Advent & Christmas Schedule 2023
ADVENT & CHRISTMAS DATES to PUT ON YOUR CALENDAR
Fri, DEC 1
5pm • Dominique Dodge Concert at Jackson Public Library (JCC Attends – C3 Bible Study Resumes next week)
Sun, DEC 3 – ADVENT 1 – Hope
- 8am • INTERFAITH WORSHIP (in-person & zoom)
- 9am • CHRISTMAS CHOIR PRACTICE (in-person & zoom)
- 10:30am • WORSHIP with ADVENT 1 & COMMUNION – Hope (in-person & zoom)
Music: Sharon Novak
Candle-lighting: White Family
Message: Rev Gail Doktor - 11:30am • HOSPITALITY
Fri, DEC 8
- 6pm • Ornament Making @ JCC Parish Hall
Fri, DEC 8
- 5pm • C3: Cocktails & Christian Conversation (Zoom)
Sat, DEC 9
- 4-6pm • COOKIES & COCOA with Santa & Friends @ JCC Parish Hall
Sun, DEC 10 – ADVENT 2: Peace
- 8am • INTERFAITH WORSHIP (in-person & zoom)
- 10:30am • WORSHIP with ADVENT 2: Peace (in-person & zoom)
Music: Sharon Novak
Candle-lighting: Battenfelder Family
Message: Rev Gail Doktor - 11:30am • HOSPITALITY
Wed, DEC 12
- 2-4pm • COOKIE SWAP @ private home
(this event may be subject to relocation … we will keep you apprised)
Fri, DEC 15
- 6pm •‘Strings of Light & Peace’ DELLAVALLA TRIO BLUEGRASS HOLIDAY CONCERT & CHANUKKAH FESTIVAL
- Dellavalla Bluegrass Trio
- Chanukkah ritual of candle-lighting plus food (latkes) and games (dreidel)
Sat, DEC 16
- 7:30am • MENS’ BREAKFAST @ JCC Parish Hall
Sun, DEC 17 – ADVENT 3: JOY
- 8am • INTERFAITH WORSHIP (in-person & zoom)
- 10:30am • WORSHIP with ADVENT 3: Joy (in-person & zoom)
Music: Sharon Novak
Candle-lighting: Verran Family
Message: Rev Gail Doktor - 11:30am • HOSPITALITY
- 1pm • COMMUNITY CAROLING
12:50pm – meet in JCC parking lot
Fri, DEC 22
- 6:30pm • BLUE CHRISTMAS
Sun, DEC 24 – ADVENT 4: Love & CHRISTMAS EVE
- 10:30am • WORSHIP – Advent 4: Love (in-person) & Christmas Pageant
- Special music: Dominique Dodge, harp
- Guest: Santa Clause (arrives 11am)
- Christmas Pageant with local families: Verrans, Battenfelders, Corbett-Kleins and Perkins-Noel
- Candle-lighting: Corbett-Klein Family
- 11:30-Noon • SANTA PHOTOS (in-person)
- 11:30am • HOSPITALITY
- 5pm • OUTDOOR WORSHIP (in-person)
- Guitar: Sharon Novak
- Scripture: Christmas Eve
- Message: Rev Gail Doktor
- 9pm • CANDLELIGHT WORSHIP (in-person)
- Piano: Sharon Novak
- Scripture: Christmas Eve passages
- Special Music: Bob Carper – solo: Mary Did You Know
- Message: Rev Gail Doktor
- Virtual Deacon: Jeanette
- Individual candlelight
- Carols
- Additional special music!
Mon, DEC 25 – CHRISTMAS MORN
- 10:30am • PAJAMAS & BELLS
- Piano: Sue Titus Reid
- Story: Rev Gail Doktor
Day 12 of 12 Days of Christmas: Twelve drummers drumming
Stamina is the force that drives the drumming; it’s not really a sprint. – Neil Peart
Drums all have their own particulars – each drum has a place where they sound the best – where they ring out and resonate the best, and the head surface isn’t too loose or too tight, mainly so you get a good rebound off of the head. — Chad Smith
SONGS about DRUMMERS:
- Little Drummer Boy performed by Pentattonix (acapella): https://youtu.be/qJ_MGWio-vc
- Distant Drums by Roy Orbison (R&B): https://youtu.be/xTdNHaf4K5I
- Let There Be Drums by Sandy Nelson (R&B): https://youtu.be/zC9okWm8A6o
- Feng Yang Flower Drum by Silk Road Music (Chinese folk): https://youtu.be/vKezqI4iaTk
- Different Drum by Stone Poneys (rock): https://youtu.be/w9qsDgA1q8Y
- Funky Drummer by James Brown (R&B): https://youtu.be/AoQ4AtsFWVM
- Heartbeat Like a Drum by Flock of Seagulls (rock): https://youtu.be/8xsc5E4E0Kk
- When a Drum Beats by Big Country (country): https://youtu.be/1WmJk2lT4Oc
- Bang on the Drum All Day by Todd Rundgren (rock): https://youtu.be/7Uc0hjUzWlg
- Land of a Million Drums by OutKast (hiphop) – caution:: explicit): https://youtu.be/vMED7GERpeQ
- Don’t Bang the Drum by Waterboys (R&B): https://youtu.be/GMe3jdhXA3E
- Drum So-Low! by Buck Owens & His Buckaroos (country): https://youtu.be/x0Tk8EukYx0
- Drum Song by Earth, Wind & Fire (R&B): https://youtu.be/a5doRGU5N3s
- Me and My Drum by Swingfly (rap): https://youtu.be/lIq5WvNxKvo
- Beat a Drum by R.E.M. (rock): https://youtu.be/h0HyGn41UY0
CONTEXT of the TWELVE DAYS
Today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, 5 January. We have reached the end of the Christmas festival, and tomorrow we celebrate the Epiphany.
