Podcasts about victorian english

On this episode, my guest is , a friend and scholar who recently completed his PhD in Cultural Geography from The University of Edinburgh where his research centered on themes of displacement and memorial walking practices in the Highlands of Scotland. A child of Greek political refugees on both sides of his family, Christos' work looks at ways in which ceremony and ritual might afford us the capacity to integrate disconnection from place and ancestry. Further, his research into pre-modern Gaelic Highland culture reveals animistic relationship with mountains which disrupt easy definitions of colonialism and indigeneity.Show Notes:Summoning and Summiting a DoctorateThe British Empire & EverestThe Three Roots of FreedomHillwalkers and HomecomingThe Consequences of Staying and LeavingThe Romans Make a Desert and Call it PeaceFarming EmptinessLandscapes as MediumsRitualized Acts of WalkingHomework:Christos Galanis' Official WebsiteTranscript:Chris: [00:00:00] Welcome, Christos, to the End of Tourism podcast. Christos: Thank you, Chris. Chris: Thank you for joining me today. Would you be willing to let us know where you're dialing in from today? Christos: Yeah, I'm calling in from home, which at the moment is Santa Fe, New Mexico in the United States. Yeah, I moved out here for my master's in 2010 and fell in love with it, and and then returned two years ago.So it's actually a place that does remind me of the Mediterranean and Greece, even though there's no water, but the kind of mountain desert. So there's a familiarity somehow in my body. Chris: Sounds beautiful. Well I'm delighted to speak with you today about your PhD dissertation entitled "A Mountain Threnody: Hill Walking and Homecoming in the Scottish Highlands." And I know you're working on the finishing touches of the dissertation, but I'd like to pronounce a dear congratulations on that huge feat. I imagine after a decade of research and [00:01:00] writing, that you can finally share this gift, at least for now, in this manner, in terms of our conversation together.Christos: Thank you. It was probably the hardest thing I've done in my life in terms of a project. Yeah. Nine years.Chris: And so, you and I met at Stephen Jenkinson's Orphan Wisdom School many years ago. But beyond that from what I understand that you were born and raised in Toronto and Scarborough to Greek immigrants, traveled often to see family in Greece and also traveled widely yourself, and of course now living in New Mexico for some time. I'm curious why focus on Scotland for your thesis? Christos: It was the last place I thought I would be going to. Didn't have a connection there. So I did my master's down here in Albuquerque at UNM and was actually doing a lot of work on the border with Mexico and kind of Southwest Spanish history.I actually thought I was going to go to UC San Diego, partly because of the weather and had some connections [00:02:00] there. And two things happened. One was that you have to write your GRE, whatever the standardized test is you need to do for grad school here in the US, you don't have to do in the UK. So that appealed to me.And it's also, there's no coursework in the UK. So you just, from day one, you're just doing your own research project. And then I wanted to actually work with what Was and probably still is my favorite academic writer is Tim Ingold, who was based in Aberdeen up in the north of Scotland and is kind of that thing where I was like, "well if I'm gonna do a PhD What if I just literally worked with like the most amazing academic I can imagine working with" and so I contacted him. He was open to meeting and possibly working together and so I was gonna fly to Scotland.I was actually spending the winter in Thailand at the time, so I was like, if I'm gonna go all the way to Scotland, maybe I should check out a couple more universities. So, I looked at St. Andrews, which is a little bit north of Edinburgh, and then Edinburgh, then visited all [00:03:00] three schools, and actually just really fell in love with Edinburgh, and then in the end got full funding from them. And that took me to Scotland. And I didn't know what was in store for me. I didn't even follow through on my original research project, which had nothing to do with Scotland. The sites that I was actually proposed to work with was on the Dine reservation out here in Arizona. There's a tradition, long tradition of sheep herding and there's a lot of, some friends of mine have a volunteer program where volunteers go and help the Diné elders and herd their sheep for them and what's happening is they're trying to hold on to their land and Peabody Coal, a coal mining company, has been trying to take the land forever and so by keeping on herding sheep, it allows them to stay there.So I was actually kind of looking at walking as forms of resistance and at that time, most undocumented migrants trying to enter Europe were walking from Turkey through Macedonia. So I was actually going to go there. And yeah, once I kind of hit the ground, I realized that that's way too ambitious.And I [00:04:00] decided to focus on this really strange phenomenon called Monroe Bagging in the Highlands of Scotland, where people work all week in their office, Monday to Friday, and then spend their weekends checking off a task list of 282 mountains that they summit. There's 282 of them and they're categorized that way because they're all over 3, 000 feet, which for us in North America, isn't that high, but for the Scottish Highlands, because they're very ancient, ancient, worn down mountains is pretty high.And also the weather and the climate and the terrain make it pretty treacherous out there. So it's, it's not an easy thing. Yeah. And I just thought this is a really weird, strange way to relate to mountains and to land. And it seems like a very British thing to do. And I kind of just got curious to figure out what was going on and why people would actually do this.And it came from a very, actually, critical perspective, to