Christmas 🎄

posts/2024/2024-12-21-posts.md → posts/2024/2024-12-22-posts.md

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ description: Today I learned more about Christmas
   - name: David Windham
     title: Something Else
     url: https://davidawindham.com
-    image_url: https://davidawindham.com/wp-content/themes/daw/img/opengraph_image.jpg -->
-tags: [computers, business]
-image: https://davidawindham.com/wp-content/themes/daw/img/opengraph_image.jpg
+    image_url: https://davidawindham.com/til/img/st-nicholas.jpg -->
+tags: [note, personal]
+image: https://davidawindham.com/til/img/st-nicholas.jpg
 hide_table_of_contents: true
 ---
 
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ hide_table_of_contents: true
 
 Let’s go ahead and get personal on this one, which is always fun. I often find myself building upon things I’ve previously discussed or written. I feel like anything worth sharing is personal in some way and I try to avoid publishing anything that I wouldn’t say in person. It’s nice that the holidays always bring about a certain amount of reflection. And in that tradition, let me reflect on what Christmas means to me. 
 
+![St. Nicholas](/img/st-nicholas.jpg)
+<div style={{display: 'flex', justifyContent:'center', alignItems:'center', fontSize:'small', marginBottom:'20px'}}>Started working on this 👆🏼 portrait of Saint Nicholas and I'll have to finish over the holidays. The hand gesture is ->[important](https://sanmiguelicons.com/painting-hands-in-iconography/)</div>
+
 Let’s get right to the heart of the matter. I’m a Christian who, admittedly and willfully eschews some of the literal interpretations of the Old Testament including the core tenets from God in Exodus[^1]. I‘ve found myself unable to reconcile some of them and generally like to point out the literal fallacies alongside not trimming your beard or wearing multiple fabrics.  I could dig deep into theological debate, but I wouldn’t find myself on the same side of the podium as the presuppositional apologetics or the modern, while mostly unaware, acolytes thereof who largely compose the new evangelicals. I’ll just say that I admittedly find myself moved by the spirit not just as intellectual exercise and there I find faith. I recently read a submitted essay in an email from my church about Advent which hit the spot.
 
 > Advent, to me, is a season of hopeful anticipation and reflection. It’s a time when I take a step back from the busy pace of life to focus on inner preparation—welcoming peace, love, and joy into my heart. Each candle on the Advent wreath symbolizes something I strive to embody more deeply, from hope and joy to love and peace. Lighting each one is a gentle reminder to let go of distractions and center myself, embracing this season with gratitude and renewed faith.
@@ -42,11 +45,11 @@ The legal case for Santa Clause in _Miracle on 34th Street_ was altered between
 
 I think twelve days of celebration should happen several more times during the year[^14]. The magic is in the seasons and stories themselves. Magic is from magi, the fellas bearing gifts on the twelfth night and not a gateway drug to demonic possession[^15]. I don’t need to celebrate the circumcision instead of the new year[^16]. And despite the legacy of the council of Nicaea[^17], what we’re also celebrating throughout the holiday is life itself. Epiphany[^18] is supernatural and it’s the perfect time to reflect and remember.  And I **believe** that it should be a joyous occasion for everyone. 
 
-I have a couple favorite Christmas songs. The first isn’t exactly obvious as a Christmas tune. About 14 years ago I posted a version of this song[^19] on social media during the holidays, but I don’t think anyone picked up on it. Bob Dylan wrote and recorded _Ring Them Bells_[^20] in New Orleans in 1989[^21]. It’s largely based on the Gospel of Matthew which begins with the birth of Christ and so for me, it’s very much a Christmas tune.  Dylan wrote that he struggled with the last line regarding the ambiguity of right and wrong. He said “I don’t adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I’ve learned more from the songs than I’ve learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe in the songs”.  Along the lines of the religious iconography, It’s an ageless call bringing folks together to uplift the world along the lines of every spiritual hymn ever written for Christmas.
+I have a couple favorite Christmas songs. The first isn’t exactly obvious as a Christmas tune. About 14 years ago I posted a version of this song[^19] on social media during the holidays, but I don’t think anyone picked up on it. Bob Dylan wrote and recorded _Ring Them Bells_[^20] in New Orleans in 1989[^21]. It’s largely based on the Gospel of Matthew which begins with the birth of Christ and so for me, it’s very much a Christmas tune. Dylan wrote that he struggled with the last line regarding the ambiguity of right and wrong. He said “I don’t adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I’ve learned more from the songs than I’ve learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe in the songs”. Along the lines of the religious iconography, It’s an ageless call bringing folks together to uplift the world along the lines of every spiritual hymn ever written for Christmas.
 
 
 
-My other favorite is Lou Rawls singing _Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas_. Although some may go by some more croony’er versions by Bing or Frank, I think Lou does it classier and the big band sound has more punch. It’s so declarative — not an “I hope” or ‘I’m dreaming’ and the second line insist that our hearts are good. 
+My other favorite is Lou Rawls singing _Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas_[^22]. Although some may go by some more croony’er versions by Bing or Frank, I think Lou does it classier and the big band sound has more punch. It’s so declarative — not an “I hope” or ‘I’m dreaming’ and the second line insist that our hearts are good. 
 
 >Have yourself a merry little Christmas  
 
@@ -79,4 +82,5 @@ David
 [^18]: Epiphany - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(feeling)
 [^19]: _Ring Them Bells_ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvXgndQRzC0
 [^20]: _Ring Them Bells_ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Them_Bells_(song)
-[^21]: _Ring Them Bells_ - Bob Dylan Live at The Supper Club, New York Nov 1993 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAR0IykhinQ
+[^21]: _Ring Them Bells_ - Bob Dylan Live at The Supper Club, New York Nov 1993 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAR0IykhinQ
+[^22]: _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_ - Lou Rawls - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEoQO2_ZZ6I

src/pages/index.md

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ description: A place to keep notes and documentation
 # Today I Learned
 
 - **2024**
+  - 24/12/22 - [Merry Christmas](/posts/merry-christmas)
   - 24/12/17 - [Quantum Computing](/posts/quantum-computing)
   - 24/12/09 - [Wikipedia Link](/posts/wikipedia-link)
   - 24/12/01 - [Working on an iPad](/posts/working-ipad)