The Twelfth Night parties in the middle ages could be quite rowdy. It was the Feast of Fools in which the order of the world was turned upside down, with fools reigning as kings and people taking on roles that were contrary to their true character. Shakespeare used this night as the setting for his play, Twelfth Night, in which he gives us a picture of such a topsy-turvy world as Viola masquerades as a man, people fall in love across class lines, and the lowly indulge in ridiculous delusions of grandeur.
It would be foolhardy to deny the Christian significance of all this. By the time the Wise Men arrive in Bethlehem, the Holy Family is living in neither a stable nor in an inn, but in a house. They find the King they have been searching for, but he is not living in a palace. The mediaeval Feast of Fools reminds us that Christmas celebrates nothing less than a world turned upside down in which God becomes man in order that man might become divine.
The Twelfth Day of Christmas is 5 January, and our celebrations of Christmas traditionally end tonight, on the Twelfth Night, which is then followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. The Twelve Days of Christmas are a festive period linking together these two Great Feasts of the Nativity and Theophany, so that one celebration leads into another.— Patrick Comerford
VALUE of TWELVE GIFTS —PNC
Prices in the service economy also jumped in 2022, reflected in the cost of the performance-based gifts at the back half of True Love’s shopping list. Wage and labor cost growth drove prices higher for the Nine Ladies Dancing ($8,308.12), Eleven Pipers Piping ($3,021.40) and Twelve Drummers Drumming ($3,266.93.) The Ten Lords-a-Leaping – priced on the cost of hiring a ballet company – grew an astounding 24 percent year over year to $13,980, supplanting the swans as the most expensive single gift in the index. — PNC, full article: https://www.pnc.com/insights/our-commitments/customers/pnc-s-christmas-price-index–soars-for-true-loves.html
SYMBOLISM THEORIES
Some historians think the song could be French in origin, but most agree it was designed as a “memory and forfeits” game, in which singers tested their recall of the lyrics and had to award their opponents a “forfeit” — a kiss or a favor of some kind — if they made a mistake. — vox.com, full article: https://www.vox.com/21796404/12-days-of-christmas-explained
Twelve Drummers — The Newman Center at Keene State College
The twelve drummers drumming stand for the twelve doctrinal points of the Apostles’ Creed, which are:
1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
5. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.
6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
7. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
10. the forgiveness of sins,
11. the resurrection of the body,
12. and the life everlasting.
_____
Beat! Beat! Drums! — Walt Whitman
Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force,
Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,
Into the school where the scholar is studying,
Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride,
Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain,
So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.
Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Over the traffic of cities—over the rumble of wheels in the streets;
Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers must sleep in those beds,
No bargainers’ bargains by day—no brokers or speculators—would they continue?
Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing?
Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge?
Then rattle quicker, heavier drums—you bugles wilder blow.
Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Make no parley—stop for no expostulation,
Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer,
Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,
Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,
Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses,
So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.
_____
The Drum Major of the Freedom Parade — Margaret Burroughs
(For all children who wondered about the tragic event of April 4, 1968 at Memphis.)
My children, my children, remember the day
When the Drum Major of Freedom’s parade went away.
Stop crying now little children and listen
And you will know for the future what really did happen.
You will know why your father was solemn and grim
And why mother’s eyes were wet at the rim.
You will know why the flags flew at half mast
And why all the buildings were shut tight and fast.
The Drum Major was down in Memphis that day
Helping the workers to win a raise in pay
When an evil assassin’s bullet
Snuffed his bright young life away.
That’s why we were all so saddened that day
When the life of the Drum Major was taken away.
Who will come forward to stand in his stead?
Who’ll be the Drum Major in the Freedom parade?
My children, our Major was such a good man
Whose life was based on the divine plan.
He loved this country, its people black and white
And believed that all should be imbued with the right.
That’s why we were all so saddened that day
When the life of the Drum Major was taken away.
We are looking for someone to stand in his stead
We now seek a new leader for the Freedom parade.
Do you know my children that he bore the brunt,
He marched unafraid right up in the front
He marched for Justice for children like you
And a bountier life for your parents too.
That’s why we honor Martin Luther King
He tried with love to make Liberty ring.
He wished everyone in our tortured country
To live together in peace and harmony.
That’s why we were all so saddened that day
When the Drum Major’s life was taken away.
Do you know someone who can stand in his stead?
Do you know someone to lead the parade?
I hear you my children. I hear what you said.
That you children yourselves would lead his parade
That you’ll carry the banner of the Drum Major dear
And march on to full Freedom without any fear.
Our spirits are lifted, our sorrows subside.
You children shall lead us with Dr. King at your side.
You children of Freedom will stand in his stead.
You children of Freedom will lead the parade.
March on my children to his distant drumbeat.
March on my children, keep alive his heartbeat.
When this Peace and Freedom is finally won
Then will Martin Luther King’s work be done.
______
Drum Dream Girl — Margarita Engle
On an island of music
in a city of drumbeats
the drum dream girl
dreamed
of pounding tall conga drums
tapping small bongó drums
and boom boom booming
with long, loud sticks
on big, round, silvery
moon-bright timbales.
But everyone
on the island of music
in the city of drumbeats
believed that only boys
should play drums
so the drum dream girl
had to keep dreaming
quiet
secret
drumbeat
dreams.
