In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that the whole world should be enrolled.
This was the first enrollment,
when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth
to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there,
the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,
praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
– Luke 2:1-14
Blogs For Victory 
My prayer for the New Year is that, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, January 20th, 2017 will usher in “a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
We dodged a bullet on November 8th, and it’s incumbent on all of us to contribute in whatever way we can to helping our new president change things for the better.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Merry Christmas, Spook! We made it through another year…you’re further along than I am, but I think we’re both well on that downward slide…hope we’re all around for a long while.
My thought has always been that age is only a number, but some recent heart-related problems have given me a different perspective. I’m having an echocardiogram on Tuesday which should show whether or not what I’m experiencing is serious. I guess if I don’t show up one day you’ll know it was serious. Had Hillary been elected I wouldn’t have cared all that much, but now there’s at least a modicum of hope that things will improve, and I’d like to be around to see how it turns out. Not really in my hands, however.
I think I speak for all who come here that we hope for a lot more Spook in the years to come. Best of luck with that; I’ll include you in the Rosary.
Spook, if you don’t show up some day I’ll come looking for you.
I know where you live………..
What I’m experiencing are called PVC’s (premature ventricular contractions — Google it). They’re generally not serious in someone with a normal heart. I have no history of heart problems, nor is there a history in my family going back two generations, so I’m optimistic. It’s the waiting that’s driving me nuts. The earliest I can get in to see a cardiologist is January 24th unless the echo shows a serious problem. Then they’ll move me up the priority list.
Regardless of whether or not it turns out to be serious, it’s not exactly what I wanted for Christmas. And Amazona, I’d hate this to be the reason for you coming to visit.
No, I’m planning to head your way anyway, just prefer to not hit the Midwest in the winter if I can help it. We went to Dayton one January to go to the Wright-Patterson Air Museum, and while that was a wonderful experience, we did rethink the whole Midwest/Winter thing.
Ten years ago this Christmas, my husband got sick, and I lost him a couple of days later. Six years ago my cousin, a year younger than I, experienced an aortic dissection on Christmas and spent the entire day in open heart surgery. It’s almost as if Fate looks at the calendar and thinks “The year is almost over and I still have to slap so-and-so upside the head with something big, so I’d better get on the stick”. Hopefully in your case Fate is just messin’ with you. My cousin and I had a long talk about this yesterday—we are not grinches about Christmas, or drama queens, but we are a little more subdued about it than we used to be.