begin with. As things unfolded, that changed a fair amount in terms of getting to know people. But, yeah, that was Scotland. And, I think looking back, I think [00:05:00] I was called there by the mountains. I can give the bigger context maybe later on, but essentially one of the main mountain called Ben Cruachan, in Argyle that I ended up most working with and kind of going in and doing ceremony for, and with. I ended up later meeting my what would become my wife and married into her family and on one side of her family, they are literally the Macintyres who are from that mountain. So yeah ended up kind of going there and marrying into a lineage of a mountain that was the center of my my dissertation.So in the end I think I was called there. I think I was called to apprentice those mountains. And then I feel like my time ended. And I think this dissertation is kind of the story of that relationship with that courtship.Chris: Beautiful. Well, thank you so much for that beautifully winding answer and introduction. So, you know, a lot of your dissertation speaks to kind of different notions of mountain climbing, summiting, hiking but you also write about [00:06:00] how our cultural or collective understandings of mountains have defined our ability to undertake these activities.And I'm curious, based on your research and personal experience, how do you think mountains are understood within the dominant paradigm of people who undertake these practices. Christos: Yeah, good question. I would say, I know I don't like to speak in universals, but I could say that one universal is that, as far as I can tell, all cultures around the world tend to not only revere mountains, but tend to relate to mountain peaks as sacred.And so in most cultures, at least pre modern culture, you will always find a taboo around ever actually climbing to the top of a mountain, especially a significant mountain. So ways that you might worship a sacred mountain, for example, you know, in Tibet is to circumnavigate. So hiking, walking around a mountain three times or walking the perimeter of a mountain, kind of circling [00:07:00] around and around the summit.But it would be absolutely abhorrent to actually ever climb to the top. So one thing I was interested in is what happened, what shifted, where in the past people would never think of climbing a mountain summit to that becoming almost the only thing that people were focused on. And I didn't know this, but out of all countries, the country that most intensely kind of pursued that practice was, was England, was Britain, actually.So it's really fascinating. There's this period, the Victorian era, where basically Britain is invading other countries such as Nepal, India, into China, into Kenya, parts of Africa, South America certainly here in North America and the Americas and of course mountain ranges serve as pretty natural and intense frontiers and barriers, especially back then before. You know, industrial machinery and airplanes and things [00:08:00] like that, you're going over land. And so to be able to get through a mountain range was a pretty intense thing. Really only became possible with kind of Victorian era technology and because they were able to penetrate these places that people really couldn't have before it was a way of kind of proving modern supremacy or the supremacy of kind of modern secularism.Because even in places like Sutherland and the Alps, the indigenous Swiss also considered like the Alps sacred, the mountain peaks and wouldn't climb them. And so as the British kind of came up into these mountain ranges. They had the idea of proving that essentially there were no gods on these mountaintops.There was nothing sacred about them. It's just a pile of rock and anybody can climb up and nothing's going to happen to them. And so they really started setting out to start summiting these mountains. And it was mostly military engineers. There's a big overlap between kind of military engineering and surveying and [00:09:00] map making and this kind of outdoor kind of Victorian kind of proving your manhood against nature kind of thing.And so it's a strangely poetic and very grief soaked proposition where increasingly humans had the technology to penetrate anywhere on the planet, you know, more and more. And maybe I'll just go into the story of Everest because it was perceived that the, the earth had three poles.So the North pole, the South pole, and Everest is the highest peak on the whole planet. So there was this race to set foot on the North Pole on the South Pole and on Everest. I don't know much about the North and South Pole expeditions I think they were first but Everest was kind of like yeah I think Everest was the last literally the last place on earth that humans weren't able yet to physically step foot on. And so the British set out to be the ones to do it after World War one. And there's another overlap where most of the men that were obsessed with mountain summiting after World War I had [00:10:00] been through the horrors of World War I and had a lot of PTSD and shell shock and kind of couldn't reintegrate back to civilian life.They kind of needed that rush of risking your life for some kind of larger goal, which warfare can provide. And, slowly they kind of got better technology and eventually by, I think it was maybe 1952, 1953, they finally conquered Everest. And it's almost like the moment that they penetrated this last place of wilderness that was holding out the British Empire started collapsing, which the timing is quite fascinating. You know, they lost India and Pakistan. And as soon as you kind of are able to dominate everything, there comes this nostalgia immediately for wild places. And this is where Scotland comes back in. Where, Scotland, the Highlands have been inhabited for tens of thousands of years.There's nothing wild about them. There were villages everywhere. But what happened through the [00:11:00] 16, 1700s was the Gaelic population, the indigenous population were ethnically cleansed. And then kind