At outdoor cafés that looked like gardens
she heard drums played by men
but when she closed her eyes
she could also hear
her own imaginary
music.
When she walked under
wind-wavy palm trees
in a flower-bright park
she heard the whir of parrot wings
the clack of woodpecker beaks
the dancing tap
of her own footsteps
and the comforting pat
of her own
heartbeat.
At carnivals, she listened
to the rattling beat
of towering
dancers
on stilts
and the dragon clang
of costumed drummers
wearing huge masks.
At home, her fingertips
rolled out their own
dreamy drum rhythm
on tables and chairs…
and even though everyone
kept reminding her that girls
on the island of music
have never played drums
the brave drum dream girl
dared to play
tall conga drums
small bongó drums
and big, round, silvery
moon-bright timbales.
Her hands seemed to fly
as they rippled
rapped
and pounded
all the rhythms
of her drum dreams.
Her big sisters were so excited
that they invited her to join
their new all-girl dance band
but their father said only boys
should play drums.
So the drum dream girl
had to keep dreaming
and drumming
alone
until finally
her father offered
to find a music teacher
who could decide if her drums
deserved
to be heard.
The drum dream girl’s
teacher was amazed.
The girl knew so much
but he taught her more
and more
and more
and she practiced
and she practiced
and she practiced
until the teacher agreed
that she was ready
to play her small bongó drums
outdoors at a starlit café
that looked like a garden
where everyone who heard
her dream-bright music
sang
and danced
and decided
that girls should always
be allowed to play
drums
and both girls and boys
should feel free
to dream.
Day 11 of 12 Days of Christmas: Eleven pipers piping
But he heard high up in the air
A piper piping away,
And never was piping so sad,
And never was piping so gay.
― William Butler Yeats
SONGS about PIPERS:
- The Pied Piper by Crispian St James: https://youtu.be/qe13bACgcJs
- The Piper by Same Cooke: https://youtu.be/FKE_v94Or9M
- The Piper by ABBA (pop): https://youtu.be/UWMnwx997_4
- Peter Piper by Run-DMC (hiphop): https://youtu.be/oo5-74dWGS0
OTHER SONGS with SUMILAR THEMES — Wikipedia
Scotland
A similar cumulative verse from Scotland, “The Yule Days”, has been likened to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in the scholarly literature. It has thirteen days rather than twelve, and the number of gifts does not increase in the manner of “The Twelve Days”. Its final verse, as published in Chambers, Popular Rhymes, Fireside Stories, and Amusements of Scotland (1842), runs as follows:
The king sent his lady on the thirteenth Yule day,
Three stalks o’ merry corn,
Three maids a-merry dancing,
Three hinds a-merry hunting,
An Arabian baboon,
Three swans a-merry swimming,
Three ducks a-merry laying,
A bull that was brown,
Three goldspinks,
Three starlings,
A goose that was grey,
Three plovers,
Three partridges,
A pippin go aye;
Wha learns my carol and carries it away?
“Pippin go aye” (also spelled “papingo-aye” in later editions) is a Scots word for peacock or parrot.
France
“Les Douze Mois” (“The Twelve Months”) (also known as “La Perdriole”—”The Partridge”) is another similar cumulative verse from France that has been likened to The Twelve Days of Christmas. Its final verse, as published in de Coussemaker, Chants Populaires des Flamands de France (1856), runs as follows:
Le douzièm’ jour d’l’année,Que me donn’rez vous ma mie?
Douze coqs chantants,
Onze plats d’argent,
Dix pigeons blancs,
Neuf bœufs cornus,
Huit vaches mordants,
Sept moulins à vent,
Six chiens courants,
Cinq lapins courant par terre,
Quat’ canards volant en l’air,
Trois rameaux de bois,
Deux tourterelles,
Un’ perdrix sole,
Qui va, qui vient, qui vole,
Qui vole dans les bois.The twelfth day of the year
What will you give me, my love?
Twelve singing cockerels,
Eleven silver dishes,
Ten white pigeons,
Nine horned oxen,
Eight biting cows,
Seven windmills,
Six running dogs,
Five rabbits running along the ground,
Four ducks flying in the air,
Three wooden branches,
Two turtle doves,
One lone partridge,
Who goes, who comes, who flies,
Who flies in the woods.
According to de Coussemaker, the song was recorded “in the part of [French] Flanders that borders on the Pas de Calais”. Another similar folksong, “Les Dons de l’An”, was recorded in the Cambresis region of France. Its final verse, as published in 1864, runs:
Le douzièm’ mois de l’an,
que donner à ma mie?
Douz’ bons larrons,
Onze bons jambons,
Dix bons dindons,
Neuf bœufs cornus,
Huit moutons tondus,
Sept chiens courants,
Six lièvres aux champs,
Cinq lapins trottant par terre,
Quatre canards volant en l’air,
Trois ramiers de bois,
Deux tourterelles,
Une pertriolle,
Qui vole, et vole, et vole,
Une pertriolle,
Qui vole
Du bois au champ.The twelfth month of the year
What should I give my love?
Twelve good cheeses,
Eleven good hams,
Ten good turkeycocks,
Nine horned oxen,
Eight sheared sheep,
Seven running dogs,
Six hares in the field,
Five rabbits trotting along the ground,
Four ducks flying in the air,
Three wood pigeons,
Two turtle doves,
One young partridge,
Who flies, who flies, who flies,
One young partridge,
Who flies
From the wood to the field.
