I can’t remember if I mentioned this before (and am too lazy to look), but I’m taking an online class called “Cosmic Nativity.” I was tipped to it by my Priest, and while not in the budget am very much enjoying it.
It’s just a fun class, and not from the Seminary where I will be studying online next year. It looks at this time of year, the Nativity, and more through the lens of C.S. Lewis’s A Christmas Sermon For Pagans and Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters, with some Chesterton and others thrown in. Nevermind that it is a delight to read, or reread-for-the-first-time (stupid lightning), excellent writings by some of my favorite authors, it also helps put a different focus and perspective on the season.
Among some of the fun discussions are those on the date for Christmas and how the early Church made the choice it did. Hate to bust any bubbles, but it had nothing to do with pagan traditions far north that the Disciples and Apostolic Fathers may never have heard of. A lot of it boils down to debates on when Jesus was conceived within Mary, with the date of birth being either December 25 or January 7 depending on which day (and calendar) you choose.
If you are traditional Orthodox, you pretty well have the spread covered. Most of the world celebrates December 25, while if you follow the old calendar it puts the date on January 7 according to the current calendar. I see it as an opportunity to spend the 25th on some of the secular things and family/friends, while the 7th is the day we celebrate the spiritual. I’m sure there are those who will quibble with that, but it works for myself and a number of others.
I disliked (a lot) having to add Zoom to my computer, but it has been worth it. I’ve got some backgrounds from my Church in place, along with one from Babylon 5 as one of the other participants uses the Bridge of TNG Star Trek as his background (challenge accepted!).
Hope to share more from the course here soon. For all that it is lighthearted in some respects, there is a LOT of good food for thought in the mix. For all that Lewis’s Sermon is short, it is dense with information and thought. Seems to be true for all the things we are reading and discussing. More on this soon I hope.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, and to start a truly new life, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. If you want to know some of what it is going for, read here. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.