Tradition – Faith Seeking Understanding

The War on Christmas? (Part 4)

Posted on December 19, 2015 by hlesbrown

This article will look at “True Meaning of Christmas.” All tthe gift-giving, the Santa myth, the decorations, etc. take second place to what must be the most transformative influence on Christmas in history: the publication of Scrooge by Charles Dickens in 1843. By this time, many of the English Christmas traditions were well-established. But Dickens wanted to point out the hypocrisy of the upper classes with regard to the destitute poor in early industrial London. Taking his cue from the babe in the manger (and a genuine Christian focus on the poverty of the Christ child in contrast with the richness of God), Dickens Continue Reading →

Prophetic Voices

Posted on March 8, 2015 by hlesbrown

Ever heard of “literary forms”? Sure you have. You probably know at least two different forms: poetry and prose. Of course, these are not the only literary forms in existence. There are plays, fiction and non-fiction, songs (a subset of poetry, perhaps?), history, fables, myths, etc. There are even blogs. There are literary forms that we use today and forms that went out of style centuries ago. When we look at the writings accepted by the Judeo-Christian communities we can see many different literary forms. Don’t forget: we’re considering a library of writings, not just one big one. Different writings Continue Reading →