{"id":613,"date":"2009-12-22T04:36:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-22T08:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/2009\/12\/22\/monday-night-solstice\/"},"modified":"2009-12-22T04:36:00","modified_gmt":"2009-12-22T08:36:00","slug":"monday-night-solstice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/2009\/12\/22\/monday-night-solstice\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday night – solstice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t Quiet day.. hardly anyone’s at work which makes it a great time for catching up. I sent a good half of a day trying to get through\u00a0 my email backlog.\u00a0\u00a0 I did take one break today and partook of a vry old tradition.. the annual GYM\/View gift exchange. My freinds have been doing this for… 15 – 20 year (I think).. The rules are simple.. each gift must b under a certain set price (this year it was raised to $3) and it must be wrapped.\u00a0\u00a0 One year I wrapped a bail of bad hay.. <\/p>\n

This year there were only 7 of us.. The economy made the $3 entry fee too steep, I suppose..\u00a0\u00a0 Laura got a stolen appraisal sign, <\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rich got a stylish dollar store apron<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Mitch got.. uh.. rabies ? <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

A… and I got a nerf gun and popper things for less than 3 bucks !.. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Wait, no.. actually Mitch got the gift I brought .. I chose carefully.. I thought about what I most valued form the past year that could be had for $3 or less.. I got a 4 pack of Charmin toilet paper and wrapped it prettily.. Let me tel l you that a 4 pack of toilet paper would have been worth its weight in gold in the Colony !<\/p>\n

It was well past dark by the time I got home .. this being the shortest day of the year.. the longest night only made me feel good.. The days will start to get longer now.. very quickly at first.\u00a0 It’s fun to watch the change.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The house was brightly lit and warm.. It felt.. well.. solstice-y..\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why aren’t there any good solstice carols, anyway ?\u00a0\u00a0 THe closest one I know is called the ‘Christians and the Pagens’\u00a0 by Dar Williams.. At least it has the word ‘Solstice’\u00a0 in it <\/p>\n

The Christians and the Pagans by Dar Williams\u00a0 (There’s a good recording of it<\/font> here<\/a>)<\/font><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

Amber called her uncle, said, “We’re up here for the holiday, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tJane and I were having Solstice<\/b>, now we need a place to stay.” <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAnd her Christ-loving uncle watched his wife hang Mary on a tree, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tHe watched his son hang candy canes all made with red dye number three. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tHe told his niece, “It’s Christmas eve, I know our life is not your<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tstyle,” <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tShe said, “Christmas is like Solstice<\/b>, and we miss you and it’s been<\/p>\n

\t\t\ta while.”<\/i><\/font><\/div>\n

\n
So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFinding faith and common ground the best that they were able, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAnd just before the meal was served, hands were held and prayers were<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tsaid, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tSending hope for peace on earth to all their gods and goddesses.<\/i><\/font><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal had gone without a hitch, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tTill Timmy turned to Amber and said, “Is it true that you’re a witch?” <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tHis mom jumped up and said, “The pies are burning,” and she hit<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tthe kitchen, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAnd it was Jane who spoke, she said, “It’s true, you’re cousin’s not<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\ta Christian, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBut we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tshare, <\/p>\n

\t\t\tAnd you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere.”<\/i><\/font><\/div>\n

\n
So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFinding faith and common ground the best that they were able, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAnd where does magic come from , I think magic’s in the learning, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t‘Cause now when Christians sit with Pagans only pumpkin pies are burning.<\/i><\/font><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When Amber tried to do the dishes, her aunt said, “Really, no, don’t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tbother.” <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAmber’s uncle saw how Amber looked like Tim and like her father. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tHe thought about his brother, how they hadn’t spoken in a year, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tHe thought he’d call him up and say, “It’s Christmas and your daughter’s<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\there.” <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tHe thought of fathers, sons and brothers, saw his own son tug his sleeve, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tSaying, “Can I be a Pagan?” Dad said, “We’ll discuss it when<\/p>\n

\t\t\tthey leave.”<\/i><\/font><\/div>\n

\n
So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFinding faith and common ground the best that they were able, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old, <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAnd making sense of history and drawing warmth out of the cold.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/font><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Well folks.. I hope you all have a blessed Solstice.. Tomorrow will be brighter… That’s a promise.<\/p>\n

Blessed be folks, blessed be Sam
-me\n<\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quiet day.. hardly anyone’s at work which makes it a great time for catching up. I sent a good half of a day trying to get through\u00a0 my email backlog.\u00a0\u00a0 I did take one break today and partook of a vry old tradition.. the annual GYM\/View gift exchange. My freinds have been doing this for… … Continue reading Monday night – solstice<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}