Chris' Christian Blog

November 8, 2018

"November 8, 2018"  [image:1971183-33%}

Prompt: "Let's talk about the approaching holiday season, do you have family traditions, social commitments or do you do your best to avoid it all because of the commercialized aspect?"

I use to avoid the holidays like a plague because the holidays, with the exception of Thanksgiving, are basically Catholic compromises with paganism. Christmas for instance has been celebrated for several thousand years as the winter solstice. Believers felt that their idol died in December and that was why everything was so bleak and the days so short. The sun was dying. Therefore their worship at the winter solstice encouraged the god and it came back. When Christianity came on the scene these celebrations stopped. People who were pagan wanted to revert to paganism due to their wishes to continue the celebrations. Who doesn't like a feast? So the church created a special mass called the Christ Mass, which has since become Christmas. Therefore I don't like Christmas but my church has outvoted me. My church, the Salvation Army, also depends on Christmas as most of our funding for social programs comes from the red kettles, which actually start tomorrow! So go out and stuff your spare change in a kettle and I promise not to be too hard on Christmas.

"Prompt: "Books are the movies of the mind." Sue Grafton Do you agree with this quote?"

The short answer would be yes. I agree. The reason I agree is because when I read I escape to whatever scene is taking place as I read. I feel the characters feelings and see the world through their eyes. Some may call that the practice of empathy but to me it is just the experience unfolding as the author describes it. So yes, books are the movies of the mind, particularly the author's mind.