December 2, 2020
Today is the day of a famous Christmas tradition: the lighting of the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center, NYC. The tree is put up sometime during November. Today, on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, a ceremony is held and it is lit for the first time.
In 1931, a Christmas tree was put up at Rockefeller Center for the first time, during the center’s construction. Demolition workers on the site gathered money together to purchase the tree – a 20-foot balsam fir – and placed it at the spot where they collected their paychecks. On Christmas Eve, they decorated it with handmade garland, strings of cranberries, and tin cans. The first official Christmas tree, a 50-foot balsam fir, was put up at the spot in 1933, and the tradition of lighting it began.
The lights, decorations, and stars of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree have varied and often changed over the years, and have sometimes reflected events going on in the country or world. During World War II the tree was unlit because of blackout regulations. In 1942, three smaller trees were set, and one was decorated in red, one in white, one in blue for the soldiers who were in Europe and in the Pacific. In 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the tree was again decorated in red, white, and blue.
Here is last year’s tree lighting.
In previous years the lighting would have been a very festive time with live entertainment. This year, because of COVID-19 the tree lighting is closed to the public, and there will be special tree viewing entrances and traffic patterns, and tree viewing time limits. Masks and social distancing will be required at all times.
In recent years, “Joy to the World” has been sung after the lighting. No word yet whether or not that musical recognition of the Reason for the Season, the birth of Jesus Christ the Lord, will be sung.
👉 Speaking of Christmas lights, this video is from 2016, a most awesome display a most awesome display. But if I lived next door, I might, once or twice, be hoping for a power outage.
👉 Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr, premiered on CBS television September 21, 1957, and ran for 9 seasons to May 22, 1966. The fictional Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer originally appeared in books by Erle Stanley Gardner. The show was Hollywood’s first weekly one-hour series filmed for television.
During its first season, it received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Dramatic Series, and it became one of the five most popular shows on television. Raymond Burr received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Barbara Hale received the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Mason’s confidential secretary Della Street.
Perry Mason didn’t win every case. In fact, at least three decisions went against him.
Well, sort of. “The Case of the Witless Witness” begins with a judgment being handed down against Perry by judge Daniel Redmond. Perry’s not trying a murder case; it’s a matter of civil law.
In “The Case of the Terrified Typist,” a jury returns a guilty verdict against Perry’s client, giving Hamilton Burger goose bumps thinking he’d finally beaten Mason. But Perry is still able to clear the defendant.
Perry’s most famous “loss” occurred in “The Case of the Deadly Verdict.” The show uncharacteristically opens in the courtroom. A decision is being handed down. Perry’s client, Janice Barton, is found guilty of murdering her aunt for money, and is sentenced to die in the gas chamber.
To pump up interest in this particular episode, which ran in October 1963, producer Gail Jackson released teasers to the press. Foreshadowing publicity stunts to come (remember “Who Shot J.R.?”), Jackson revealed only that Perry’s client would be found guilty at the beginning of the episode. The New York Times pointed out that the big question was, can “Perry and his client reverse the circumstances just before the final commercial?” They did.
More about our favorite TV lawyer tomorrow.
👉 Judy Kay “Juice” Newton was a pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton, who died in 2009 from cancer, received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categories – winning once in 1983 – as well as an ACM Award for Top New Female Artist and two Billboard Female Album Artist of the Year awards.
In keeping with this time of year, here is a record company mash-up of her 2007 studio Christmas album, “The Gift of Christmas.”
If you drop in at 233 on Monday evenings or Friday evenings, you will often find a card game in progress, usually “Auction Rummy” or sometimes “King’s Corners.” And when the Queen of Hearts hits the table, the players frequently break out into our favorite Juice Newton song, appropriately enough, “Queen of Hearts.”
👉 Here’s one to think about:
👉 First Wednesday of Advent
The Vicious Cycle Broken
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).
It is written in Deuteronomy 15:11 that the poor will always be with you. It is written elsewhere that there will always be wars and rumors of wars. It is written in the American psyche that the big ones will always eat the little ones. It is written in the hearts of many hurting ones that their situation will always be abusive and exploitative. It is written and it is believed and it is lived, that the world is a hostile, destructive place. You must be on guard and maintain whatever advantage you can. It is written and recited like a mantra, world without end.
In the middle of that hopelessness, Advent issues a vision of another day, written by the poet, given to Israel midst the deathly cadence. We do not know when, but we know for sure. The poet knows for sure that this dying and killing is not forever, because another word has been spoken.
Watch that vision, because it ends in a dramatic moment of transformation. The old city is full of blacksmiths who have so much work to do. Listen and you can hear the hammer on the anvil. The smiths are beating and pounding iron, reshaping it, beating swords into plowshares and spears into tools for orchards. Fear is dissipating, hate is collapsing, anxiety is lessening, and all because the vicious cycles are ended and life becomes possible.
This vision sounded impossible the first time it was uttered; it has not become more realistic in the meantime. Advent, nonetheless, is a time for a new reality. There is a new possibility now among us, rooted in God’s love and God’s suffering power. Power from God’s love breaks the vicious cycles. It is promised that the cycles can be broken, and life can be different. It is promised and it is coming, in God’s good time.
God of love and suffering power, speak again your word of transformation in the midst of our weary world. We so easily capitulate to despair, to numb acceptance of deathly orders. Break the vicious cycles, and kindle in us once again a passion for the possible. Amen.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment