Twelfth Night

 

 

well my dear ones,

 

 

I hope your New Year of 2014

is going well so far,

and even if it isn’t yet,

I pray it will become a most awesome year

for YOU.

 

It’s a New Year.

It’s a time of promise, a time of hope,

hope of the things you’re wished to be

that haven’t yet come to be

yet still can be.

 

As I’ve mentioned before in years past,

the end of the year

and the beginning of the new year

can be a stressful time,

even a time for the blues

(especially for those who’ve lost loved ones);

hence, it’s always good if you can

keep a word of two of hope and cheer

in your back pocket, to share with those

who might be in need of them.

 

So, while I’m on that thought,

let me wish you a good Twelfth Night!

And I don’t mean the Shakespeare play

although it is a very good play,

and it did derive it’s name from tonight.

 

Twelfth Night is defined

by the Oxford English Dictionary as

"the evening of the fifth of January,

preceding Twelfth Day,

the eve of the Epiphany,

formerly

the last day of the Christmas festivities

and observed as a time of merrymaking."

 

Yes, the song, "Twelve Days of Christmas,"

refers to an actual 12-day period

from Dec. 25,

celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ,

to the Epiphany,

celebrated on Jan. 6 as “the day when the

manifestation of Christ's glory was realized.”

 

For those from a more Western civilization,

the visit of the Magi is celebrated;

for those from an Eastern civilization,

the baptism of Jesus is celebrated.

 

Different sects of Christianity celebrate

the 12 days of Christmas differently,

and certain ones,

such as the Eastern Orthodox Church,

consider the Epiphany to be

the most important day of the Christmas season.

 

Although most in the Eastern Orthodox Church

now adhere to the Western calendar

(the Gregorian Calendar),

those in the Greek Orthodox Church

still use a different religious calendar

(the Julian Calendar),

celebrating Christmas on Jan. 7,

and the Epiphany on Jan. 19.

 

And some Latin-American cultures

celebrate the Epiphany as Three Kings Day,

giving gifts on Jan. 6 instead of Christmas.

 

Other cultures will give one gift per day

from Christmas to the Epiphany.

(dude!  Sign me up for that *lol* =>)

 

This tradition has never really

caught on in America,

where the celebration of Christmas Eve

and Christmas Day is most common.

 

I say, that’s sad.

Instead of a bunch of commercialism

that ends on Dec. 26^th,

I want to start a tradition of

celebrating the whole 12 days of Christmas.

Yes, let’s make merry for 12 days

instead of just one!

 

If Christmas is a celebration of “Immanuel,”

“God with us,”

and “God is love” (1 John 4:8),

then that seems to me to be something

worth more than just a single day

of being joyous.

Plus, it helps start the New Year

on a good note.

 

I’m a big fan of loooooong celebrations,

hence, I’m embracing this one.

I’ve still got the lights up,

and they’re on right now.

 

Now I just need to go and ask my wife,

“Hey, where’s my other 11 gifts?”

*lol*

I think I’ll wait till next year on that one!

 

Anyway, I wish you a joyous Twelfth Night,

many blessings,

and a New Year of dreams and hopes fulfilled.

 

 

Have a great week! =)

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave