Merry Christmas everybody! Enjoying the old Hymnal this morning and the Christmas song that wins the prize this year is brought to us by Henry Longfellow. Years ago, Ben performed this song for special music at church, much like this Pedro the Lion rendition. He’s always been drawn to darker songs, though it often takes me longer to catch up on the lyrics. 😛
Thanks for this one, Henry.
I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY – 1865
I heard the bells on Christmas day, Their old familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the tones repeat of peace on earth, good will to men.”
I thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along th’ unbroken song Of peace on earth, good will to men.
(These next three stanzas were Henry’s original, but the hymnal version of the song omitted them. They shed light onto life during the Civil war and for Henry the loss of his son)
Till ringing, singing on its way, The world revolved from night to day, A voice, a chime, A chant sublime Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South, And with the sound The carols drowned Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent The hearth-stones of a continent, And made forlorn The households born Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head: “There is no peace on earth,” I said, “For hate is strong, and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:“God is not dead, nor does He sleep, For Christ is here; His Spirit near* Brings peace on earth, good will to men.”
*Then these last three stanzas were not from Henry or my 1965 Hymnal, but from an online lyric search they came up. I kinda like them.
When men repent and turn from sin The Prince of Peace then enters in, And grace imparts within their hearts His peace on earth, good will to men.
O souls amid earth’s busy strife, The Word of God is light and life; Oh, hear His voice, make Him your choice, Hail peace on earth, good will to men.
Then happy, singing on your way, Your world will change from night to day; Your heart will feel the message real, Of peace on earth, good will to men.
*the wrong shall fail the right prevail, as the original words
Let’s open with a verse that often gets dismissed, discussed, debated, and sometimes even defended. Lately I’m intrigued by what the Bible says to men and women individually because it helps us understand the differences between us. This one is to wives specifically:
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.”
1 Peter 3
There are many interpretations and understandings of just this one verse, let alone the context. It raises many questions. Is it an exhaustive list? Does it apply today? Why no restrictions on men? Is silver jewelry ok? What does “elaborate” mean in terms of hair? Does this include makeup?
I have opinions on all of these, and I’m sure you do too. But what gets my goat recently is the reason that this is addressed in the Bible in the first place, nearly 2,000 years ago. Women have been augmenting their natural beauty for all of recorded history. Today’s average US woman will spend over a quarter million dollars on beauty products in her lifetime.
Why? Why do women wear makeup at all?
Makeup is a kind of mask. It’s essentially faking youth, beauty, health, and sexuality to appear more attractive. It works, too. For instance, blush works because it imitates how a woman looks in a state of sexual arousal. To men she looks more sexually available, and to women she looks more promiscuous.
A woman’s desire to appear beautiful is so strong that she will spend a lot of money to visually distort reality. But it goes beyond this. Beauty is a woman’s currency. Appearing attractive gives her influence and the ability to manipulate others. It’s about power.
Women rate other women as more dominant when they wear cosmetics. In other words, your place in the female pecking order goes up. Women dress up for each other. Men view women with makeup as having more social standing. In both cases, women over the ages have learned that beauty is power and they crave more and more, just like many men.
This is why some women have such a hard time with aging. They become less powerful and influential every year. Some become accustomed to the power their youth and beauty brings, and it’s hard to have that slowly taken away. Many women let perpetual jealousy consume them – coveting the beauty/power of other women.
I’m not going to offer a ton of solutions here, because we all know women aren’t suddenly going to even the playing field, dump their makeup, and dress modestly all of a sudden. But I will share a bit more of the section I posted earlier:
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.”
1 Peter 3
Now you can see how powerful this verse is. For women, especially those lower on the beauty totem pole, this is an attractive option. You can “opt out” of the game – the only winning move is not to play. This kind of beauty does not fade and can even grow with age. It does not require daily application of costly cosmetics. And it is beautiful to God, that’s pretty great.
So what about men?
Are we caught up in this same conquest for power? Why isn’t that verse directed to us?
Men are mostly immune to the allure of cosmetics and jewelry because that’s not our game. There is a similar dominance hierarchy thing going on, based not on beauty but on competence, money, and athletics. Women are prized for their beauty, but they are attracted to mastery, money, and strength.
“I don’t even have any good skills. You know like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills. Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills!”
Napoleon Dynamite
How does this relate to makeup? We already know that makeup fakes a higher level of beauty in order to increase social standing. For men, therefore, analogous things would be:
Faking mastery or competence
Faking assets or standard of living
Faking physical strength or athletics
Actually having these things is one thing. But faking having more is inherently dishonest, just like makeup. It’s telling the world that you have more in order to obtain more power and influence.
Ironically, some women who wear makeup would also condemn a man for faking his income – bragging about assets or pulling up in an expensive rented car.
Here’s a verse (again, we’re talking 2,000 years ago) that condemns Pharisees:
“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.”
Luke 20
The Greek word translated as “flowing” or “long” robes is where we get our word “stole” and it was clothing worn by the rich. These guys faked being part of the upper class with their clothing to gain more prestige, and then flaunted their social standing at parties. Beware, says Jesus.
