The Inn-Keeper's Confession

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Marc-Andre
Senior Member

since 2008-12-07

Posts 501

0 posted 2008-12-24 10:19 PM

That night, the zenith of our town became
Celestial craddle of a new born star
That would reveal the nadir of my shame.

With punters occupied in my bazaar,
I turned away a couple from my inn,
Clochards which I could tell had no dinar.

From all land corners, members of our kin
Had poured (for Rome’s late census) through our gates;
T’was one carouse , I drank then half a hin.

With such demand, we could inflate our rates
I would with peasants suffer no ado,
I had an appetite for better baits.

Reports I’d heard that magi, three or two,
Had set their camp nearby old Bethlehem
Along with shepherds, to these regions new.

It seemed they weren’t the progeny of Shem
But noble men who’d come from distant lands;
For lodge, I sent my messenger to them.

My messenger returned with empty hands
Apprising of their presence by our barn
Engrossed in maps, arcs, azimuth, operands.

For belvedere, I climbed on my lucarne:
There, on my pastures, such a to-and-fro,
With shepherds gathering around the tarn.

My oft-simoom-tormented fields aglow,
The morning star usurped,and teeming life,
The trespass’ nature I desired to know.

And there I saw the wright and his young wife;
Inside the manger she had given birth,
A son to suffer rabbi’s holy knife.

All visages were glittering with mirth,
And there was gold and frankincense and myrrh;
Of precious presents for the babe no dearth.

Then I, - induced by sight of gold to err -
and for the rent of stable, straw and hay,
( Besides late royalties from colporteurs )

From them, I filched a gaud and broke away.
The myrrh I stole retains all bitterness,
And racks my vicious conscience e’en today.

I know that my offense I can’t redress -
For so it’s written in my soul’s recess -
And therefore I perdition acquiesce.

ethome
Member Patricius

since 2000-05-14

Posts 11858
New Brunswick Canada

1 posted 2008-12-25 01:15 AM

Hey innkeeper don't worry about it there's deception afoot when it comes to the whole scene anyway....

Letter from a man in Japan...

They are at it again. The merchants are leading the people like chief priests. Santa Claus is the master of ceremonies. Christmas trees serve as the symbol of the celebration. And offerings of Christmas cakes and toys are presented. The merchants are propagating the religion of Christmas in Japan. Their mission has been quite successful in the past three or four decades. An enormous number of Japanese are converted to this “religion”—at least for a couple of days a year!

This has intrigued me. I have often wondered why so many Japanese, who are mainly non-Christians, would be celebrating a “Christian” holiday. When did the Japanese begin to celebrate Christmas to such an extent? What is behind all of this?

Looking for the origin of the Japanese Christmas, I found this interesting story. Sôseki Natsume, a great writer of the Meiji era (1868-1912), sent a Christmas postcard from England to Shiki Masaoka, a famous poet, describing the fascinating Christmas scene in London at the end of the year 1900. Shiki even composed a haiku, the shortest form of Japanese poetry, about a small chapel on a Christmas Day. Apparently, Christmas was still a novelty at the turn of the century in Japan. So, exactly when did the Japanese celebrate their first Christmas?

You may be interested to know that some authorities claim that Christmas was celebrated in a girls’ school in Ginza as early as the eighth year of Meiji (1875). Yet “the custom of celebrating Christmas did not really begin to take hold in Japan until 1945,” observed The Christian Century. That was when the Japanese saw the families of American soldiers and missionaries celebrating Christmas. After being defeated in World War II and being left in a spiritual vacuum, the Japanese in general needed something to cheer them.

Christmas satisfied that need. As you can imagine, merchants did not waste any time in using Christmas decorations to promote their year-end sales. Christmas decorations “worked like magic in drawing customers,” says a newspaper columnist, Kimpei Shiba. “This,” he added, “was because these ornamentations were attractive and generated gaiety.”

But, David, since you live in England, you may not know that the Japanese had the custom of exchanging year-end gifts long before Christmas presents came along. December has always been a boon for retailers. People with thick wallets from their year-end bonus go out on a spending spree. “This atmosphere [of Christmas],” however, “put the people into a merry, spending mood and induced them to buy more osei-bo [year-end gifts] than they usually did, so the custom of using Christmas decorations has continued,” explains Mr. Shiba.

Today, department stores and retailers climb on the bandwagon to make the best of the “Christmas spirit” that seems to work so well. Toymakers and bakeries zero in on this atmosphere to take advantage of the season. In December, sales at Kiddy Land, the biggest toy-store chain in Japan, have been four times higher than other months. It is estimated that 5 to 10 percent of all the cakes produced in Japan each year are what could be termed “Christmas cakes.”

I found out that some people are annoyed because commercialism rules the Christmas scene in Japan. For instance, The Daily Yomiuri quotes an American who has lived a long time in Japan: “The Japanese have adopted nearly all of the Christmas gimmickry but somehow the spirit of the season is not here.” He was talking about the religious aspect of Christmas.

This prompted me to look into the religious side of Christmas. Churchgoers claim that Christmas (December 25) is Christ’s birthday. How surprised I was to find in the Encyclopedia of Japanese Religions that it cannot be established that Jesus was born on December 25! The encyclopedia says: “Though the actual date of Jesus’ birthday is not known, Christmas has been celebrated on December 25 starting around the third century . . . This date falls approximately on the day of the winter solstice, and it took over the pre-Christian festival of the rebirth of the Sun.” Rebirth of the sun? I thought it was supposed to be the birthday of Jesus. Well, how could sincere Christians celebrate a festival that originally was a pagan celebration of the winter solstice? It was not the birthday of Jesus but the festival of the rebirth of the sun. How could Western churchgoers criticize the Japanese as being unprincipled in celebrating a “Christian” holiday while they themselves have essentially the same kind of observance?

So, I would appreciate it if you could answer these questions for me, as they are most disturbing.

Your friend,

Ichiro

Interesting isn't it that the Jesus tells his disciples about importance of celebrating his death, actually commanding them to do so but he says nothing about celebrating his birth.

I have to say the piece you have written here is very well done as usual....Love the language references of the era.

Eric

[This message has been edited by ethome (12-25-2008 01:48 AM).]

Earth Angel
Member Empyrean

since 2002-08-27

Posts 40215
Realms of Light

2 posted 2008-12-25 05:37 PM

Now that is the Christmas Story told from a different and seemingly authentic perspective! ~ and very well-told at that!

I am tucking this one in my library if you do not mind.

Love & Christmas Light,
EA

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean

since 1999-11-16

Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA

3 posted 2008-12-27 09:49 PM

Enjoyed...James

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