Pied Piper of Hamelin (excerpt)— Robert Browning
Once more he stept into the street;
And to his lips again
Laid his long pipe of smooth straight cane;
And ere he blew three notes (such sweet
Soft notes as yet musician’s cunning
Never gave th’enraptured air)
There was a rustling, that seem’d like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling,
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping, and little tongues chattering,
And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering,
Out came the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after
The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.
The Piper — Joseph Campbell
George Borrow in his Lavengro
Tells us of a Welshman, who
By some excess of mother-wit
Framed a harp and played on it,
Built a ship and sailed to sea,
And steered it home to melody
Of his own making. I, indeed,
Might write for Everyman to read
A thaumalogue of wonderment
More wonderful, but rest content
With celebrating one I knew
Who built his pipes, and played them, too:
No more.
Ah, played! Therein is all:
The hounded thing, the hunter’s call;
The shudder, when the quarry’s breath
Is drowned in blood and stilled in death;
The marriage dance, the pulsing vein,
The kiss that must be given again;
The hope that Ireland, like a rose,
Sees shining thro’ her tale of woes;
The battle lost, the long lament
For blood and spirit vainly spent;
And so on, thro’ the varying scale
Of passion that the western Gael
Knows, and by miracle of art
Draws to the chanter from the heart
Like water from a hidden spring,
To leap or murmur, weep or sing.
I see him now, a little man
In proper black, whey-bearded, wan,
With eyes that scan the eastern hills
Thro’ thick, gold-rimmèd spectacles.
His hand is on the chanter. Lo,
The hidden spring begins to flow
In waves of magic. (He is dead
These seven years, but bend your head
And listen.) Rising from the clay
The Master plays The Ring of Day.
It mounts and falls and floats away
Over the sky-line . . . then is gone
Into the silence of the dawn!
Day 10 of 12 Days of Christmas: Ten lords a’leaping
With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. — Acts 3:8
Then the lame will leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. — Isaiah 35:6
King David leaping and dancing before the Lord ... — 2 Samuel 6:16
SONGS about LEAPING:
- Leap of Faith by Bruce Springsteen (rock): https://youtu.be/ouWEZPkbznQ
- Jump (For my Love) by The Pointer Sisters (R&B): https://youtu.be/uyTVyCp7xrw
- Jump Right In by Zac Brown Band (country): https://youtu.be/vdYwfDaAHVs
- Jumpin’ Jack Flash by Rolling Stones (rock): https://youtu.be/G3dFpQzu54w
- Jump Then Fall by Taylor Swift (pop): https://youtu.be/vUHDR6Rg3Y4
- Jump On It by Sugrahill Gang (children’s song): https://youtu.be/vQObWW06VAM
- Leap by Lapsley (pop): https://youtu.be/05gxIvE6_4A
- The Jump Off by Lik Kim (hiphop/R&B): https://youtu.be/HFEQUYQ9-Nc
- Waiting for the Great Leap Forward by Billy Bragg (English rock): https://youtu.be/vdYwfDaAHVs
- Jump Start by Jethro Tull (R&B): https://youtu.be/YO3qR5sTAuU
- Get Up and Jump by Red Hot Chili Peppers (rock): https://youtu.be/QVpGRgiO1xI
SYMBOLISM and DISCUSSION of Ten Lords A’Leaping
It’s primarily a love song. It’s a game song, too. The point is to remember every item and not get twisted up. — Edward Phinney, a professor of classics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
As such, the original tune was probably used as a “forfeit” song, during which two sides would sing verses in turn. If one side forgot a verse or blew a line, they would have to forefeit a prize. In many cases, it was a kiss. — Joe Fasbinder, United Press International
Long Time Gone “Ten Lords A-Leaping?” Where Did They all Come From? And What Does That Even Mean? — Priscilla Waggoner
Although some challenge the veracity of the story, a writer named Ann Ball, who spent years writing on the lives of the saints and “The Handbook of Catholic Sacramentals”, explains the real meaning and tracks the carol back to England and the year 1558.
According to Ball, from the mid-1500s to 1829, Catholics in England were not allowed to freely and openly practice their religion. As a result, someone penned the carol as a summary of the principles of Christianity—also known as a catechism—for young Catholics, unable to receive instruction, to learn. Ball states there are two meanings of the carol: the one that everyone knows and references the multitude of gifts received by the writer’s “true love”. The second and hidden meaning of the carol is reserved for members of the Catholic Church to understand as each line contains a word that references a religious principle that, written as it was, will help Catholic children to remember.
As she describes in her book “The Handbook of Catholic Sacrementals”, what follows is the meaning (in Ball’s words) that are hidden in the lyrics to the carol we’ve heard for longer than we can remember.
…. The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.—
…. As was stated, it is somewhat open to debate if these hidden meanings actually account for the true origin of the carol or not.
Whether one believes this to be true or one accepts the carol at face value is a personal decision that is theirs alone to make. What can be celebrated is the wonderful imagery of the carol—both real and symbolic—and the great fun to be had in singing it with full gusto at this glorious time of Christmas.
‚
Legends Abound for Lords-a-leaping and Maids-a-milking in `Twelve Days’ — Daniel Burke
What, if anything, do they symbolize?
It depends on whom you ask.
The song has French origins, and was published in an English children’s book called “Mirth without Mischief” around 1780. Most people believe it began as a memory game sung at Twelfth Night parties. The 12 days of Christmas in Western Christianity refer to the time between Christ’s birth on Dec. 25 and the arrival of the Magi to honor the newborn, known as Epiphany, on Jan. 6.
