The true meaning of Christmas is right under your nose

"It isn't one of your holiday games" wrote T.S. Eliot regarding "The Naming of Cats." The little cat that came to dinner (above occupying a box Tuck had brought up from the basement for stowing moveable feast foodstuffs for stocking our Finnish Christmas Eve Supper Down East this evening) showed up on our doorstep a few weeks back. We still don't know her name. Tiny was not amused, but the two of them have managed to achieve an entente cordiale that puts some of the nation's diplomatic peacocks to shame.

"Go around the Xmas dinner table and tell something you're grateful for," Fox News cutie-pie-priest-in-residence Father Jonathan advised viewers this morning in a segment on how do we find our way back to the "true meaning of Christmas" in the shopping/cooking/making-everybody-happy hysteria of the countdown to "The tidings that dare not speak their name." Our precious Anchoress had spoken of the very thing a coupla days back in "The Christmas Light in the Shopping Madness." It reminded us of the poignant tale of "Why the chimes rang."

We were thrilled to learn the other day that "polls show" the majority of us gun-and-religion-clinging yahoos still prefer "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays," It's been such a joy the last coupla years to exchange "the look" with Salvation Army bell ringers, checkout folk at the super and just about everyone we've come across in the last period of time in the countown to, well, you know, Christmas. Don't know whether Father Jonathan's tales around the Xmas dinner table will work for us, but here's the story we would tell:

On  the way up from Chelsea-by-the-Sea to York Harbor, we stopped at the liquor store in Seabrook, NH, just over the Massachusetts border, to purchase The Glen Livet Nadurra for Goomp ($90 in MA vs $60 in NH), and there, outside the store, was a Homeless Veterans table. Ever since 9/11 we've understood in our gut something we'd never really gotten before. Freedom isn't free, and it's those "rude men" willing to put their lives on the line who make it possible for the rest of us to pursue our American dream. Having no cash in our pocket, we ran back to the car for a five-dollar roll of dimes we had on hand for the tolls. As we made our offering to the fellow manning the Homeless Vets table, his smile melted our heart.

How mighty bless the best that is within the human heart.

Update: The Pope who loves cats and Mozart:

God often surprises us, says Pope in BBC broadcast.

Update II: Michelle Malkin Buzzworthy link!

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.

Comments

[S. Weasel]

Heh. Looks like my Damien, who disappeared three years ago in Providence. If you have occasion to take him to the vet, have them check for a chip.

[chickelit]

Merry Christmas to you and to your loved ones!

[retriever]

Lovely cat. I am grateful for YOU, dear Sissy! Merry Christmas to you and Tuck and the cats. Hope this visitor works out to stay...Like God sidling up to us and warming His way into our hearts again when we least expect Him. xxx

[Tom Bowler]

Merry Christmas to you and Tuck, Sissy. And have a great New Year!

[pam]

Wishing a joyous Christmas for you all!

[Gayle Miller]

That little fellow looks to be settling in for a permanent residency. He's adorable and I have to tell you, for someone like him who has probably had a rough time in life, your lovely home would be heaven on earth - and then some! God bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and to all a HAPPY and stress free 2011!

I love you all.

[Gayle Miller]

Even better that it's a girl and that SHE has a home with you. I need to learn to read more carefully! (LOL!)

[Teresa]

Aw - what a lovely Christmas present for you Sissy. What a cute little thing! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas indeed.

[jameshigham]

Lovely to see this sort of thing still existing and being said, Sissy.

[kimsch]

Noelle

[Carol Ward]

Belated Happy Birthday - was the little fur ball a birthday surprise? - and Happy New Year.

Where does the time go?