Sunday, December 25, 2011

I'll be home for Christmas...
home...if only in my dreams.

This picture shows the living room, looking out from the bedroom. I'm not sure what those cables are gonna be for. That window is where the water cooler and later the AC used to be, so the plaster and wood under the window was damaged from the water over the years. Yeah, I took this picture 'bout 2 weeks ago when I took the last picture, but I'm gonna check the place out again today to see if anything's changed. I wish I hadn't told everyone about my future moving 'cause they all keep asking me how I'm liking being in the new place. Umm, PLEASE STOP ASKING ME THAT. I'm sure I would like it fine...if I was there. But I am still here. Which isn't so bad.

We went to Christmas mass yesterday at 4:00pm. Apparently that's the children's mass, but the only part that would give you that clue was the translation used for the Gospel reading. It was the version from Luke where they shepherds where told that they would "find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (KJV). However, we heard the story from the CEV - Contemporary English Version - which states that they would "find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay." FIRST OF ALL, that's not at all an approved Catholic translation, so it wouldn't be recommended for personal reading, MUCH LESS for actual official use during a mass. Secondly, the whole "swaddling clothes" issue...I had always understood that to be a foreshadowing of Christ's death and burial. I did a little research on the topic, and I was right about that, but there is also the meaning that comes from the Jewish tradition of wrapping a legitimate child in a certain way. Such wrapping wouldn't be done for an illegitimate child, such as was suspected of Jesus because everyone knew that Joseph wasn't his father. Anyway, either way, it was a bit more than just baby clothes. I should do something. I just dunno my place 'cause I'm not a church member. And what do I care if the priest follows the Catholic Church's teachings? Oh, I care. I also dunno how important it is. The point is that Jesus came, right? He was born. He died. He rose again. And He'll be back again. It's just, come on, people! What kind of SIGN would it be to look for a BABY dressed in BABY clothes? Who the hay-fire is responsible for coming up with that translation in the FIRST PLACE?!? Yeah. Merry Christmas.

3 comments:

Ruedi and Whitney said...

i always learn something reading your notes. i had never heard anything about baby wrapping differences for legitimate and illegitimate babies. interesting, indeed.

and more so that they kids version was read at mass. classy.

tank said...

Yes, and of course there's also the meaning behind the manger for His bed - about how He was to be food for the world. "Bed of hay" just doesn't say the same thing, and EVERYONE used hay for their beds back then. Perhaps the rich folks had feathers, but I bet there wasn't a single feather bed in Bethlehem.

tank said...

Of course, I just realized that I have this here "Internatonal Student Bible for Catholics: New Testament Edition" that I've been reading since my teen years, and it's done in the CEV. Or so it says. The same verse tells the shepherds that they would "find him dressed in baby clothes and lying in a feed box." Of course, that's not a huge surprise coming from the Catholic side of things (putting emphasis on the Eucharist), but how can it claim to be the same CEV transation? I guess when you get that loose, words just don't matter anymore.