“God with us,” or Emmanuel
“A
savior”
In
Hebrew called Joshua
In
Greek the name was Jesus
“The
chosen one”
In
Hebrew called Messiah
In
Greek named Christ
Jesus
Christ
The
Son of God
A
Jew Born in the Roman Empire
Given
by God to the world
For
two thousand years
Not
known by a Latin name
But
known by all by his name in Greek
If you like schmaltzy sentimentality wrapped up in Christmas paper and packaged as a romantic comedy then this is the film for you.
It
is the tale of two beautiful women, Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) and Iris
Simpkins (Kate Winslet),
In
London, Iris Simpkins writes a wedding column in a newspaper and nurtures an
unrequited love for her colleague Jasper Bloom (Rufus Sewell) who is about to
marry another woman.
Across
the globe in Los Angeles, Amanda realizes the man that she lives with has been
unfaithful with the receptionist.
So
both of them find themselves at the end of failed relationships just before
Christmas.
Amanda
decides to take a two week vacation and surfs the internet where she meets
Iris, online through a house exchange website, and Amanda impulsively swaps her
L.A. mansion for Iris' country cottage in Surrey for the holidays.
Shortly
after arriving at their destinations, both women find the last thing either of
them wants or expects: a new romance. Amanda is charmed by Iris' handsome
brother Graham (Jude Law) and Iris, with inspiration provided by legendary
screenwriter Arthur (Eli Wallach), mends her heart when she meets film score
composer Miles (Jack Black).
The Cricket on the Hearth. A Fairy Tale of Home was the third of the Christmas novella written by Charles Dickens and published in 1845
The
Cricket of the story constantly chirps on the hearth and acts as the
Peerybingles family guardian angel.
At
the start of the tale a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up
lodging at Peerybingle's house for a few days.
The
villain of the piece is the miser Tackleton who is on the eve of marrying
Edward Plummer's sweetheart, May.
Edward
having gone off to South America and was believed to be dead leaving May at the
mercy of Tackleton who she did not love.
During
the course of the story the miser does his best to cause mischief but in the
end, the mysterious lodger is revealed to be none other than Edward who has
returned home in disguise.
And
in the best traditions of dickens all ends well.
Often the true meaning of Christmas passes us by
The
night the holy star appeared bright in the sky
Christmas
celebrates the birth of Christ the savior
But
others are also remembered at this time of year
St
Lucia’s day is on the thirteenth day of December
In
fourth century Sicily Lucia was a virgin martyr
Lucia
means “light” very apt for a Christmas saint
She
is also called upon to cure any eye complaint
St
Thomas’s day is on the twenty first of December
The
shortest and darkest day in our modern calendar
Traditionally
the poor would all go out “thomasing”
For
wheat flour and other Christmas “goodening”
Not
the first saint you’d associate with Christmas
He
is perhaps better known as “doubting Thomas”
Because
he at first questioned Christ’s resurrection
He
is patron saint of the carpenter and stone mason
On
the twenty-six of the month St Stephens day falls
Boxing
Day or the feast of Stephen in hallowed halls
Chosen
by the disciples to help spread Christianity
He
was put to death by the zealots for his profanity
The
most famous Christmas time saint of all must be
St
Nicholas the Bishop of Myra now a part of Turkey
He
was a very shy man and the kindest man to know
When
he threw coins through a poor family’s window
They
landed in a stocking hanging over the fire to dry
So
that’s where it all began if you ever wondered why
Mildred went to the post office
To
buy stamps for her Christmas cards
“What
denomination do you want?”
She
was asked by Mr Everard
“That’s
political correctness gone mad,
Has
it come to this?” said she
“You’d
better give me a book of Catholic
And
a book of C of E”
Realtor Jane McKendrick (Catherine Bell), is an
overprotective widowed single mom who has to maintain the balance between her
career and her teenage
daughter Betsy (Matreya Fedor), and even denies herself a love life with friend
and admirer Jackson Hart
(Victor Webster).
Mother
and daughter have a good relationship, at least they did before Betsy met and fell
in love with a serving soldier Tyler
Sloane (Anthony Konechny).
Jane
tries her best to steer her daughter away from the heartache, as her husband
had been a soldier who was killed in action, but Betsy is determined to share a
long-distance
relationship with her active-duty soldier in the line of fire.
But she comes to the conclusion that her
mother was right when it is reported that Tyler was killed in Afghanistan.
However,
they don’t realize that they are about to learn important lessons of the heart
and that taking chances can make this Christmas one they will cherish forever.
I sit in my car on a December day
In
the evening rush hour on a Friday
Rain
pounds on the roof of my car
As
I sit in a jam not getting very far
Just
sitting motionless in the traffic
Late
home again, that just terrific
Bright
red taillights fill my view
The
light’s of other cars in the queue
I
see Looking to my left and right
The
twinkling of a Christmas light
The
queue edges forward very slowly
Then
I reach the junction eventually
Twenty
minutes just to get this far
I
see the blue light of a police car
I
don’t believe it I could explode
The
police have only shut my road
I
still don’t know what’s to blame
As
now I go back the way I came
All
the way home I rant and rage
Growling
like a wild beast in a cage
Rush
hour and my spleen is vent
Shutting
the road is so inconvenient
The
reason for delay I still can’t see
But
I do make it home eventually
I
shout at the kids taking off my hat
I
moan at my wife and kick the cat
I
look at my dinner with total disdain
Dried
up the gravy now just a stain
On
Monday I relate my tale of woe
And
my problems with traffic flow
A
colleague of mine who lived locally
Knew
the details and informed me
And
then with shame I was filled
A
woman was run down and killed
A
week before Christmas she had died
A
happy Christmas for her was denied
A
poor young woman had lost her life
Somebody’s
lover somebody’s wife
She
was both a daughter and mother
Mourned
by two sister’s and a brother
Bells
ring out on Christmas morning
Bells
ring out for a family mourning
Christmas
bells ring out in glory
To
celebrate the Christmas story
I
spent Christmas with my family
With
my heart so full of sympathy
I
felt so ashamed at my selfishness
Angry
impatient and thoughtless
I
confess I behaved so irrationally
Just
because I was late home for tea
When
next I’m in a jam I’ll remember
Any
time from January to December
I
shall keep things in true perspective
And
my thanks to God I shall give
No
matter how slowly I have to drive
If
I’m sitting in a jam I’m still alive
