God Rest Ye Merry, Hippogriffs

Quiet, steady rainfall on the roof; flames curling around oak logs in the fireplace; meandering conversation.

Freshly baked chocolate-chip-cookies (with milk); laughter and random movie quotes; four candles lighting the room for singing; "Of the Father's Love Begotten" followed immediately by "Jingle Bells."

Blue wrapping paper with friendly penguins; struggles with wrapping round packages; electric organs and small but valiant choirs; talking to trees.

Anxious cry of a lost grey kitten; guilt at disappointing people; missed phone calls and unmailed letters.

Small things. Yet it's among these small things that we encounter beauty, among them that we see grace. He came down from heaven not to make the small things unimportant, but to live as we live, in the midst of the mundane and the quotidian. To show us the importance of a glass of water, or half a cloak; to show us that the sacred is not separate from, not opposed to, the ordinary.

I wish for you all God's merry rest, today and all days. May we learn to see the sacred in the ordinary, and to rejoice in all that He has done and all that He will yet do, together with kittens and trees, mountains and hippogriffs, the company of the saints and the hosts of heaven.

"Tidings of comfort and joy . . . ."

Cecilia the Cow

I had two finals last week. This was one of them.

Listening reports . . . .

are not fun. Especially when you suddenly realize that they're due tomorrow (well, it was tomorrow when I realized it--now it's today), instead of a week from tomorrow (today) like you thought.






Birthdays, on the other hand, are lots of fun. Especially when you go see *The Nutcracker* and realize that this seemingly-innocuous children's tale is full of late-19th-century imperialism.


Toy soldiers killing mice? Victory of European soldiers over indigeous population.

Drosselmeier? The Europeans' view of God. Oh, come on, it's obvious--he gives Clara the eponymous Nutcracker, the noble warrior who defeats the "evil" indigenous population!

The second act--do I really need to explain the message sent by people from almost every non-European society performing stereotypical cultural dances before enthroned European children?

And Clara, of course, represents Queen Victoria (among other things).


And speaking of fun things, daggers are also fun.

Especially when you have black leather coats to go with them.




Yeah, I do a bit of slaying in my spare time.

And on that happy note, I shall save my more-or-less-completed listening report to my flash drive, all ready to be printed at school later today, and fall into bed.