Peace and Joy to You and Yours

The winter festival season is upon us. Hanukkah starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. This year, it's December 20-28.  The winter solstice is of course December 21, and many celebrate Festivus.  Then there's Squidmas and Christmas and Kwanzaa.

Today at sundown marks the beginning of Hanukkah.  For your viewing pleasure: The Maccabeats singing Candlelight, from 2010.

Tomorrow is the solstice, the least amount of daylight or the longest night of the year.

 

Last year, a short video about the Nativity in social media went viral:

 

At Making Light, Teresa Nielsen Hayden annually publishes texts and tranlsations of Luke 2:1-20. Here's last year's version I also liked John Scalzi's Interview with the Nativity Innkeeper

Here is my seasonal wish for you:

Peace with me, Peace before me, Peace behind me,

Peace in me, Peace beneath me, Peace above me,

Peace on my right, Peace on my left,

Peace when I lie down, Peace when I sit down, Peace when I arise,

Peace in the heart of every person who thinks of me,

Peace in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Peace in every eye that sees me,

Peace in every ear that hears me.

Peace with you, Peace before you, Peace behind you,

Peace in you, Peace beneath you, Peace above you,

Peace on your right, Peace on your left,

Peace when you lie down, Peace when you sit down, Peace when you arise,

Peace in the heart of every person who thinks of you,

Peace in the mouth of everyone who speaks of you,

Peace in every eye that sees you,

Peace in every ear that hears you.

Readers familiar with Christian writing will recognize this as an adaptation of  the prayer and hymn known as St. Patrick's Breastplate.  However, in my youth, I read a great deal of North American ethnography and these sentiments have been also expressed there.  I imagine it is a fairly universal expression.

Comments

[Ren]

And also to you and yours, Liz. (Or, as I like to say, "Fleece Navidad!" It gets cold up here in the NE.)