Have I been doing too much programming lately? (Or maybe I'm
just a nerd at heart...?)
I ask because I strongly suspect I was the only person in the
congregation today at Church who had the following Tcl-snippet immediately
spring to mind when the choir began to sing a particular hymn:
interp alias {} christmas-messagify {} string map -nocase {l {}}
Can you guess the hymn? (Hint: It's a traditional English carol;
ca. 16th-century per this source.)
— Michael A. Cleverly
Sunday, December 21,
2008
at 15:22
61 comments
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Merry Christmas!
I love Christmas time; I find myself wanting to shout
Hallelujah the whole season long.
Here are excerpts of three Christmas messages for our collective
reflection. Enjoy!
... When we have the spirit of Christmas, we remember Him whose birth we
commemorate at this season of the year. We contemplate that first
Christmas day, foretold by the prophets of old. You, with me, recall the
words from Isaiah: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel"4—meaning "God with us."
On the American continent, the prophets said: "The time cometh, and
is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent ... shall dwell
in a tabernacle of clay. ... He shall suffer temptations, and pain. ...
And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of
God."5
Then came that night of nights when the shepherds were abiding in
the fields and the angel of the Lord appeared to them, announcing the
birth of the Savior. Later, Wise Men journeyed from the East to Jerusalem,
"Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his
star in the east, and are come to worship him."
"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with
Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had
opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and
frankincense, and myrrh."6
Times change; years speed by; but Christmas continues sacred. In this
marvelous dispensation of the fulness of times, our opportunities to
give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable.
There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts
to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved. ...
... On this solemn day, the Angel's proclamation rings out once again,
inviting us, the men and women of the third millennium, to welcome the
Savior. May the people of today's world not hesitate to let him enter
their homes, their cities, their nations, everywhere on earth!
In the millennium just past, and especially in the last centuries,
immense progress was made in the areas of technology and science. Today
we can dispose of vast material resources. But the men and women in our
technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and
technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness
of heart. That is why it is so important for us to open our minds and hearts
to the Birth of Christ, this event of salvation which can give new hope
to the life of each human being.
Wake up, O man! For your sake God became man" (St. Augustine, "Sermo,"
185). Wake up, O men and women of the third millennium! At Christmas, the
Almighty becomes a child and asks for our help and protection. His way of
showing that he is God challenges our way of being human. By knocking at
our door, he challenges us and our freedom; he calls us to examine how
we understand and live our lives.
The modern age is often seen as an awakening of reason from its slumbers,
humanity's enlightenment after an age of darkness. Yet without the light
of Christ, the light of reason is not sufficient to enlighten humanity and
the world. For this reason, the words of the Christmas Gospel: "the true
Light that enlightens every man was coming into this world" (John 1:9)
resound now more than ever as a proclamation of salvation.
"It is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of humanity truly becomes clear" ("Gaudium et Spes," No. 22). The Church does not tire of repeating this message of hope reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which concluded 40 years ago.
Men and women of today, humanity come of age yet often still so frail
in mind and will, let the Child of Bethlehem take you by the hand! Do not
fear; put your trust in him! The life-giving power of his light is an
incentive for building a new world order based on just ethical and
economic relationships. May his love guide every people on earth and
strengthen their common consciousness of being a "family" called to
foster relationships of trust and mutual support. ...
Without Christ there would be no Christmas, and without Christ there can
be no fulness of joy.
... And now, my beloved brothers and sisters, what must we do this Christmas
season—and always? Why, we must do the same as the Wise Men of old.
They sought out the Christ and found Him. And so must we. Those who are
wise still seek Him today.
"I would commend you," urged Moroni, "to seek this Jesus of whom the
prophets and apostles have written."
(Ether 12:41.) And
God has provided the means—the holy scriptures, particularly the
Book of Mormon—that all who seek may know that Jesus is the Christ.
... What a gift it would be to receive at Christmastime a greater knowledge of the Lord. What a gift it would be to share that knowledge with others. ...
— Michael A. Cleverly
Thursday, December 25,
2008
at 18:05
90 comments
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Obviously not a lot of people comment here, but for the handful of you that
may have tried recently I want to apologize for your inability to comment.
Comments were broken since sometime in late-October or early-November.
(I didn't realize it until I got two separate emails on Monday after posting
about programatic Christmas hymns). I
thought I'd permanently fixed the problem Monday afternoon, but it didn't
quite stay fixed like I intended. ;-)
I've since found & squashed what I think was the final bug in the
commenting code. (All a fall out from my trying to out smart the automated
comment spammers a while back...)
— Michael A. Cleverly
Friday, December 26,
2008
at 00:42
80 comments
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