Happy Holiday

What holiday did you have in mind, exactly? Not the fourth of July, surely?

Oh, yeah ...

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. ([And] this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

That holiday.

I'm Catholic, but I can't resist the King James Version. Shakespeare couldn't have written it better.

(Of course, there are those who suggest he did. In Psalm 46, the 46th word from the beginning is "Shake" and the 46th word from the end is "spear," and when the KJV appeared Shakespeare was 46 years old, but heck, that can't mean anything.) (If you're a real conspiracy theorist you'll have already noted that 46 is twice 23. If you don't know the significance of 23 congratulations, you're not actually paranoid and probably don't spend most of your days worrying about the Kennedy assassination, the Knights Templars, the freemasons and the street pattern of the District of Columbia.) (I won't bring up the Denver airport: you're not supposed to know about that one.)

Anyone who understands the previous paragraph spends too much time reading weird Internet sites. Go back to work.

Merry Christmas.