The_Kitchen_Guy
Silver Member
- 12,458
Merry Christmas to you all! We mentioned yesterday that Paige's children are with the Birgfeld family for Christmas! I know this is a busy day, but please, take the time to go to the Gratefulness website (the link is in the next paragraph) and light a candle for Paige and her children. This is now the second Christmas the kids are spending without their mother; keep them, and Paige, and her family, in your prayers this sacred day.In news of Candles for Paige we had 90 candles as of this post. Remember, candles go out after 48 hours so keep lighting candles for Paige, her family and her three children.Instructions for lighting candles for Paige are in the Missing thread, in this post.On this date in History......in 6 BC, perhaps, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. In reality, no one knows for sure, in fact, no one in the first two centuries of the Christian church claimed any knowledge of a real date of the nativity. Also, no one knows for sure why the date of December 25 was chosen, but most scholars concur that when Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312, the church had a lot of competition from the pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice, which usually ran from December 17 through the 25th. It was a time of great celebration, gift-giving and partying, so celebrating the birth of Chirst on the same day made it easier to slide pagans into Christianity. Along with the celebration of the nativity, other pagan celebration rituals came along, such as lighting the yule log and the Germanic tradition of using pine boughs for decoration. The word itself, Christmas, is thought to have evolved from "Christes maesse" or "Christ's Mass." The midieval tradition of St. Nicholas of Myra, who was said to visit children with gifts just before Christmas, evolved into St. Nicholas Eve (December 5, St. Nicholas Day is December 6) and eventually evolved into Santa Claus, from the Dutch name for St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas....in 1776, General George Washington led a daring raid across the Delaware River against British and Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey. Before the raid, Washington, who was far more down to earth than his Presidential reputation might lead us to believe, read to the troops from Thomas Paine's pamphlet The Crisis published just two days earlier. "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." While climbing into the boat, Washington poked the portly General Harry Knox with his boot and said, "Shift that fat a$s Harry, but slowly, or you'll swamp the damned boat." The wet and freezing soldiers broke into hysterical laughter, endearing their leader that much more. On the morning of December 26, 2,500 patriot soldiers surprised the hung-over Hessians and took control of the town. The troops carried as much ammunition and supplies as they could, back to the boats, and back across the river. It was a major victory after a string of defeats and a major boost to morale.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware.png/350px-Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware.png
Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze...in 1914, just after midnight, the soldiers in the German trenches stopped firing at Allied troops. The soldiers on the Allied side were surprised to hear the Germans singing the famous carol we talked about yesterday, Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Alles schläft; einsam wacht... in fact, in some locations, brass bands were heard playing carols. Just after first light, German soldiers were seen waving at the Allied soldiers. Surprised, and not knowing quite what to do, they waved back. The Germans came out of the trenches and began to walk across No Man's Land, calling out "Merry Christmas!" in the native tongues of the various Allied forces, English, Russian and French. The Allied soldiers also climbed out of the trenches and met their enemies cordially, where small gifts of candy, whiskey and cigarettes were exchanged. The wounded were retrieved and moved to safety while the dead were removed and in one case, a memorial was held with combatants reciting the 23rd Psalm together. In Frélinghien, France, members of the The Royal Welch Fusiliers played a soccer match with the German Panzergrenadiers. The Germans won, 3-2 and in 2008, a memorial was placed at the site. The combatant/players all signed the ball, which is on display at the Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr in Dresden, Germany.The upper commands were not at all pleased about the events of Christmas Day 1914, after all, fraternizing with the enemy can be considered a treasonous offense, punishable by death. Beginning in 1915, troops were rotated up and down the trenches to prevent any familiarity from developing across No Man's Land, and on Christmas Eve 1915, major artillery barrages were ordered, just to remind everyone why they were there.But none of it could take away from the fact that on Christmas Day, 1914, soldiers on both sides realized their enemies were as miserable as they were themselves, and they took a break from warring just to share a Christian moment.That's it. That's all we know as of 12:01 AM, CST. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze...in 1914, just after midnight, the soldiers in the German trenches stopped firing at Allied troops. The soldiers on the Allied side were surprised to hear the Germans singing the famous carol we talked about yesterday, Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Alles schläft; einsam wacht... in fact, in some locations, brass bands were heard playing carols. Just after first light, German soldiers were seen waving at the Allied soldiers. Surprised, and not knowing quite what to do, they waved back. The Germans came out of the trenches and began to walk across No Man's Land, calling out "Merry Christmas!" in the native tongues of the various Allied forces, English, Russian and French. The Allied soldiers also climbed out of the trenches and met their enemies cordially, where small gifts of candy, whiskey and cigarettes were exchanged. The wounded were retrieved and moved to safety while the dead were removed and in one case, a memorial was held with combatants reciting the 23rd Psalm together. In Frélinghien, France, members of the The Royal Welch Fusiliers played a soccer match with the German Panzergrenadiers. The Germans won, 3-2 and in 2008, a memorial was placed at the site. The combatant/players all signed the ball, which is on display at the Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr in Dresden, Germany.The upper commands were not at all pleased about the events of Christmas Day 1914, after all, fraternizing with the enemy can be considered a treasonous offense, punishable by death. Beginning in 1915, troops were rotated up and down the trenches to prevent any familiarity from developing across No Man's Land, and on Christmas Eve 1915, major artillery barrages were ordered, just to remind everyone why they were there.But none of it could take away from the fact that on Christmas Day, 1914, soldiers on both sides realized their enemies were as miserable as they were themselves, and they took a break from warring just to share a Christian moment.That's it. That's all we know as of 12:01 AM, CST. Merry Christmas, everyone!
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The Kat Lady's cousin was diagnosed with the same type of cancer about the same time I was. I was cured, he had a relapse three years later and passed on. I've often wondered why the Good Lord took him and spared me - no doubt, I have work left to accomplish here and that means there are hundreds more people out there needing annoyance.
