The Annual Christmas Quiz

Every Christmas season I publish this quiz because some of the questions and answers still, after all these years, bring a chuckle or two. If memory serves no one has ever clicked a like button on this quiz, but I like it so here it is again:

1. Handel a German-born baroque composer wrote the oratorio Messiah.
2. King David and Jesus were born in Bethlehem.
3. The wise men were three kings from the orient.
4. Ockham's Razor is a favorite stocking stuffer for Dad.
5. The little drummer boy was the last visitor to the manger.
6. According to legend the Gordian knot is used by elves to tie Christmas ribbons. 
7. January 6 the traditional date for the Feast of Epiphany celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. 
8. On December 25  pagan Romans celebrated the festival Natalis Invicti Solis (“Birth of the Unconquered Sun”). 
9. A bright star appeared above the manger.
10. Yin and Yang like Cheech and Chong are Chinese Christmas songs.
11. Hanukkah overlaps the Christmas season.
12. Immanuel means “God with us.”
13. Mary rode a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
14. A yarmulke is a gentle breed of camel often used in Christmas pageants.
15. Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because of a decree by Caesar Augustus.
16. According to Luke there were cows and sheep in the stable where Jesus was born.
17. The wise men were late for the birth of Jesus.
18. Planning places to visit during the Christmas season is called predestination.
19. Three gospels describe the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.
20. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth before marriage and during Jesus' Childhood.
21. The appearance of the angel of the Lord filled the shepherds with joy.
22. The Magi outwitted Herod.
23. Ramadan occurs during the Christmas season.
24. Santa Claus calls a carelessly attached bicycle tire a prayer wheel.
25. Yom Kipper is a smoked herring Jews eat during Hanukkah to atone for sins.

Here are the answers:

1. True: Handle spent most of his career in England although he was German-born. At the conclusion of the first performance of the Messiah the audience stood with King George II establishing a Christmas tradition. Cynics believe that the King stood because he wanted to stretch his legs, relieve his gout or go to the bathroom. Christians know he stood because the music reflects that “God is the master of us all.” 
2. True: 1 Samuel 17:21; Micah 5:2-5: Luke 2:10-12
3. False: The Bible fails to give the number of wise men. No evidence indicates they were kings.
4. False: The principle that explanations should be kept as simple as possible is known as Ockham’s razor after William of Ockham, a fourteenth century English philosopher.
5. False: The Bible makes no mention of a little drummer boy. The lyrics of the song tell the apocryphal story of a young boy who plays his drum for the newborn Jesus. The music and lyrics written in 1958 have become a holiday classic.
6. False:  A Phrygian king tied the Gordian knot. According to legend whoever loosed it would rule all Asia. Alexander the Great undid the Gordian knot by cutting it with his sword. 
7. True:  Epiphany commemorates the birth of Jesus. Later James Joyce coined the phrase “epiphany” for the sudden revelation of the essential nature of a situation. 
8. True:  The Roman Church established December 25 as Christmas Day in 336 AD. 
9. False: The star appeared above the house where Joseph's family was living (Matthew 2:9-11). 
10. False:  The Chinese contend that  yin and yang are two forces in the universe. Yin is the passive, negative force; and yang, the active, positive force. Cheech and Chong were two hippie comedians famous for their marijuana smoking antics in the 1960s. You would not want to find your daughter under the mistletoe with them.
11. True:  Hanukkah a festival in Judaism that occurs each December commemorates the Jewish victory over the Syrians in the second century BC. Celebrants light a candle in a holder called a menorah each night for a week in memory of candles that burned without oil for a week when the Temple was rededicated. 
12. True:  Matthew 1:23
13. False: The Bible contains nothing about Mary riding a donkey. She probably walked. 
14. False:  A yarmulke is a skullcap worn by Jewish men as a sign of reverence. 
15. True:  Luke 2:1-5
16. False: There is no mention of cows and sheep in the Biblical account.
17. True:  The wise men arrived a few years after Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1). Jesus may have been about two-years old when the Magi arrived (Matthew 2:7, 11, 16).
18. False:  Predestination is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. 
19. False:  Only Matthew and Luke mention the birth of Jesus. 
20. True:  Luke 1:26 & 2:39 
21. False:  The shepherds were terrified (Luke 2:9). 
22. True:  The Magi refused to tell Herod they had found Jesus as he requested (Matthew 2:13). 
23. False:  Muslims are obliged to fast in the daytime during the holy month of Ramadan that comes in the spring. 
24. False:  In Buddhism worshippers turn a prayer wheel, a cylinder with prayers written on it. 
25. False: Yom Kippur a Jewish day of fasting to atone for sins comes in autumn.

