Neanderpundit

To all the commenters here; to all the folks I have met, to the Gunbloggers, to the Du Toits and Dick and Kelly whose hospitality I enjoyed more than I deserve, to the FritzFolks, to Mr Porretto, to Pascal, to Mark Alger and his lovely wife, the attendees of the first Ogmeet, to everyone who has touched my life in comment or in person or in email:

God rest ye merry gentlemen and Gentlewomen. May the Lord hold you in the hollow of His mighty hand. Even those athiests among you.

Merry Christmas!

Og

Second mass in one day! Maybe it’s habit forming.

Tonight’s gospel: Matthew 1: 1-25

1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

These are the salient bits.

Fourteen generations times three.

Observant readers will notice that Jesus, son of Joseph, is no genetic relation to David.

I can’t find a cite for this, maybe Ellison can provide me with one, but in Judaism, at least according to all the Jews I know, the tribe comes from the father; the NATION comes from the mother.
Mass was packed full; there were folks who hadn’t ever seen the inside of the church. Mumblings to my left and right (we had to sit on window ledges, there wasn’t an empty pew)”the people who show up every week should get first choice of the seats”. Me, I could care less. If they only show up once or twice a year, let them be comfy. I can relinquish my favorite pew for a service.
Christmas is tomorrow. I can hardly wait.

I blew out both knees climbing out of a tree stand yesterday, and thus see Christmas through a vicodin induced haze.

It reminds me of the days I worked with junkies, years ago (no, not with them in any “professional” facility, I just worked with people who were junkies) and I was always amazed at they way they acted, saw that junk sickness up close, saw the way they treated one another.

Not everyone’s Christmas is packages and bows. Not everyone will even have a meal. Some will only lie in agony and dream of a wake-up shot that will never come. SO for those people, who I will not judge- there, after all, but for the grace of God go I, I give you an old favorite of mine: the Junky’s Christmas, by Frances Ford Coppola, as written and narrated by William S Burroughs.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3