to abide;
Come, with all Thine angels come, raise the glorious harvest home."
The words for the Thanksgiving hymn, "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come," were written by Dr. Henry Alford, a noted hymnologist and Greek scholar, and published in 1844, the same year of the publication of the first of his four volume work, "The Greek New Testament: With a Critically Revised Text; a Digest of Various Readings; Marginal References to Verbal and Idiomatic Usage; Prolegomena; and a Critical and Exegetical Commentary, For the use of theological students and ministers." Alford, the son of the Rector of Aston Sandford, was the picture of a 19th century Anglican churchman-- educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, took Holy Orders in 1833, vicar of Wymeswold, Leicestershire for 18 years, and Dean of Canterbury in 1857. The St. George's, Windsor tune for "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" was originally composed by Sir George J. Elvey (1816-1893) in Thorne's "A Selection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes" (1858) for the hymn, "Hark, the Song of Jubilee." Elvey's tune was subsequently set to Alford's words in "Hymns Ancient and Modern" (1861). Elvey was the organist of St. George's Chapel, Windsor from 1835 to 1882. What diversity, that the Separatist Pilgrims and their later counterparts from the Church of England should combine on both sides of the Atlantic to give to us a Christian appreciation of the celebration of Thanksgiving! "4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. 5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the LORD; and he that regardeth not the day, to the LORD he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the LORD, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the LORD he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live unto the LORD; and whether we die, we die unto the LORD: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the LORD's" (Romans 14:4-8).
Aye - let us party as if it was 1844...
Fitting that we would all be reminded today that "we die unto the LORD" - for today is the World Day Against the Death Penalty, according to Amnesty International. My advice is to do like Christmas - and strive to make that action last too, every day of the year. Details here
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According to: http://www.butlerwebs.com/holidays/october.htm and http://www.holidayinsights.com/ October provides the following celebrations and observations:
Newspaper Week
Customer Service Week
Pet Peeve Week
School Lunch Week
Reading Week
Magic Week
Peace, Friendship & Goodwill Week
Columbus Day
Poetry Day
Boss's Day
Dictionary Day
International Internet
United Nations Day
Increase Your Psychic Powers
Hermit
Punk for a Day Day
Babbling Day
Rosh Hashanah
Ramadan
And, of course, Thanksgiving Day (Canada) today... and Halloween.
Newspaper Week
Customer Service Week
Pet Peeve Week
School Lunch Week
Reading Week
Magic Week
Peace, Friendship & Goodwill Week
Columbus Day
Poetry Day
Boss's Day
Dictionary Day
International Internet
United Nations Day
Increase Your Psychic Powers
Hermit
Punk for a Day Day
Babbling Day
Rosh Hashanah
Ramadan
And, of course, Thanksgiving Day (Canada) today... and Halloween.
As most of you know, Canada *sux* (LOL) - and sccording to www.123greetings.com (linked to TLB for your daily convenience to all) the Canadian version of Thanksgiving comes in third right now on their top ten list of most popular cards...
Top Cards
1 Ramadan
2 Birthday Wishes
3 Canadian Thanksgiving
4 Durga Puja
5 Halloween
6 Birthday Fun
7 Sweetest Day
8 Friends' Birthday
9 Navratri
10 Birthday Flowers
11 Miss You My Love
12 Birthday Smiles
Note that the Hindu festive days of Durga Puja and Navratri were mysteriously forgotten by "butterwebs" and the decidedly not-so-insightful "holidayinsights" there... maybe why THEY are not linked to... TLB! ;)
Top Cards
1 Ramadan
2 Birthday Wishes
3 Canadian Thanksgiving
4 Durga Puja
5 Halloween
6 Birthday Fun
7 Sweetest Day
8 Friends' Birthday
9 Navratri
10 Birthday Flowers
11 Miss You My Love
12 Birthday Smiles
Note that the Hindu festive days of Durga Puja and Navratri were mysteriously forgotten by "butterwebs" and the decidedly not-so-insightful "holidayinsights" there... maybe why THEY are not linked to... TLB! ;)
I apologize, folks - although I just loooove to keep track of these things, I slacked up on that and did NOT comment daily on the more... interesting "holidays" there!
A "Pet Peeve WEEK" - wow... hope it isn't too late for that one!
I know Reading Week was... uh... last week? Sorry I didn't give you much to read there...
Magic Week... hmm... does it mean we can saw in two anybody we want? The catch is - we have to mend them and put them back together as we've found them - whether we despise them or not! *lol*
And a Peace, Friendship & Goodwill Week... how sweet... does it coincide with Trick-or-Treating? Giving away free candy to miscreant little rascals who threaten you with a nasty trick if you don't - where's the "goodwill" in that?
(May be where Good Will Hunting got his name though... *lol*).
No trick-or-treating for me - I still think it pales in compariosn to its elder kin expression, "coffee, tea or me" anyway... *ahem*.
I must admit to be perplexed myself by the following:
"Increase Your Psychic Powers
Hermit
Punk for a Day Day
Babbling Day"
Is it all... like... the same day?
Sure does sound like someone babbling to me... indeed!
Psychic powers, if they are at all there of course, should be increased, absolutely - look at the ambiguous telepathic powers one AQUAMAN has; were they fully used (to their full potential) there would be less fish jokes! No one jokes about them SCANNERS being the poor parents of horror films (run a search for these - preferably on WWW.IMDB.COM - if the name does not ring a bell...).
As for equating a HERMIT to a PUNK - that is just wrong!
The worst form of babbling is ignorant, libellious babbling! I shall defend the reputations of hermits worldwide to the day I die! Many of them -if not all indeed- are holy men and women... and saints!
I suspect, in closing, that "babbling day" is quite popular and observed fervently worldwide...
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A "Pet Peeve WEEK" - wow... hope it isn't too late for that one!
I know Reading Week was... uh... last week? Sorry I didn't give you much to read there...
Magic Week... hmm... does it mean we can saw in two anybody we want? The catch is - we have to mend them and put them back together as we've found them - whether we despise them or not! *lol*
And a Peace, Friendship & Goodwill Week... how sweet... does it coincide with Trick-or-Treating? Giving away free candy to miscreant little rascals who threaten you with a nasty trick if you don't - where's the "goodwill" in that?
(May be where Good Will Hunting got his name though... *lol*).
No trick-or-treating for me - I still think it pales in compariosn to its elder kin expression, "coffee, tea or me" anyway... *ahem*.
I must admit to be perplexed myself by the following:
"Increase Your Psychic Powers
Hermit
Punk for a Day Day
Babbling Day"
Is it all... like... the same day?
Sure does sound like someone babbling to me... indeed!
Psychic powers, if they are at all there of course, should be increased, absolutely - look at the ambiguous telepathic powers one AQUAMAN has; were they fully used (to their full potential) there would be less fish jokes! No one jokes about them SCANNERS being the poor parents of horror films (run a search for these - preferably on WWW.IMDB.COM - if the name does not ring a bell...).
As for equating a HERMIT to a PUNK - that is just wrong!
The worst form of babbling is ignorant, libellious babbling! I shall defend the reputations of hermits worldwide to the day I die! Many of them -if not all indeed- are holy men and women... and saints!
I suspect, in closing, that "babbling day" is quite popular and observed fervently worldwide...
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