In recent times, the song has been searched for coded references to Catholic doctrine, ancient Egyptian holidays, Roman myths, and the menu at medieval feasts. It has even become an annual index of economic inflation…
In the 1990s, a story began floating around the Internet that “The Twelve Days” was used as a secret catechism by Catholics persecuted after the Reformation in England. The “true love” who offers the gifts refers to God, according to this theory. The partridge is Jesus, the two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments, the three French hens represent the virtues of faith, hope and charity, and so on.
But California folklorists who run Snopes.com, an urban legend website, dispute the catechism tale. None of the tenets supposedly encoded in the song were points of conflict between Anglicans and Catholics, the website notes, so there would have been no reason to keep them secret. Also, it’s impractical to rely on a seasonal song to teach the faith, the folklorists said. What did persecuted Catholics do for the rest of the year?
William Studwell, who was considered the dean of Christmas carol scholarship before he died last August, was also skeptical.
“If there was such a catechism device, a secret code, it was derived from the original secular song,” he said in a 2008 interview with Religion News Service. “It’s a derivative, not the source.”
“The song can still be used as an educational or devotional tool by using the symbols as a mnemonic device,” said the Rev. Dennis Bratcher, a Church of the Nazarene minister and director of the Christian Resource Institute. “Many Christians today hear the song in those terms anyway, regardless of its origins.”
…. Leigh Grant, who wrote and illustrated a children’s book about “The Twelve Days,” said the gifts are popular parts of medieval feasts, often held during Twelfth Night celebrations. The birds were eaten while the pipers, drummers, and lords entertained the guests. The five golden rings in the song refer not to jewelry, but to ring-necked pheasants.
But the song is also rife with symbolism, Grant said.
Partridges and pears, for instance, were considered emblems of fertility during the Renaissance, she said. Likewise, geese and swans were seen as intermediaries between the earth and the sky, and thus humans and heaven.
“I’ve heard a lot of theories about this song,” Grant said, “and I don’t know if any of them are true. But what often happens to songs is that people change them, and so does the meaning people find in them.” ….
ten lords a leaping — Dave Snowden
So we have a choice between the ten commandments or a reference to cuckoos. As a symbol of immorality and disorder it fits with Christmas as a time of misrule and sexual license. It also carries a sense of reversal, for that period a labourer might be a lord. With Ladies, drummers and pipers you get a real sense of a major party being set up. By the time the song is sung in full we will have 36 ladies, 30 lords, 22 pipers and 12 drummers! Some sources also suggest the extended impact of drugs (specifically the post 16th Century use of the ergot fungus) and alcohol.
So lets party. The Lords of Misrule; appointed by lot to preside over the Feast of Fools at Christmas/Saturnalia have a long history. For a temporary period servants became the masters, satire ruled the rulers and they had to show good humour. In some darker legends the Lord of Misrule had total license for a period but was then ritually sacrificed given a whole new take on feast, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die: licence has consequences in the sense of 1 Corinthians 15:32 but I may be stretching things a bit there. interestingly the practice was banned by Henry VIII, restored by Mary I and then banned again by Elizabeth I which says a lot. Mary always gets a bad press, but then she didn’t have Shakespeare to run her propaganda machine.
Commentary: Lords a-leaping or a leap of faith? — St. Louis Public Radio — Paul Harrington, full article: https://news.stlpublicradio.org/arts/2010-12-24/commentary-lords-a-leaping-or-a-leap-of-faith
It’s typical these days to encounter “The 12 Days of Christmas” in our culture: an uncountable number of musical variations (including the cast of “Glee” and “Winnie the Pooh,” go figure), CNN challenges to video each of the 12 gifts, analyses of the cost of the gifts, and so on.
What’s missing is the why: Why are these 12 days called out, and what’s their significance? Why 12? When does the 12-day countdown begin? Is it just a nonsense song about trying to buy love (sorry, Beatles) with a succession of greater and greater gifts?
Or, is it something more?… It turns out that the 12 days of Christmas have more to do with the historical Nativity of 2,000 years ago than it does with shopping at Nordstrom’s for three French hens.
The original 12 days of Christmas are tied to the Feast of the Epiphany. In Christian religions, the Epiphany is the day that the baby Jesus was revealed to the world as the Son of God. The very word epiphany comes from the ancient Greek word epiphaneia and can be translated to mean appearance, manifestation or shining forth. The anglicized version became epiphany.
Early Christians seem to have fixated upon the date of Jan. 6 as the date of the original Epiphany. Thus, with some quick math, we can see that the Epiphany comes 12 days after the birth of Christ on Dec. 25. Put it all together, and it’s easy to understand why the 12 days of Christmas would be commemorated in song. (Note that the Eastern churches and other religions’ calendars vary a bit on the precise date and meaning, when the 12 days begin or conclude. My vantage point is Western Christianity.)
But there are more to the 12 days and the Feast of the Epiphany than a simple measurement of the time it took until the Magi knocked on the manger door. Certainly, over the years Christians have attached religious symbols to each of the gifts mentioned in the song: Ten lords a-leaping, for instance, can be interpreted to mean the Ten Commandments. But to me, those metaphors seem a bit forced and miss the bigger question: What do the 12 days, and the associated Epiphany, mean to believers in the Christian faiths?
The 12 days do indeed count the magi’s journey from the east to Bethlehem; but their trip is a journey of faith, a 12-day quest to encounter the divine. The magi follow a symbol in the sky for 12 days across the harsh desert in search of an answer to the mystery of the burning star of Bethlehem. The magi were not from Israel, so their journey and subsequent homage to the child of God is interpreted to be the revelation of a divine being to the entire world. It was a true leap of faith for these men to begin a difficult adventure into the unknown in search of truth and answers.
Could we be so bold today? If we pause to set aside all the lovely images we associate with the Nativity and the magi, and consider the dangerous reality of their holy mission, we cannot help but be impressed. It must have been a long, arduous, and trying expedition to make. An excellent poem by T.S. Eliot, “The Journey of the Magi,” eloquently captures the drama and challenge of such a daunting undertaking. The magi’s 12-day journey was a test of faith, strength, and courage, a fitting trial for three men who would eventually come face to face with God.
On Christmas day, after the presents are unwrapped and the holiday hubbub has diminished, take a moment to ponder that the true season of Christmas is just beginning on Dec. 25. Consider that just over 2,000 years ago, brave men conquered the desert — and their fears — to make perhaps the most important journey of all time. And don’t let Jan. 6 be just another Thursday on your calendar: Remember it and honor it as the day that the majesty and power of God were revealed to us all.
Lord — Yehudah Halevi
Translated by Peter Cole
all my desire is here before you,
whether or not I speak of it:
I’d seek your favor, for an instant, then die—
if only you would grant my wish.
I’d place my spirit in your hand,
then sleep—and in that sleep find sweetness.
I wander from you—and die alive;
the closer I cling—I live to die.
How to approach I still don’t know,
nor on what words I might rely.
Instruct me, Lord: advise and guide me.
Free me from my prison of lies.
Teach me while I can bear the affliction—
do not, Lord, despise my plea;
before I’ve become my own burden
and the little I am weighs on me,
and against my will, I give in
as worms eat bones that weary of me.
I’ll come to the place my forefathers reached,
and by their place of rest find rest.
Earth’s back to me is foreign;
my one true home is in its dust.
Till now my youth has done what it would:
When will I provide for myself?
The world He placed in my heart has kept me
from tending to my end and after.
How could I come to serve my Lord,
when I am still desire’s prisoner?
How could I ask for a place on high,
when I know the worm will be my sister?
How at that end could my heart be glad,
when I do not know what death will bring?
Day after day and night after night
reduce the flesh upon me to nothing.
Into the winds they’ll scatter my spirit.
To dust they’ll return the little remaining.
What can I say—with desire my enemy,
from boyhood till now pursuing me:
What is Time to me but your Will?
If you’re not with me, what will I be?
I stand bereft of any virtue:
only your justice and mercy shield me.
But why should I speak, or even aspire?
Lord, before you is all my desire.
Lord Is Not a Word — Christian Wiman
Lord is not a word.
Song is not a salve.
Suffer the child, who lived
on sunlight and solitude.
Savor the man, craving
earth like an aftertaste.
To discover in one’s hand
two local stones the size
of a dead man’s eyes
saves no one, but to fling them
with a grace you did not know
you knew, to bring them
skimming homing
over blue, is to discover
the river from which they came.
Mild merciful amnesia
through which I’ve moved
as through a blue atmosphere
of almost and was,
how is it now,
like ruins unearthed by ruin,
my childhood should rise?
Lord, suffer me to sing
these wounds by which I am made
and marred, savor this creature
whose aloneness you ease and are.
Lord Juggler — Roberta Teale Swartz
O juggler,
With zealous face ,
In what wide market-place
Do you stand,
Your hand
Tilting thse colored spheres in a rhythmic race?
O charlatan!
When you pretend
Almost to miuss—and bend
For the crowd’s sake,
And briskly take
The tumbling ball back into its old wend—
Then how we draw
A startled breath—
As if it meant our death
To let them bound
So near the ground!
Just in the nick your palms are underneath.
But if you see—
But if your eyes
Take note of fools’ surprise,
We never know.
You do not show
Whether you’re please to trick us; you are wise.
So, juggler!
Still for awhile
These capttured wits beguile—
But having gathered im
Your globves from their spin
Reveal. before we go, how you can smile!
Weekend of Jan 3-Jan 8 with JCC and around town
Highlights: Coastal birding, jazz, line dancing, fitness, C3, choir, Epiphany observance with pageant, game day,, music around town
TUE, Jan 3
- FITNESS CLASS with Laurie McAleer
9:30am • Jackson Community Church- Free to all participants.
