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Recall the scripture which says the Lord chastens whom he loves? (D&C 95:1) I figure the Lord must really love the BYU football team because they lost their bowl game AND they lost to the University of Utah. Now THAT is chastening! (One just wonders from what "sin(s)" the team (or more likely all of us supporters) are being saved?)
 | Want to know Santa Claus' whereabouts tonight? Want to know when he will arrive in your area? The official Santa tracking NORAD site shows you where he is using Google Maps. (Main page loads somewhat slow for dial-up. This page in English loads faster...no music.)
Wikipedia tells the story of how NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) got involved tracking Santa. |
Today (December 25) is the first day of Christmas...when "My True Love Gave To Me...A Partridge In A Pear Tree." WHAT? Pear trees do not have anything to do with Christmas...at least not from my town. And then the other verses: Turtle doves, Lords A Leaping, French Hens, Swans Swimming, etc. (I have some great jokes about the French.)
There are those who believe the song originated in England when Catholics were prohibited from practicing their religion, openly or privately, between 1558 and 1829 by Protestant Monarchs. According to this belief the song used the verses as hidden meanings to teach Catholic dogma to the children. Snoops illustrates this to be false, or at least highly unlikely. Others suggest no secret religious meaning, but do suggest the song verses have a deeper meaning. Meridian Magazine and Appleseeds both suggest the same meaning for each verse. (By the way, both Meridian and Appleseeds refer to the teaching of young the dogma of the Christian church which Snoops decries. As Snoops observed: How can you believe that it is a song to put Christ into Christmas when is it purported to reflect the fact that one group of Christians had to hide in order that another group of Christians would not torture and kill them for their beliefs?) If you Google the 12 Days of Christmas you will find numerous other sites with the same general ideas contained in Meridian and Appleseeds. So, false or not, it appears to be here to stay.
No one really knows the true origin or intent of the song. There are speculations. Wikipedia provides both. Whatever the religious meaning, I prefer the version of the song by Bob and Doug Mckenzie in their Great White album. Here is a YouTube version.
It is the new year. Do you have plans? Are you going to take control of your life this year? Or will you just allow life to deal you whatever random events it pleases? Do you make New Year's Resolutions? And if you make them, do you pursue them; do you work on them? Quirkology states to have followed up on 3000 people who made resolutions and report outcome. Basically the results indicated 52% of participants were confident of success, but a year later only 12% actually achieved their goal. Sound familiar? What does it take to be successful? It seems men tend to be more successful when they set specific goals which are also time specific. Women are more successful when they go public with their resolutions (receive social support).
So will you make resolutions and, more importantly, will you keep them?
This page contains all entries posted to Mormon Psychologist in December 2008. They are listed from oldest to newest.
November 2008 is the previous archive.
January 2009 is the next archive.
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