The Blaisdell Blog

The selection of January 1 as the first day of each New Year is a purely human contrivance.   It is not related to any natural marker.   The collective “we” of the human population simply fixed January 1 as the date.   Five decades before the birth of Christ, the Julian calendar (created by and for Julius Caesar) set January 1 as the start of a new year.   The first day of January (named for the Roman god Janus) was the date that Rome’s two consuls assumed their yearlong offices.   These were the two most important elected officials in the Republic; the term of their reign was significant.          But for all of the depth, breadth and political sway of the Roman Empire, the Julian calendar was not universally adopted.   During the Medieval Period, the Catholic Church viewed the January 1 celebration as a pagan festival and eventually set the New Year on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25 th .          It was not until 1570, when Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian with th

Twenty-five years ago, on December 23, 1992, I was married to Tom Butler.   It was a very cold, snowy, St. Louis winter day but we were wrapped in the warmth of family, friends and the beauty of Christmas.   It was a good day. Christmas is a happy time for me.   I love the theological message at the same time I enjoy the secularization of the holiday.   For those who find themselves too busy, too stressed, too involved in the trappings of Christmas, I offer the words of Isaiah 9: 2-7:   For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. These words remind us of the story, message and reason for Christmas.               It is hard for me to read those words without falling into the lilt of the music of Handel’s Messiah with which so many of us are familiar.   For many of us that music represents Christmas.   We are worldly people, so we experience Christm

December 13 th is the Feast Day of Santa Lucia.   She is the only saint that is shared by both Italian Catholics and Protestant Scandinavians.   This double duty appears to have occurred when early Christian Monks traveled to the land of the Vikings to convert them.   It happened that the Norse were already celebrating the winter solstice (the longest—and darkest—day of the year) on Lucia’s feast day.   In the old Julian calendar, the solstice occurred on December 13 th , not the 21 st that now marks the solstice in the current Gregorian calendar.             There is nothing unusual about the early missionaries usurping pagan festivities and traditions for Christian purposes.   The easiest way to sway other people to your side is to respect the beliefs that have guided their culture.   [Is anyone in politics listening????]   So, Christians now use both Christmas trees and Easter eggs, both of which are pagan in origin and now represent sacred beliefs.   Likewise, Santa Lucia

December 6th is the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, a Turkish Monk who then morphed into "Santa Claus."  We are well in to Advent and it is officially the season of Christmas.  Somehow, this has changed from a happy childhood memory to yet one more political morass.  Let me try to clean up this mess.             Merry Christmas!   There, I’ve said it.   If you absolutely have to say, “Happy Holidays,” or, “Seasons Greetings” feel free, but don’t hesitate to look me in the eye and jump in with a, “Merry Christmas.”   It is both joyful and triumphant. But I don’t want to stop there.   Let me add a few other greetings.    For all of my Jewish friends: Gut Yontiff and Happy Hanukka.   For those of you who are part of the West African diaspora, “Habari Gani?” which is Swahili for, “What’s the News?” This is the traditional greeting for each day of Kwanzaa.   I offer a Joyess Kwanzaa to all of you.   And I applaud your celebration of the seven corps principles.   I’m not