Born in a Manger?

Okay, I am just sick and tired of hearing in the context of Christmas that Jesus was born in a manger.

How can one be born in a manger? It’s a feeding trough for the animals to eat from. For Jesus to be born in a manger, Mary would have had to be in the manger while He was being born. Yeah, like that was happening.

And the Scripture account doesn’t even say He was born in a manger. It says He was laid in a manger. Big, big, big, big difference.

Y’know, it doesn’t even say He was born in a stable, though that at least makes sense! All we have is that He was laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.

And there, my friends, is my rant about Christmas.

The Obligatory Christmas Music Post

Hey, I did this last year, so why not?

I have been enjoying learning how to play the Irish reel Christmas Eve on the dulcimer. Even more so now that I tuned it. I’ve also fiddled around with all my previous favorites and discovered that I haven’t lost them entirely. My own arrangement of Go Tell It on the Mountain is particularly fun.

And of course, I’m still playing guitar every week in church.

Christmas Music

I’ve been playing the dulcimer a lot lately, which isn’t too surprising for this time of year. What surprises me is that I have already increased my repertoire from the two Christmas songs I knew last year to four this year. And I’m working on a few others as well.

Right now, I can play these Christmas songs tolerably well:

• Joy to the World
• Angels We Have Heard on High
• Deck the Halls
• Go Tell It on the Mountain

I’m working on these:

• I Saw Three Ships
• Good Christian Men Rejoice
• He Is Born

Who knows what else I’ll try before the season is over! Do you know of anything else that I absolutely must learn to play?