Young Woman Arrested for Treason and Sedition (A Christmas Story)

Nazareth, PA: A 16 year old girl was arrested and charged with treason and sedition after police say she uttered unpatriotic slogans and threats against the government.

The young woman (name withheld) was booked into the county jail and is being held without bond.

Witnesses say that she was singing or chanting political protest slogans. “I heard her say something about pulling down the thrones of power,” said Terry Ousterman, a Nazareth resident. “She was going on and on about how the rich are going to get what’s coming to them, and how the poor are going to take it all. It’s this kind of class-warfare that’s ruined our country,” said Ousterman.

When asked if the Treason and Sedition charges (which, if convicted, can carry the death penalty) are too extreme considering her age, Federal Prosecutors said, “It’s hard, we know. But these poisonous sentiments cannot be allowed to destroy our nation.”

The young woman herself has declined to comment on the charges, but has asked for special medical consideration during her incarceration as she is pregnant.

Her next court hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 6.


(Luke 1: 46 – 56)

Glitter Suspension

More sparkles and spangles for those of you who like such pretties...

Joseph Was a Good Man

I’ve been thinking about that question my friend and colleague asked me the other day: Do you know any songs about Joseph?  I shared the few that I knew and found in my library of music books. But it still seems that Joseph is a bit slighted in the carols department. There are multiplied thousands of songs for Mary, for the shepherds, for the magi, for the angels, for the stars, for the animals … but relatively few for Saint Joseph.

So I decided to write one for him myself.  Here is “Joseph Was a Good Man” – sung to the tune “The Lone, Wild Bird”

Joseph was a good man, upright and true
and he did what the angel told him to;
he took as his bride
the virgin, Mary,
and Joseph loved her baby too.

Joseph took them both to Egypt land
to escape King Herod’s mighty hand;
when the tyrant died
Joseph knew he could
take his wife and the child home again.

After that we hear no more of him -
how he lived, how he died, the story dims,
but we sing with pride
of that good man
and we sing to God our Christmas hymns.




It ain’t much, I know, but it’s better than Christmas Shoes. *shudder.

A (Very) Few Christmas Songs for Joseph

A friend and colleague of mine asked a wonderful question yesterday: she asked me if I know any Christmas songs / carols about Joseph.  And this is striking.

There are countless thousands of songs about the Virgin Mary, about the shepherds, the wise men, the angels, and the star.  There are songs about the animals and the children who came to visit. But there are relatively few Christmas songs and carols about good St. Joseph.

I dug through my memory and through the books of Christmas music that I have on my shelves and found a few:

There is the French: Joseph Est Bien Marié  (Joseph Married Well)

And the German: Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine

The Portuguese: José Embala O Menino (Joseph Rocks the Little Boy)

Joseph gets the third verse… half of the third verse, actually, of The Snow Lay on the Ground:

He’s mentioned again (but briefly) in the French song: Noël Nouvelet:

Though the Catalonian carol El Rei Herodes is titled after King Herod, the song focuses on Joseph:



Joseph gets several verses of the Venezuelan carol: La Jornada:



The Mexican carol, En El Nombre del Cielo (In the Name of Heaven) is a conversation between Joseph and the Innkeeper (who, you might remember isn’t actually in the story.)



And of course, there is the strange but wonderful Cherry Tree Carol, which has an emotionally wounded Joseph telling Mary to let the boy’s real father pick cherries for her. It’s based on a story from the Gospel of Psuedo-Matthew.


There are probably more – but not many.  Have I missed any? Share them in the comments.

More Holiday Sparkles

I may not enjoy the holidays, but I can (and do) enjoy taking pictures of the holiday sparkles.