Think Then of Our God

November 1, 2018 I began learning to play the guitar. It was a Takamine-G Series steel string acoustic guitar abandoned from my dreams many years ago that I placed in he corner of my study as a decorative item.

That morning for no particular reason I picked it up, blew the dust off, twanged a few strings and turned it over in my hands, examining it. Why not?

I found this great guy on YouTube--Andy Crawley or Andy Guitar as he calls himself--who promised to teach the guitar for 10-minutes a day in 10-days. 

I love this guy. He is very practical in his step-by-step course and because he is on the Internet you can stop the action, go-back, review and repeat at your leisure. 

Not much blather from this guy. Just a see it, practice it and do it approach. Because you can go at your own pace his lessons are great for slow learners like me. And he has so many useful posts you can practice as much as time and commitment allow.

I got callouses so my fingers no longer hurt, learned the four cards--G, C, D and E that allow me to play almost all the popular songs ever written, struggled with a few strumming techniques and practiced the major scales. Using the Carnegie Hall technique--practice, practice practice--I progressed slowly, very slowly, up the steep and arduous learning curve. 

I began working on Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, a simple cord progression that became a wedding music fad soon after Robert Redford released the 1980 film Ordinary People.

It might be a simple cord progression for some but for a Texan who has used his gnarled hands exclusively for branding cattle it became a challenge worthy of a Norman Rockwell earnest-boy-tries- desperately-to-get-it-right painting.

Let's put it this way: you have to use the thumb and first three fingers of your right hand to pluck the strings and the fingers of your left hand to form the notes and cords. That's something they don't teach at the W-Bar-W Ranch. 

The music of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major is a different story. It soars and seems to me to be a widow into the eternal. The melody flows over the heartbeat baseline with an unbearable sweetness and yearning. I never tire of hearing it.

And I never tired of practicing it. Over and over I stumbled, halted, faltered, paused, started again. Left it. Came back. Started again. Faltered again.

And finally I got it. As I was finishing the first two progressions, I burst into tears. I couldn't believe that I was playing this haunting piece that had been written over 400 years ago.

Please don't get me wrong. My playing would rank below a 5-year old at first recital, but somehow in the briefest of encounters I was caught up in the whirlwind of creative people: the poets, musicians, artists and architects that enrich our lives; and with you and the world you and I create--the kindness and goodness that radiates from us and the bonds we create with each other. 

Think then of our God, the creator of the all the vastness and all the minuscule that surrounds us. The creator of the perfect child who came to us to bless and give meaning to our lives, think upon that God.

Does God who is all around us, who is above us and below us and in us and through us, does God burst into metaphorical tears, joyful tears when he knows those he creates create fruitful work that bless the lives of others?

Cultivating the Christmas Spirit

The appreciation and gratefulness engendered by the Christmas season releases our senses to experiences of joy.  This childlike openness to life’s joy is known as the Christmas spirit, receptivity to the divinity of others and ourselves. 

Soon after C.S. Lewis, the literary scholar and children’s author, married Joy Davidman, his bride’s health began to fail from a malady that was soon diagnosed as terminal cancer.  Miraculously, a remission occurred.  As his wife’s recovery progressed, Lewis received congratulations from a colleague.  His friend suggested that God had answered Lewis’ prayers for a miracle.  Lewis replied: 

I don’t pray for miracles.  I pray because I cannot help myself.  I pray because I am helpless.  I pray because the need flows out of me, waking and sleeping.  Prayer does not change God.  It changes me. 

In the same way, the holiday season does not change things.  It changes the way we look at things.  Instead of appearing when we ask for it, or when we expect it, or when we pray for it, the spirit of Christmas flows out of us, waking and sleeping.          

