tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2398385230099134530.post6897237729293670257..comments2022-12-04T05:14:27.792-08:00Comments on Steve Paris' Paraphernalic Postulations: Little Baby JesusSteve Parishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145787455201419082noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2398385230099134530.post-46173213730537183322014-03-22T16:39:25.165-07:002014-03-22T16:39:25.165-07:00Every year while teaching my students - middle sch...Every year while teaching my students - middle school, senior high, university - in Japan - we would sing Christmas Carols (O Come All Ye Faithful, etc) Christmas Songs (I'm Dreaming… Dashing Through the Snow - etc - many of them the same looping of songs being played in all Japanese shopping centres and malls throughout the month of December) and I would explain the three kinds of Christmases we were celebrating: The generally understood Christian version (as in your daughter's illustrations for her December school project) - though nothing written about it in the Bible; the historical provenance - winter solstice/Saturnalia - the promise of the sun's return (the Son's return?) and springtime re-birth (morphing into the Easter equivalence/other side of the coin) and the Santa Christmas of contemporary times - roping in X'mas trees out of central Europe/Germany (Thanks to Charles DICKENS, too) - Christmas cards from early Victorian England… its family get-together nature - the Aussie version I would tie in as well - against the traditional/seasonal nature of things - all topsy-turvy. And then draw in how it was celebrated in Japan - the songs in shopping centres as I described above; streets lit-up in incredibly beautiful style - Kōbe one of the most famous; Christmas cake (a sponge-cake covered in cream - resembling not at all the fruit-filled Christmas cake we know in Australia); and that X'mas Eve is seen as the single most romantic night of the year - when young people would hope to be with the one they love and when the decision to marry might be made. This was matched with Wham's (?) "Last Christmas" and a flurry of new romantic X'mas-sounding songs being released. My students all found it impossible to believe when I would explain that Christmas in the general Christian/Christian-influenced community carried no sense of romance. That Christmas was a time for families. In order to reveal this more completely/meaningfully - I would draw out the parallels between the Christmas we know and the Japanese New Year - just a week later - a direct parallel - families getting together, cards through the post, special food, visits to the Shrine, gifts (of money-filled envelopes) for those up till adulthood (age 20), special songs/music - decorations - and so forth.Jim KABLEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07339366859747643036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2398385230099134530.post-29494582065942642122013-12-29T02:48:41.448-08:002013-12-29T02:48:41.448-08:00Would you happen to have a link perchance? :)Would you happen to have a link perchance? :)Steve Parishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14145787455201419082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2398385230099134530.post-89518860167604681632013-12-29T02:27:39.156-08:002013-12-29T02:27:39.156-08:00There's also a great article on secular web ca...There's also a great article on secular web called The Fabulous Prophecies of The Messiah (or something like that)RMhttp://irreligious.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2398385230099134530.post-82647958133007597662013-12-21T13:59:00.767-08:002013-12-21T13:59:00.767-08:00Love it. Thanks SteveLove it. Thanks SteveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com