Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you are going to spend the time with family and friends, because today is definitely a day to be merry. It is also a time to think of those less fortunate than you are.

We are all little bits of sand upon this planet, whether you have money or not, we are all worth the same. We all entered the world the same way, and we will leave the same. It is up to us to make our mark. Charles Dickens was a writer so he wrote, and he was the social critic. He like many other writers used their words to express their opinions of how the ridiculous the world was, and how it should be. At this time, people would be reading his novella, A Christmas Carol, about Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens made a large impression on us, about Christmas, and sharing and giving to others and what was important. What if Dickens was alive today what things, might he criticize about our world today?

People often think that their opinions do not count for much. If you are not talking than you do not have an opinion. Going shopping will not stop Emergency Unemployment Benefits ending for millions of Americans on December 28, or the cut of the SNAP, which will just cause more people to go hungry; it will just put most people further in debt. The best gifts you’ll ever receive don’t come from a shopping mall and they cannot be bought.

Have a wonderful day!

Cassandra

Related articles

• A Christmas Carol was First Published on December 17, 1843 (journalofanacedemicdreamer.wordpress.com)

Silent Night was First Performed on Christmas Eve in 1818

Silent Night was first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village on the Salzach river in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was composed in by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr.

Mohr worked as a coadjutor in 1816, when he came up with the lyrics to Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht as it is said in German or Silent Night, while working for his father in Mariapfarr, in the Salzburg Lungau region. Franz Xaver Gruber, was the schoolmaster and organist in Arnsdorf, and Mohr asked in to write a melody for his lyrics. After the melody was written, they performed it together at St Nicholas parish church.

Silent Night as been translated and sung in over 140 languages.

This song touches our hearts, thinking of family and love. Religion is only part of the story of this song. It reminds me of times with my family, since the song is the story of a family. Whether or not you are religious, the song speaks of love, Christ is only part of this story. What you feel is the rest.

Below is Bing Crosby and the Bob Mitchell Boy’s Choir singing Silent Night.

Reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Night

Cassandra

A Christmas Carol was First Published on December 17, 1843

The novella by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, or Scrooge as some may call it, was first published on December 17, 1843 by Chapman & Hall. This is the perfect gift for someone to find in his or her stocking or under the tree on Christmas morning.

This story befitting even of today’s standards as Ebenezer Scrooge, Charles Dickens’s leading character, mirrors so many of today’s Republicans and other Capitalists. Marley’s ghost comes to visit Ebenezer and turns his whole life upside down. After all, Scrooge believed if a man wasn’t working, he didn’t deserve to be paid, they belong in jail or in the workhouses. It wasn’t his job to feed the poor. Scrooge cares about money, the making of money, and holidays come in second place. If Scrooge is working, so are his employees. As far as he is concerned, everything else is frankly, “Bah! Humbug!” Bob Cratchit, his clerk who he paid a minimal stipend, even though he had a family to support, is the one who has to hear this from his boss Mr. Scrooge. Most of the time when he asks for time of the answer is an astounding, “No.” The other family members pitch in, because Cratchit’s meager salary hardly covered the costs  to fulfill all the family needs. His family never complained. Scrooge complained all the time.

It also carries the meaning of Christmas, and reminds us about what is important. The story has become immortal. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, this time honored classic cannot help but touch your heart, because Charles Dickens was a humanitarian, and it is obvious he cared about people, and saw through the foolishness of law and of men. It also made a huge impact on society and influence can be seen in many of our favorite holiday classics.

The ideas I present to you are all thanks to Charles Dickens. He was always the social critic, constantly looking at peoples ideals and often finding ways in his books to throw it back in their faces. He was aware that their actions spoke loudly, and he used the information he gained wisely.

Here is the Audiobook of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol

Cassandra