The holiday season helps us see the kindness and gentleness in others.  We are more generous in giving, more liberal in praise.  It gives us compassion for the downcast, comfort for the mournful, mercy for the merciless, and blessings for the peacemakers.  The Christmas spirit makes laughter contagious and smiles sincere.

May this holiday time of year bring joy that extends beyond the season. May we stop worrying and begin living. Let us replace complaining with appreciation    Trade intolerance for acceptance. Transform selfish ambition into humble service. 

Instead of hoarding worldly things that have no enduring value let us pursue joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Let us encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with everyone. May we find the divine that lies within us all.  

Contentment Habits

Intentional activity—mental and behavior changes to rise above our chromosomes and circumstances—can elevate our set point for joy. 

This is good news: those that cultivate certain habits can learn to live a joyful, contented life no matter what circumstances occur. 

After living through an any tragic event, survivors appreciate those values that make life worth living—love, friendship and an abiding appreciation for finding pleasure in the common hour.

            

Those that develop a plan for living a life of joy accept certain truths that argue against pop culture happiness:

• Material possessions may interfere with our getting that which is best for us. 
• Not everything that makes us feel better is good for us.
• Not everything that hurts is bad for us. 
• The idea that life must always be fair, easy and stress free engenders frustration, despair  
• The work of gathering and heaping interferes with a contented life.   
• Virtuous choices—choices that leave us with no regrets—allow us to put aside things we want that may interfere with obtaining things of lasting value.    
• Delaying gratification almost always provides worthwhile pleasures.

Are Lottery Winners Happier Than You or I?

Experimental psychologists investigating the possibility of happiness have uncovered the futility of pinning our hopes on any good fortune that comes our way. We tend to adjust our attitude when fortune shines down on us, quickly returning to our usual level of happiness. 

In our culture, there is a widely held belief that money solves problems. People think if they had more money, their troubles would be over. 

When a family receives unexpected money, they frequently learn that money can cause as many problems as it solves. 

A study of lottery winners showed that sudden wealth had no lasting effect on happiness. Months after their stroke of luck lottery winners were no happier than non-winners.           

• Bud Post won $16 million in the Pennsylvania lottery, but now lives on his Social Security check. His girlfriend successfully sued him for a share of his winnings. A brother tried to kill him for his money. Other siblings convinced him to contribute to losing business ventures. Bud spent time in jail for firing a gun at a bill collector. Within a year, he was $1 million in debt. (Advice to parents: If you want a wealthy son don’t name him Bud.) 
• Soon after winning $1 million in a lottery, Charles Riddle was divorced, faced several lawsuits and was indicted for selling cocaine. 
• Willie Hurt won $3.1 million. Within two years, he had spent his fortune on crack cocaine.  
• A Southeastern family won $4.2 million. They bought a huge house and lost the rest of the money helping family members pay off debts. 

Lottery winners affirm the belief regarding the distribution of wealth. According to folk legend, if all the money in the treasury was divided evenly amongst all US citizens within a year the previously wealthy would once again possess most of the money. 

The same situation seems to hold true for happiness. Psychological studies indicate that just as we seem to have a set point for wealth, we also have a set point for happiness. Through controlled experiments, psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD has explored ways to beat the genetic set point for happiness. 

According to Dr. Lyubomirsky if happiness resembled an apple pie, the flavor of that pie would depend on the following three factors:      

• 50% of the pie’s happiness depends on our genetic set point. Studies of twins and adoptees show that 50% of our happiness/unhappiness response can be explained by the way Mother Nature mixes the chromosomes we inherit from our parents. An upward swing in happiness eventually falls back to our happiness baseline. Likewise, a mind-messing downswing will  gradually return to our genetic set point for happiness. 
• 10% of the pie’s happiness comes from life circumstances. Our income, marriage, children, occupation, physical health and where we live contributes 10% to our overall chance to experience happiness. 
• 40% of the pie’s flavor develops from learned emotional and behavioral factors. How we act and how we respond to circumstances contributes 40% of our overall chance to experience happiness. We can learn to be happy whether in sunshine or rain, abundance or famine, threat or peace--even when we win the lottery.