- Gentle, chair-based stretch and fitness for all levels of ability
- Community Resource: LIBRARIES
- 10am-7pm • Jackson Library
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org. For more info: http://jacksonlibrary.org/ - 2pm-5pm • Bartlett Library
More info: https://www.bartlettpubliclibrary.org/
- 10am-7pm • Jackson Library
- Community Event: XC SKIING & SNOWSHOEING with Jackson Ski Touring
Trails Open • More info: https://www.jacksonxc.org/trail-report/- Also:
- Great Glen XC Skiing, 1 Mt Washington Auto Rd, Gorham, NH: https://greatglentrails.com/
- Bear Notch Ski Touring, Bartlett, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Mt Washington Valley Ski Touring & Snowshoe, Intervale, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Also:
- Community Event: SLEIGH RIDES & SKATING
Nestlenook Farm, Jackson, NH • More info: https://nestlenookfarmsleighrides.com/ - Community Event: DOWNHILL SKIING
- Black Mountain: https://www.blackmt.com/
- Attitash: https://www.attitash.com/
- Wildcat: https://www.skiwildcat.com/
- Cranmore Mountain: https://www.cranmore.com/
- LINE DANCING @ Sea Dog
7-9pm • Sea Dog, North Conway- JCC friends go to dance as social event
- Community Events: HOOT NIGHT
- Wildcat Tavern: Jonathan Sarty hosts • 6-8:30pm
WED, Jan 4
- Community Event: XC SKIING & SNOWSHOEING with Jackson Ski Touring
Trails Open • More info: https://www.jacksonxc.org/trail-report/- Also:
- Great Glen XC Skiing, 1 Mt Washington Auto Rd, Gorham, NH: https://greatglentrails.com/
- Bear Notch Ski Touring, Bartlett, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Mt Washington Valley Ski Touring & Snowshoe, Intervale, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Also:
- Community Event: SLEIGH RIDES & SKATING
Nestlenook Farm, Jackson, NH • More info: https://nestlenookfarmsleighrides.com/ - Community Event: DOWNHILL SKIING
- Black Mountain: https://www.blackmt.com/
- Attitash: https://www.attitash.com/
- Wildcat: https://www.skiwildcat.com/
- Cranmore Mountain: https://www.cranmore.com/
- Community Event: ENVIRONMENTAL BOOK GRIOUP-The Appalachian Trail
4pm • Zoom link pending- This character-driven biography of the trail is a must-read not just for ambitious hikers, but for anyone who wonders about our relationship with the great outdoors and dreams of getting away from urban life for a pilgrimage in the wild.
- Tin Mountain’s Environmental Book Group meets the first Wednesday of the month at 4pm. All are welcome, whether you have finished (or started!) the book. Zoom link to come.
- More info: https://www.tinmountain.org/event/environmental-book-group-the-appalachian-trail-a-biography/
- Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Red Parka: Win It Wed with Jon Sarty • 4-7pm
- Community Resource: LIBRARIES
- 2pm-5pm • Jackson Library
- Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org. For more info: http://jacksonlibrary.org/
- 12pm-6pm • Bartlett Library
More info: https://www.bartlettpubliclibrary.org
- 2pm-5pm • Jackson Library
THURS, Jan 5
- Community Event: XC SKIING & SNOWSHOEING with Jackson Ski Touring
Trails Open • More info: https://www.jacksonxc.org/trail-report/- Also:
- Great Glen XC Skiing, 1 Mt Washington Auto Rd, Gorham, NH: https://greatglentrails.com/
- Bear Notch Ski Touring, Bartlett, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Mt Washington Valley Ski Touring & Snowshoe, Intervale, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Also:
- Community Event: SLEIGH RIDES & SKATING
Nestlenook Farm, Jackson, NH • More info: https://nestlenookfarmsleighrides.com/ - Community Event: DOWNHILL SKIING
- Black Mountain: https://www.blackmt.com/
- Attitash: https://www.attitash.com/
- Wildcat: https://www.skiwildcat.com/
- Cranmore Mountain: https://www.cranmore.com/
- Community Resource: LIBRARIES
- 10am-7pm • Jackson Library
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org. For more info: http://jacksonlibrary.org/ - 2pm-5pm • Bartlett Library
More info: https://www.bartlettpubliclibrary.org/
- 10am-7pm • Jackson Library
- Community Service: WAY STATION
2-5 • Food collection & distribution
10-6 • Open shift for drop-ins and apts.- Staff and volunteers of JCC participate. Operating in church basement this week: Nativity Lutheran.
- Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Shannon Door: Dan Parkhurst • 6-8pm
FRI, Jan 6
- Community Event: XC SKIING & SNOWSHOEING with Jackson Ski Touring
Trails Open • More info: https://www.jacksonxc.org/trail-report/- Also:
- Great Glen XC Skiing, 1 Mt Washington Auto Rd, Gorham, NH: https://greatglentrails.com/
- Bear Notch Ski Touring, Bartlett, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Mt Washington Valley Ski Touring & Snowshoe, Intervale, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Also:
- Community Event: SLEIGH RIDES & SKATING
Nestlenook Farm, Jackson, NH • More info: https://nestlenookfarmsleighrides.com/ - Community Event: DOWNHILL SKIING
- Black Mountain: https://www.blackmt.com/
- Attitash: https://www.attitash.com/
- Wildcat: https://www.skiwildcat.com/
- Cranmore Mountain: https://www.cranmore.com/
- Community Event: ZUMBA with Dotti Aiello
8:30am • Whitney Community Center- For more info, contact Dott: dottiaiello@gmail.com
- Just a reminder that class is $5 per person with no sign in. Please bring the correct amount.
- Also, bring your water, a small towel and a smile and leave your inhibitions at home!
- FITNESS CLASS with Laurie McAleer
9:30am • Jackson Community Church- Free to all participants.
- Gentle, chair-based stretch and fitness for all levels of ability
- Community Event: LINE DANCING with Dotti Aiello
9:30am • Whitney Community Center- For more info, contact Dott: dottiaiello@gmail.com
- Just a reminder that class is $5 per person with no sign in. Please bring the correct amount.
- Also, bring your water, a small towel and a smile and leave your inhibitions at home!
- Community Resource: LIBRARIES
- 2pm-5pm • Jackson Library
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org. For more info: http://jacksonlibrary.org/
- 2pm-5pm • Jackson Library
- C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATION
5pm • Zoom link and password required.- Option: Call in via touch-tone phone: 929.436.2866 Meeting ID: 83028442916 (#)
- Bring your adult beverage and your curiosity for a conversation about our sacred texts.
