Some Christmas History

Did you ever wonder just what this CHRISTmas carol meant? I recieved this interesting explanation from my Florida pastors' wife, Sis. Wanda Baker.



Twelve Days Of Christmas


What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

From 1558 through the next couple hundred years, the Church of England was the 'official' religious centre and Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a 'catechism song' for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

Three French hens stood for Faith, Hope and Love.

The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the
Old Testament.

The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and
Mercy.

The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy,
Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self
Control.

The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the
Apostles' Creed.

Some history on a wonderful CHRISTmas Carol!

About Alternate lifestyles bu Dolores Westcott

Dolores Westcott comments on schoolchildren being taught an alternate lifestyle:

I advocate parents taking their children out of public school and then the infamous, scandalous public school system would die a much-needed death. I took my own younger ones out of public school back in the 60's when I could plainly see the contentious system evolving as reflected in my middle son's agony of attending school each day on the stage of the auditorium in his school (lack of needed room) with a teacher who needed to re-start her own education at the kindergarten level. My present husband, who had been a vocational arts teacher in a very small town here in Oklahoma when we married in 1995, and I subbed for a few years after he retired from the public school system back in 1996, and I was appalled at the condition of the school system. The students (if we can call them that) were undisciplined, dressing wildly, behaving wildly, cursing at the teachers, and the teachers were not only helpless, but pitiful in their inability to control the situation. The whole system is broken, busted, and we would be smart to realize it. When a situation is untenable, my philosophy is to walk around it, over it, under it, or whatever is needed to avoid immersing myself and my loved ones in it.

Of course, I believe this is another symptom of the increase in horrors ushering in the end times, but I also believe we should do as Jesus admonished us to do and that is to occupy till He comes. Yes, we can fight back by petitioning, marching, raising our voices, all to no avail, because this is a system that has gone totally corrupt and what good could it possibly do to clean up one small area of the sewer while at the same time being overflowed with yet more sewage rushing at you? I don't think Jesus meant for us to beat our heads against a brick wall and all we end up with is a bloody head! No, the answer is to abandon the entire system which I did. It wasn't easy to pay the fee at the church school but I maintain we can do very hard things if we but choose. Today, the home schooling technique seems to reap great rewards and the parent then has some control over what his/her child is exposed to. Of course, I also realize that there are those standing over there in the stands laughing at me, but that is okay. There are those who will submit themselves to the Lord and those who won't!!!!!!!

I guess it is time to come down off my platform, but that is my philosophy about all this. I think this applies to TV shows, the internet, books, movies, public places that are objectionable, people that are objectionable, on and on and on. We need to come out and be separate from it, them, or whatever. There needs to be a clear distinction made between right and wrong and we need to stop going into the barrooms and telling the patrons that they need to limit their drinks to some arbitrary number which some wretched bureaucrat has behind the scenes decided is a safe amount to drink. If we can't do away with the barrooms, we at least need to stay out of them and don't lend them credibility or validity.

Dolores Westcott

THIS IS WHAT LOVE IS ALL ABOUT!

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an
elderly gentleman in his
80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his
thumb.
He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment
at 9:00 am.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat,
knowing it would be over an hour before someone
would to able to see him.

I saw him looking at his watch and decided,
since I was not busy with
another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to
one of the doctors, got
the needed supplies to remove his sutures and
redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he
had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry.
The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go
to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

I inquired as to her health. He told me that
she had been there for a
while and that she was a victm of Alzheimer's
Disease.

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset
if he was a bit late. He
replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she
had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him, "And you still
go every morning, even
though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She
doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had
goose bumps on my arm, and
thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical, nor romantic.
True love is an acceptance of all that is, has
been, will be, and will not be.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the
best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.


In the happy moments, praise God.
In the difficult moments, seek God.
In the quiet moments, worship God.
In the painful moments, trust God.
In every moment, Thank God.

While the author is unknown, it should be written down and acted upon by us all.