1. Wonderful post, Yvonne. So sad that the world sees this glorious event as myth. I loved your comments on how Mary and Joseph would have pulled off fulfilling even a handful of prophecies. 
    My kids are twenty and still in bed, as people that age like to be after playing video games long into the night. We don’t have another generation started yet, so I’m on the computer being a nerd before the guests arrive looking to be fed. I’m glad I’m here. Glad I got here in time to see you lay your finger aside your nose as up the chimney you rose.  Hope you have a new year full of blessings.

    • bainespal says:

      My kids are twenty and still in bed, as people that age like to be after playing video games long into the night. We don’t have another generation started yet, so I’m on the computer being a nerd before the guests arrive looking to be fed.

      I’m 22 and I spent the entire night staring at the screen, but I wasn’t playing videogames. I was installing Linux on my old laptop, trying to set it up as a productive secondhand writing and email computer for my mother. I tried installing three different Linux distributions before deciding on Xubuntu 13.10. Then I was unsuccessfully trying to get the driver for the laptop’s internal wifi adapter to work.
       
      So, I think I out-nerd you all.

      • notleia says:

        Is Xubuntu a relation to Ubuntu? I tried using Ubuntu on a partition of my old second-hand dinosaur desktop before it kicked the bucket, but I’ll admit that I didn’t give it a decent trial because I was/am still used to Windows, and Windows does what I want it to. Though because Microsoft is all soulless-corporation-ish, it’s still possible that I could convert, though I’m not really tech-savvy enough to navigate anything but the prepackaged, dummy-user-friendly stuff.
        But I’m not going to challenge your nerd award. I went to sleep pretty early last night, even though I spent a good portion of the evening debating if I should get myself a yukata kimono or if I’m still too poor/cheap. (It’s like a bathrobe you can legitimately wear in public!)
        /nerd (or is mine more geek?) tangent

        • bainespal says:

          Xubuntu is Ubuntu with a different desktop environments. The desktop environment is the greatest aesthetic element in a Linux distribution, so two distributions based on the same core with different desktop environments can feel as different from each other as Windows 8 is from Windows 7. I strongly dislike Ubuntu’s default desktop, although I considered it for my mother. I’m currently running Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon on my desktop PC. (“Cinnamon” is the name of the desktop environment — Linux Mint is also available with three other desktop environments.) I’m really fond of my Mint system, though I may sample a different Linux variety soon if I don’t decide to upgrade to Mint 16 instead.
           

          /nerd (or is mine more geek?) tangent

          I don’t really know how to classify this stuff. I’ve never been more than a nominal wannabe geek, and I have no idea if I qualify as a nerd. But I would never have imagined wearing a bathrobe in public, legitimately or illegitimately.

          • notleia says:

            I had no idea that Linux was marketed like candy. Choosing would be hard for me, because my criteria is pretty much what looks/functions like Windows so I’m not floundering like I do with Macs.
            And who wouldn’t want to wear a bathrobe all the time? But one minor thing the Drunk Girl Incident taught me was that it makes me feel weird to look somewhat homeless when I’m trying to appear to be a rational adult. A yukata would make me seem eccentric but respectable even if I were too lazy to get dressed in anything more complicated than a bathrobe.

            • bainespal says:

              Many of the Linux distributions have a traditional desktop layout that looks and functions basic like Windows, at least pre-Windows 8 Windows. I would include all four version of Linux Mint in this category. But if you ever need an operating system and you want Windows but don’t want to buy it, there is Zorin OS.
               
              I can’t judge you for the bathrobe thing, because I’ve always dreamed about walking down the street wearing my longsword strapped over my shoulder, ideally over a large hooded green cloak.

  2. bainespal says:

    Now that I’ve had plenty of caffeine and cookies, I’ll try a reply to the post itself.
     
    I think the word “Mythmas” is perfect — the Mass of the True Myth.  I don’t think we should allow the lingering influence of secular rationalism define the word “myth” as something that is obviously untrue.
     

    Nowadays, much of the world either puts virgin birth in quotes, suggesting it never happened, or capitalizes it, adding fantastic details to the story and elevating Mary to godlike status. Making the whole thing a myth, in other words. ‘Cause, you know, we all love a good myth.

    Cynicism of celebrating myth taken.
     
    It’s interesting that those who mock the “virgin birth” are reacting cynically to those who glorify the Virgin Birth. As you imply, I think both groups are mythologizing in different ways. Maybe mythologizing is inevitable. We’re always making value judgments about the narrative and emphasizing the significance of the story but inside and outside of its literal context.
     

    Though it’s the season to be jolly, it’s also time to bid you all adieu.

    Goodbye, then.

  3. Thank you, Sally – I’m glad you stopped by. Thank you, Notleia and Bainespal, for some entertaining and educational comments. Now if I see a man on the street in a bathrobe, I can say with confidence, “Nice yukata!”

What do you think?