- Community Event: FRIDAY NIGHT JAZZ – MAJESTIC CAFE – Mike Sakash (sax), Jed Wilson (piano), Scott Kiefner (bass), Brian Shankar Adler (percussion)
6:30 pm • Majestic Cafe, Conway, NH- Info and tickets (SOLD OUT): https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php
- Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Shannon Door: Marty Quirk • 6-8pm
- Red Parka Pub: The Echo Tones • 8-11pm
- Wildcat Tavern: Apres Ski w/ Al Shafner 3-5 pm &
Jonathan Sarty 6 – 8:30pm - Shovel Handle Pub • Bobby Sheehan • 5:30-8:30pm
- Lostbo Pub @ Black Mountain: Dan Aldrich • 3:30-5:30pm
SAT, Jan 7
- Community Event: COASTAL BIRDING FIELD TRIP
8am • Biddeford, ME- We’re heading to the coast of Maine in search of harlequins, scoters, eiders, long-tailed ducks, and mergansers. Join us for an excursion to Biddeford Pool in southern Maine to look for various ducks and shorebirds. Make sure to bring warm layers, water, and a lunch. Bring your own binoculars or borrow ours.
- Program cost: $15/person or $25/household; members are free!
- Space is limited and registration is required. Call 603-447-6991 or click here to register.
- Community Event: SNOW SHOE Tour
2pm • Tin M tn Conservation Ctr, Albany, NH- Join us for a snowshoe tour at Tin Mountain’s Nature Learning Center in Albany, NH. Bring your own snowshoes or rent ours*, and enjoy the breathtaking beauty of winter. All are welcome!
- Non-members: $15/person or $25/household, snowshoe rental $5/person. Members are Free!
- Register at tinmountain.org or call 603-447-6991
*Please arrive at 1:30pm if you are renting snowshoes. Also, bring poles if you prefer to use them while snowshoeing – we do not have any poles.
- Community Event: XC SKIING & SNOWSHOEING with Jackson Ski Touring
Trails Open • More info: https://www.jacksonxc.org/trail-report/- Also:
- Great Glen XC Skiing, 1 Mt Washington Auto Rd, Gorham, NH: https://greatglentrails.com/
- Bear Notch Ski Touring, Bartlett, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Mt Washington Valley Ski Touring & Snowshoe, Intervale, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Also:
- Community Event: SLEIGH RIDES & SKATING
Nestlenook Farm, Jackson, NH • More info: https://nestlenookfarmsleighrides.com/ - Community Event: DOWNHILL SKIING
- Black Mountain: https://www.blackmt.com/
- Attitash: https://www.attitash.com/
- Wildcat: https://www.skiwildcat.com/
- Cranmore Mountain: https://www.cranmore.com/
- Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Shannon Door: Marty Quirk Apres Ski (4-6) & Scott Baer 7-10pm
- Red Parka Pub: Lazy River Riders • 8-11pm
- Wildcat Tavern: Jonathan Sarty * • 6pm
- Shovel Handle Pub • Tim Dion • 5:30-8:30pm
- Lostbo Pub @ Black Mountain: Dan Aldrich • 3:30-5:30pm
SUN, Jan 8
- INTERFAITH GATHERING
8am • Old Red Library or zoom link and password required- Join us for poetry, conversation, and prayer.
- CHOIR PRACTICE
9:30am • JCC- In-person pickup choir performing Do You Hear What I Hear? accompanied by digital track
- WORSHIP with EPIPHANY CELEBRATION
10:30am • JCC & in-person- Zoom link and password required
- Christmnas Pageant: Prepared and performed by youth & families
- Bluegrass music: DellaValla Trio
- Music Sharon Novak
- Community Event: SNOW SHOE Tour
2pm • Tin M tn Conservation Ctr, Albany, NH- Join us for a snowshoe tour at Tin Mountain’s Nature Learning Center in Albany, NH. Bring your own snowshoes or rent ours*, and enjoy the breathtaking beauty of winter. All are welcome!
- Non-members: $15/person or $25/household, snowshoe rental $5/person. Members are Free!
- Register at tinmountain.org or call 603-447-6991
*Please arrive at 1:30pm if you are renting snowshoes. Also, bring poles if you prefer to use them while snowshoeing – we do not have any poles.
- Community Event: XC SKIING & SNOWSHOEING with Jackson Ski Touring
Trails Open • More info: https://www.jacksonxc.org/trail-report/- Also:
- Great Glen XC Skiing, 1 Mt Washington Auto Rd, Gorham, NH: https://greatglentrails.com/
- Bear Notch Ski Touring, Bartlett, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Mt Washington Valley Ski Touring & Snowshoe, Intervale, NH: https://www.bearnotchskitouring.com/
- Also:
- Community Event: SLEIGH RIDES & SKATING
Nestlenook Farm, Jackson, NH • More info: https://nestlenookfarmsleighrides.com/ - Community Event: DOWNHILL SKIING
- Black Mountain: https://www.blackmt.com/
- Attitash: https://www.attitash.com/
- Wildcat: https://www.skiwildcat.com/
- Cranmore Mountain: https://www.cranmore.com/
- Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Lostbo Pub @ Black Mountain: Jonathan Sarty • 3:30-5:30pm
- Wildcat Tavern: Al Shafner • 6-9pm
- Shannon Door: Scott Baer • 6-9pm
- Red Parka Pub: Now Is Now • 8-11pm
- Shovel Handle Pub: Randy Messineo • 5:30-8:30pm
- GAME AFTERNOON
3-5pm • Parish House / Jackson Community Church- Organized by Kit Griffin & Linda Hastings
- Come play games. Learn a new one. Socialize with friends.