{"id":736,"date":"2011-12-24T06:00:31","date_gmt":"2011-12-24T11:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/?p=736"},"modified":"2011-12-24T07:01:11","modified_gmt":"2011-12-24T12:01:11","slug":"sweet-sour-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/2011\/12\/sweet-sour-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sweet &#038; Sour Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"byline\">Posted by: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/TheFourOrders\" target=\"_blank\">@TheFourOrders<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>The Christmas Story<\/h2>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/stpaulsartsandmedia\" target=\"_blank\">St Paul&#8217;s Arts &amp; Media<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kWq60oyrHVQ?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know about you, but I&#8217;ve already placed my order for a custom-fit sheep costume.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">~~*~~<\/p>\n<p>And now, my personal favorite&#8230;<\/p>\n<h2>Christ Came Down<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/tree-with-lights-dreamstime_s_3874424.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"754\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/2011\/12\/sweet-sour-christmas\/httpwww-dreamstime-com-image3874424\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/tree-with-lights-dreamstime_s_3874424.jpg?fit=590%2C357\" data-orig-size=\"590,357\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;(c) Dallaseventsinc | Dreamstime.com&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.dreamstime.com\\\/-image3874424&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Tree with Lights\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/tree-with-lights-dreamstime_s_3874424.jpg?fit=300%2C181\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/tree-with-lights-dreamstime_s_3874424.jpg?fit=584%2C353\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-754 alignleft\" title=\"Tree with Lights\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/tree-with-lights-dreamstime_s_3874424.jpg?resize=584%2C353\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/tree-with-lights-dreamstime_s_3874424.jpg?w=590 590w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/tree-with-lights-dreamstime_s_3874424.jpg?resize=300%2C181 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>CHRIST climbed down<br \/>\nfrom His bare Tree this year<br \/>\nand ran away to where<br \/>\nthere were no rootless Christmas trees<br \/>\nhung with candycanes and breakable stars<\/p>\n<p>Christ climbed down<br \/>\nfrom His bare Tree this year<br \/>\nand ran away to where<br \/>\nthere were no gilded Christmas trees<br \/>\nand no tinsel Christmas trees<br \/>\nand no tinfoil Christmas trees<br \/>\nand no pink plastic Christmas trees<br \/>\nand no gold Christmas trees<br \/>\nand no black Christmas trees<br \/>\nand no powderblue Christmas trees<br \/>\nhung with electric candles<br \/>\nand encircled by tin electric trains<br \/>\nand clever cornball relatives<\/p>\n<p>Christ climbed down<br \/>\nfrom His bare Tree this year<br \/>\nand ran away to where<br \/>\nno intrepid Bible salesmen<br \/>\ncovered the territory<br \/>\nin two-tone cadillacs<br \/>\nand where no Sears Roebuck creches<br \/>\ncomplete with plastic babe in manger<br \/>\narrived by parcel post<br \/>\nthe babe by special delivery<br \/>\nand where no televised Wise Men<br \/>\npraised the Lord Calvert Whiskey<\/p>\n<p>Christ climbed down<br \/>\nfrom His bare Tree this year<br \/>\nand ran away to where<br \/>\nno fat handshaking stranger<br \/>\nin a red flannel suit<br \/>\nand a fake white beard<br \/>\nwent around passing himself off<br \/>\nas some sort of North Pole saint<br \/>\ncrossing the desert to Bethlehem<br \/>\nPennsylvania<br \/>\nin a Volkswagen sled<br \/>\ndrawn by rollicking Adirondack reindeer<br \/>\nwith German names<br \/>\nand bearing sacks of Humble Gifts<br \/>\nfrom Saks Fifth Avenue<br \/>\nfor everybody&#8217;s imagined Christ child<\/p>\n<p>Christ climbed down<br \/>\nfrom His bare Tree this year<br \/>\nand ran away to where<br \/>\nno Bing Crosby carollers<br \/>\ngroaned of a tight Christmas<br \/>\nand where no Radio City angels<br \/>\niceskated wingless<br \/>\nthru a winter wonderland<br \/>\ninto a jinglebell heaven<br \/>\ndaily at 8:30<br \/>\nwith Midnight Mass matinees<\/p>\n<p>Christ climbed down<br \/>\nfrom His bare Tree this year<br \/>\nand softly stole away into<br \/>\nsome anonymous Mary&#8217;s womb again<br \/>\nwhere in the darkest night<br \/>\nof everybody&#8217;s anonymous soul<br \/>\nHe awaits again<br \/>\nan unimaginable and impossibly<br \/>\nImmaculate Reconception<br \/>\nthe very craziest<br \/>\nof Second Comings<\/p>\n<p class=\"byline\">By Lawrence Ferlinghetti<br \/>\n(From A Coney Island of the Mind. New Directions, 1958.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">~~*~~<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<pre>Please join the discussion below.<\/pre>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/2011\/12\/sweet-sour-christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-736\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.siriuspress.com\/studio\/2011\/12\/sweet-sour-christmas\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr 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