tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508293003737956258.post1425420368475716224..comments2024-03-21T04:24:14.674-05:00Comments on PostConsumer Reports: Sufjan's "Silver and Gold": What's it all mean?PostConsumer Reportshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04382150335755928153noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508293003737956258.post-8643351866169876202014-11-05T15:01:56.914-06:002014-11-05T15:01:56.914-06:00Great artictle! Thanks! Found it while searching f...Great artictle! Thanks! Found it while searching for Psalm 115 + Sufjan's 2nd Christmas album.<br /><br />You might also like to look Psalm 115 up: "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands." http://biblehub.com/psalms/115-4.htm (KJV)<br /><br />And thanks for Isaiah 2:20!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508293003737956258.post-15173732404643869772012-10-27T23:35:09.360-05:002012-10-27T23:35:09.360-05:00TwiceBorn (I don't think I know your real name...TwiceBorn (I don't think I know your real name),<br />I am so sorry I never responded to you comment. I actually had written a very long response to you and then somehow I never actually posted it and the comment window got closed. Anyway, I'll try to re-create what I said:<br /><br />1. As far as your thoughts about how Christmas is not anymore holy than any other day I see things a bit differently and indeed believe they are in fact different. I believe this is a paradox, as you are completely right in thinking that since God created the world and the world has been redeemed by the work of Christ then every day is holy. At the same time however we still treat some days as holier than others. Sundays are the greatest example of this, when the Church comes together to worship the Lord, hear and respond to God's word, and be filled up with the Holy Spirit. The paradox is this: in order to fully realize how everyday is holy we have to make some days more holy than others--special days set aside to reflect, rest, celebrate, etc. Some secular examples of this are birthday parties where everyone should be thankful to be alive everyday and yet we know it is good to take time to celebrate someone's life. Also, when my wife and I set aside time to go on a date or to go away and spend a weekend with each other, that time becomes more special and we become more emotionally close. In those times we are better able to focus on ourselves as a husband and wife, even though we love each other on all the other days. I guess the special time away with each other makes our love more intense and meaningful and this in turn gives us strength to love each other on the more mundane days when we have to go through the daily grind. Another thing I would also say is that Biblically speaking I believe we see God setting up this kind of rhythm to life in the creation of the world, where he had six days of work and then a day of rest. Our lives naturally fall into this kind of rhythm. I believe this is what holidays are all about. So....<br /><br />2. As far as how the Church should celebrate Christmas, I don't believe there are necessarily any hard and fast rules EXCEPT that they celebrate it together, as a congregation or as a community of believers. I would hope that there would be lots of singing, praying, and rejoicing, and that the birth narratives of Christ are read aloud. To me it's not as simple as saying that everyone should be required to celebrate a church appointed holy-day, just like it doesn't make much sense to say that someone should be required to throw a birthday party every year. Instead people in the Church should just want to celebrate a holy-day because they are filled with joy and want to express that joy with other Christ followers and the way that we have expressed our joy throughout Church history is to gather together and worship as a people. <br /><br />There have been a couple of books that have really shaped my understanding of holidays and the Church calendar. They're definitely worth a read:<br />"Calendar: Christ's Time For The Church" by Laurence Hull Stookey<br />"Ancient-Future Time" by Robert Webber<br /><br />I appreciate the conversation and any additional thoughts you may have. Again forgive the delay. I don't feel like I was quite as eloquent as the first time, but I tried.<br />PostConsumer Reportshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04382150335755928153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508293003737956258.post-86285705040799446762012-10-14T02:28:54.244-05:002012-10-14T02:28:54.244-05:00I am a follower of Christ. All I meant by that was...I am a follower of Christ. All I meant by that was that Christmas is not a divinely ordained holiday that requires us to feel a certain way or celebrate a certain way. I you don't like all of the problems with Christmas (the paganism, the greed, the materialism, etc.) then you are not required to celebrate it. If you want to use the holidays as an excuse to enjoy time with you family, then that's great. If you want to use the holidays as a time to reflect on Jesus' birth, that's awesome. Obviously there are wrong ways to celebrate Christmas. For example, we should not join in with the materialism.<br /><br />I personally think it is wrong to expect people to either celebrate or not celebrate Christ's birth on Christmas. I don't see how Christmas is any more holy than any other day. But that doesn't stop me from deeply reflecting on Christ's birth, enjoying time with family, and listening to songs about Santa coming to town.<br /><br />I am very anti-postmodern by the way. I also think Christmas is a beautiful time of year that brings me a lot of joy, but many people are very conflicted in their feelings about Christmas. I would be very interested in hearing why you think we are required to celebrate Christmas a certain way or at all. I could be misguided in my thinking.TwiceBornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15739367071602960920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508293003737956258.post-55490926404986646862012-10-13T22:51:37.704-05:002012-10-13T22:51:37.704-05:00I'm not sure if he has written a song about Sa...I'm not sure if he has written a song about Santa as an axe murderer but he did post a .gif on his website that contains screen shots from a movie where Santa was going around killing everyone. A little snippet from "Ah Holy Jesus" was posted on his website too. Just check out www.sufjan.com and keep going back to older posts until you find it. A few weeks ago he was posting things on there once or twice a day, so there's a lot of stuff on there. I do know that the full version of "Ah Holy Jesus" will be released on the new Christmas EP's. <br /><br />I don't agree with you that we can just make Christmas whatever we want, that is, if we are Christians. Are you a Christian? If not, I won't try to convince you that it should primarily be a celebration/reflection on Christ's birth. I understand we live in a very secular age (some people call it post-Christendom), so yeah, I get the whole "make Christmas what you want thing." However, I think Christians (that is, Christ-followers or members of the Body of Christ) are called to something different when it comes to how we celebrate our holy-days.<br />PostConsumer Reportshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04382150335755928153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508293003737956258.post-51952108658200932002012-10-13T02:38:39.903-05:002012-10-13T02:38:39.903-05:00You are amazing my man. This was a wonderful disco...You are amazing my man. This was a wonderful discovery. I think you could be right.<br /><br />Santa Sufjan is the messiah of Christmas satire and of christmas music in general. I can't stop listening to Christmas Unicorn. The way he honestly portrays Christmas for what it is (a confusing broken holiday invented and exploited by mere man) makes it a much more guilt free holiday. You can stop worrying about what Christmas is supposed to be and do whatever you want with it, whether that means celebrating family, Christ's birth, or nothing at all.<br /><br />Where did you find "Santa as an axe-murderer" and the "Ah Holy Jesus" songs? I thought I had every Sufjan Christmas song available, but I can't find them anywhere.TwiceBornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15739367071602960920noreply@blogger.com