This Christmas[i]
‽istis adds punctuation … (weekending December 16th 2023)
This weekending ‽istis seems to be
continuing what could be a bit of a deconstruction of Christmas.
The last blog included new words for a very old carol (‘Down in
Yon Forest’) and perhaps, possibly, maybe asked some pretty fundamental
questions about the world then (when BC apparently became AD) and the world now…
Perhaps the most important question in the new version, ‘Down in Yon Forest 2023‽’, was: ‘Do we need a new story to tell and to sing?’
And there it was, a train of thought set in motion that has trundled
along all week like a ‘Polar Express’[ii].
A train of thought triggered especially by the arrival of Christmas cards and
the airwave-filling seasonal sounds of music-playing radio stations: from loud
and jangly pop perennials to smooth classics, from creamy crooning to rarified orchestral
and choral beauteousness.
So, here’s the thought:
How might the meaning and our perception of lines from carols and Christmas
songs - and their messages – change, with the simple addition of strategically
placed question marks?
Well, that was the original intention, but then ‽istis pondered some of the more dramatic assertions and claims and thought that adding a punctuation mark that could imply both a question and an exclamation would be in order… And so, this weekending, an ‘interrobang’ - ‽ - seemed the ideal choice[iii].
As you say the lines below you might like to practice adding a
tone of questioning exclamation with perhaps just a hint of scepticism and
maybe even downright incredulity…The selected lines seem to lend themselves to follow up
questions or comments, and ‽istis has had a first go...
Here are some examples:
·
Rudolph,
the red-nosed reindeer‽ (Really, a red-nose – are you sure?)
·
So
God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven‽ (Well, where’s the evidence
for that then?)
·
When
the Thames froze‽ (What year was that again?)
·
Little
Lord Jesus no crying he makes‽ (Whoever heard of a baby that doesn’t cry!)
·
Santa
got stuck up the chimney‽ (How many times have we told him?)
·
We
hear the Christmas angels‽ (Angels, who’s ever seen an angel?)
·
Chestnuts roasting by an open fire‽ (Have you done the risk assessment on that one?)
·
All
is calm, all is bright‽ (Well, that would be nice!)
·
Cherubim
and seraphim thronged the air‽ (What on earth/heaven/in the sky are cherubim and seraphim?)
·
O
Frosty the snowman was alive as he could be‽ (Yeah, right!)
·
Glad
tidings of great joy I bring to you and all mankind‽ (Well that’s going well!)
·
Santa
Claus is coming to town‽ (Every town in the whole world? what about the cities
and villages and remote isolated homesteads; what about the slums and the red cross tents in refugee camps?)
·
Then
why should we on earth be so sad since our Redeemer made us glad?[iv] (Oh, so we were all glad once!)
·
It's
the most wonderful time of the year‽ (Hmmm! For everyone?)
·
Round
yon virgin mother‽ (Virgin mother... is that even possible…?)
·
Of
all the trees that are in the wood, the holly tree bears the crown‽ (Really? I rather
like a yew myself and anyway, don’t all trees have crowns?)
·
He rules
the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his
love‽ (And now it's time to watch or listen to the news…)
·
It's
the best time of the year‽ (Hmmm!, again...)
·
Light
and life to all He brings‽ (Well that’s nice!)
·
I saw
Mommy kissing Santa Claus‽ (Shhhh!)
·
For
to redeem us all‽ (What everyone, regardless?)
·
Stop
the cavalry‽ (and the artillery and the infantry and the navy and the air force,
please)
·
Later
we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some carolling‽ (Oh no, not again)
·
On
the earth be peace‽ (That would be nice, too!)
·
Children
laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile‽ (Not round these parts… Children laughing, except those that are crying!)
·
For
that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heaven above‽ (God – a human? A
human – God?)
·
Sacred
infant, all divine‽ (See above)
·
Reindeer
really know how to fly‽ (Oh no they don’t…)
·
Mistletoe
and wine‽ (Uh-oh!)
·
Heat
was in the very sod‽ (Tofu-eating, fossil-fuel
phasing, ground pump fitting wokerati…)
·
I
don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree‽ (Methinks you doth
protest too much)
·
Let
there be peace on earth and let it begin with me‽ (Oh, is that how it has to
work?)
·
A
spaceman came travelling‽ (Obvs!)
·
Good
tidings we bring to you and your kin‽ (Even Uncle…,
Auntie… add names at your peril!)
·
Grandma
got run over by a reindeer‽ (How many times have we told her?)
·
Veiled
in flesh the Godhead see‽ (Eh?)
·
Happy
Christmas, war is over‽ (And then I woke up…)
·
Love
and joy come to you‽ (And to you, and you, and you…)
·
For Jesus
Christ our Saviour was born upon this day‽ (Once again, how’s that going?)
·
On
the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: Twelve drummers
drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight
maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, Five golden rings.
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a
pear tree‽ (Stop, stop….)
·
The
boys of the NYPD choir still singing Galway Bay‽ (The answer to which is an
almost certain ‘yes’, more than ever this year, probably)
And you could add your own…
So, perhaps
this Christmas season we might listen to and really think about the statements,
assertions and claims.
Possibly we might continue to ask questions and to deploy ‘interrobangs’ liberally, all year round…
And maybe, just maybe we might keep straining to hear the ‘Polar Express’ bell[v] - once we have decided what it is that we continue to believe‽
©‽istis
[i]
Other religious and seasonal festivals are available.
[iii]
The interrobang: created in 1968 by Martin K Specktor and his ad agency’s art
director Jack Lipton. Specktor wrote: ‘…nor even yet, do we have a point which
clearly combines and melds interrogation with exclamation.’
[iv]
No need to add a question mark to this line, it’s there in the original it
seems