Both men and women can be power-hungry. Both can fake their way to the top of the social ladder in their lust for power, status, and influence. It’s good to find ways to not play their games, to opt out altogether.
I’m thankful that my wife doesn’t wear any makeup. Now that I understand these things better than I used to, I don’t like any makeup on women. It’s fake, plastic-looking, even dishonest. I know it’s not the real person, but a mask. Even subtle makeup application seems to be a sign (to me) that the woman is obsessed with her own beauty. I know I’m far from the only one.
It has been a nice fall here. We’ve been blessed to enjoy some great outdoor times, gatherings and games with other families, enjoying the local sportsmans club, and lots of homemaking creations.
Here’s Snipps giving Alice some snuggle time
Archer and mad scientist-geek on Halloween
Found our go-to bread recipe – it’s a keeper!
Enjoyed making something new – Beef Jerky! – came out great using the dehydrator.
Alice and Ben made this lovely ‘Triple Lavender’ soap. 😛
I have always struggled to pronunciation Wingaersheek Beach! But I guess that is what I get for going there every 20 years. The last time I had been was a youth group trip in 1997! Ben and I both went then, as new friends. This time our group was 6 homeschool kid friends and 3 Moms – great trip! 🙂
What’s in the name? “In a 1860 history of Gloucester John Babson claims that in 1638 when surveyors asked the Indians the name of Cape Ann, the Indians replied, “Wingaersheek”. This story has been repeated ever since. Robert Pringle, journalist and publicist, repeated it in his 1890 history. Pringle also wrote that Wingaersheek means “beautiful breaking water beach,” Full story on the name Here.
Fun to go with friends, enjoy low tide and have the early morning beach to ourselves.
Many people don’t realize how odd our state laws can be. But then maybe you try to get a gun license here, or buy flavored tobacco (gasp!). Then you realize how convoluted, restrictive, archaic, and arbitrary our laws can be.
I’m no lawyer, but it was actually fun reading law today and chuckling at it. Part of the fun comes from the fact that there are lots of older laws still on the books – from very different times. Like this one, which is still on the books:
“Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars…”
That’s just hilarious if you live here and know the culture. I doubt this has been enforced in the past century. If you live in MA, just imagine calling the police on a blasphemous neighbor. At best, they would laugh, and at worst they would fine YOU for wasting their time. Yet this law is still on the books in MA!
I’m not even going to bother going over gun laws, but I’ve talked with a bunch of gun experts in this state – instructors, people who carry daily, people who have been shooting for many years, military and ex-military. Any of them will tell you how stupid MA is when it comes to firearm laws.
To be a lawful gun owner is an expensive hassle, and you are always wondering if you are doing something illegal. If you don’t believe me, just look up “open carry in MA” and see if you can figure out what the laws actually are, which license you need, which guns you can carry, and how much the cops will mess with you for doing it correctly.
They really don’t like the 2nd amendment here. Shotguns are actually legal, but it’s off to prison for life if you even hold one with a sawed-off barrel:
“…whoever owns, possesses or carries on his person, or carries on his person or under his control in a vehicle, a sawed-off shotgun… shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life…”
Here’s another fun one. Remember, these laws are all currently in effect in MA:
“A subversive organization is hereby declared to be unlawful.”
“The Communist Party is hereby declared to be a subversive organization.”
“Any person who becomes or remains a member of any organization knowing it to be a subversive organization shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years”
You are reading that correctly – any organization MA deems “subversive” can fall under this.
“Whoever commits the abominable and detestable crime against nature, either with mankind or with a beast, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years.”
Homosexual marriage is legal in MA, but absolutely no crimes against nature! When was the last time they enforced that one?
I’m no lawyer, but I feel there should be some changes made here. I dislike when laws:
Are unfairly/unevenly enforced (such as cops never getting speeding tickets even when off duty)
Make it difficult to exercise rights afforded by the Constitution
Are left on the books even when outdated, leading to a huge body of convoluted/conflicting law that makes it easy for the State to go after people for just about anything – to literally throw the book at them.
A great book to check out is Everything I Want to Do is Illegal. It’s enjoyable to read, and you will find yourself frustrated at a government who makes it impossible for a well-meaning and competent farmer to make a living.
Finally, this law just gives me all kinds of nefarious ideas 😀
“Whoever sells or offers for sale a stink bomb shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than two hundred dollars.”
I love foraging season. Then the different ways of processing and storing of fruit afterwards. Though I could buy some applesauce for $.99… the joy of making it and the resourcefulness of it all just brings joy!
Peach jam from friend’s tree!
Ben’s strawberry wine will be delish!
Apples from our hike in through a Boxborough trail. Lost of applsauce in the making!
So thrilled to see all these lovely faces again. After the COVID pandemic did it’s number to keep us apart, it was a blessing to get to visit together once again.
The cousin contingent.
Taking over their own space of their own during the party. 😀
Faithy the graduate!
No social distancing!
And one of my favorite things may have been seeing the costume trunk get enjoyed so much. Especially when combined with a badminton game. 😀
