The Necklace

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  “SHE WAS one of those pretty, charming young ladies, born, as if through an error of destiny, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming known, appreciated, loved, and married by a man either rich or distinguished; and she allowed herself to marry a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education. . . .  She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things. She felt that she was made for them. She had such a desire to please, to be sought after, to be clever, and courted.” —THE NECKLACE Guy de Maupassant    France, 1884 (pic by Grok) Read this short story here:  https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace

"You shouldn't celebrate Christmas."

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Objection: Christmas is a pagan holiday. There is nothing in the Bible that says we must observe Jesus birthday.

Answer: 

Our culture is pagan saturated so unless we change everything, why select this one day above all? Should we revert to the Puritan system and identify the days of the week by their number (First day, Second day, etc) instead of using pagan names? For example, today is named "Torsdag" or "Thor's day" (Norse) while the Romans called it "deis Jovis" or Jove's day.

Why do we use solar months to measure time when the Hebrew calendar is lunar? Why do we name the 12th month on our calendar December when "decem" is Latin for 10 and what should we do when January rolls around (named after Janus, god of endings and beginnings)?

The Bible is silent about a number of things. You know, there is nothing in the Bible that says Jesus took a bath, nor does He instruct his disciples to take one. Yes, he does wash their feet--once . . .

There are plenty of commands and instructions about giving Him one day out of seven. How are you doing with that?

The main reason our family celebrates Christmas is out of gratitude. In the same way I wish other family and friends "happy birthday" (out of love), we want to acknowledge what our God and Savior did for us, by stepping in to time and space in order to save the repentant from sin.

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