Looking over the window Nativities of Dublin it was interesting to see what was variable within these acceptable norms and what was not. One of the most beautiful – in my opinion – was a gorgeous little pottery Nativity of caricatured Native North Americans. Indeed the birth of God in humanity was and is for all humanity, but it was amusing to see that this infant retained his northern European hair colour.
Antisemitism at Christmas
Adoration of God, as the Nativity account makes clear, has always been the prophetic action of the powerless on the peripheries – were not Mary and Joseph also “Jews?” Are we to assume that the shepherds in the surrounding Judean countryside were not Jews as well? This is absurd.
It’s a Wickedly Scandalous Christmas
We’ve read all about the community in Nebraska, and I have to confess that I read it with some mirth, where a group of Atheists rented out all of the public space months in advance of Christmas to put up a Jesus free Christmas display where the town’s Nativity scene had traditionally been displayed.
‘Twas the Night before Christmas…
Today and tonight it is this peace we wish one another, and hope to share together; a peace that surpasses mere silence and reaches out in peace to bring peace to others. This Peace I wish you tonight, on this your last sleep before Santa comes.
Crossing Thresholds of Home
Today, leaving Ireland, for the first time I feel like I am leaving home and as I was looking back over the waves and the rises of Carrickfergus I found myself longing to turn back. In a few more years I will have lived in Ireland for as long as I have ever lived in Scotland, and I can’t see me returning home before that Rubicon has been crossed.
No Room at the Inn this Christmas
Well it’s that time again. It’s the day before the day before Christmas Eve and every diaspora is on the move, like Mary and Joseph of old, back to the homeland. I’ll spend the day packing and doing a bit of hectic last minute shopping and gift deliveries (and pet deliveries) before setting off across the sea to Scotland.
The Toy Show: An Irish Tradition on Crack
All those children set up for disappointment through the 70s, 80s, and 90s grew up into the digital age and were given the power of instant comment through the medium of the internet, and they have taken to it with gusto.
Probability Tends to Zero
Teenagers are brilliant. I am glad that I don’t own any of my own, but, still, I think that teenagers are great. They have developed into that awkward liminal space between innocence and good craic. By about sixteen most of them have developed little proto-adult personalities infused still with a lovable childish quality. Quite surprisingly … Continue reading Probability Tends to Zero