of the lands that follow for maybe 100 years. And then when the English started coming in, they were like, "Oh, this is wilderness.These mountains have never been climbed before. We're going to be the ones to conquer them because we're the superior race." And they did so, and when I chose the the title of my thesis used this little known word, Threnody, which is actually from Greek, Threnodia, which translates something as like a song of grief or a song of lament.And I think for me, this incessant kind of like summiting of mountains and risking and sometimes losing your life to penetrate these places where you actually don't retain control, or it's very hard to retain control, right, because of like storms in the weather, that it's almost like a kind of mourning for the loss of the very things that this technology has kind of erased or has compromised.So it's almost, I can't even put into words the feeling around it, but it's almost like, [00:12:00] You're doing the thing that's destroying something, but you have the impulse to keep doing it as a way of connecting to the thing that's being lost, if that makes sense. And I can imagine, you know, maybe all the work that you've done around tourism might have a similar quality to it.There's, I don't know, there's like a melancholy that I experience interviewing and going out with these people that I don't think they would ever be conscious of or even name, but there's a longing for something that's missing. And so that's where also this kind of song of lament theme comes into my, into my dissertation.Chris: Yeah, it's definitely something that shows up over and over again in these conversations and thank you for putting it into such eloquent words is that. I think it really succinctly speaks to the, the condition or conditions at hand. And I guess I'm curious you know, in regards to what you just said about notions of freedom [00:13:00] that are often experienced in touristic experiences or contexts and some of your dissertation centers around the freedom that your friends and hill walking acquaintances experienced there in the Highlands and freedom can often seem like a kind of recurrent trope sometimes in describing the tourist's reasons for travel.And surely outside of a trope for many people's reasons for travel you know, especially in the context of migration. Beyond the surface, we can wonder about the inheritance of ancestrally or ancestral indentured servitude, the commons and the lack thereof in our time and also like a kind of communion or relationship with what you refer to as other than human worlds. And I'm curious what kind of contradictions or insights came up for you in regards to the supposed freedom that was either found or sought after by the Hillwalkers you encountered.[00:14:00] Christos: Thank you. Yeah, I think before I started going deep into this, I probably, I probably shared most people's notion of freedom, which most of us don't ever really sit and wonder that deeply about.But there's a section of my dissertation where I go deep into freedom and I actually look at three different cultural and kind of etymological or linguistic lenses through which to understand freedom. And there's two that the people I interviewed, I think, were most practicing. So the word freedom itself comes from the Germanic, and it's two words.It's broke frei, which is "free," "to be free." And dom, translates kind of as "a judgment." So if you know like doomsday or the doomsday book. What the doomsday and judgment day actually mean the same thing It's just doom is like the older Germanic word for judgment. Okay, and so freedom can kind of translate as like freedom from judgment freedom from constraint and it has this quality of like spatially removing [00:15:00] yourself or getting distance from something that might constrain you, so you mentioned indentured servitude and slavery, which are as old as human civilization across the world.And all these different things that, basically, we are more or less constrained by, whether it's, family, the state, our living conditions, poverty, excess wealth, you know, all these things that might, or the expression of our true life force. And so for a lot of the people that I was working with, that was certainly what they would describe, you know, like I work in an office as a manager Monday through Friday in Edinburgh, and then it's only on the weekends that I get out into the hills and I truly feel alive and free, right? Because I'm in this vast expanse and, I mean, It's not my climate. I'm Greek by both sides. Wet, soggy moss and mold and endless rain and drizzle and cold and dark is not my thing, but it is visually stunningly beautiful. And you know, [00:16:00] and I'm sure we all know the experience of getting up to a peak of something and that sense of kind of almost being removed from the everyday and that sense of like maybe connecting to something higher or bigger.So that sense of freedom is obvious. The other, another lens is through Latin liberty or libertas, which comes from ancient Roman society, which was a heavily hierarchied society where up to 60 percent of people were actually slaves. So, there's a big distinction between those who are free and those who are slaves.And so the idea of liberty, and this also came up with my informants is the idea that you have to compare yourself to another and the more freedom you have compared to someone else, the better it feels. And I think of that as all the mechanics of like air airports and you know, first class lines and first class seating.I had the experience once flying because flying from New York through back to [00:17:00] London to get back to Edinburgh. And for the first and only time in my life I was bumped up to first class for some reason, I don't know why. But it was on, I don't know, one of the newer kind of jumbo jets, and the difference between economy class and first class in many ways is pretty profound.At the same time, it's ridiculous because you're all sitting in the same tube. But I remember the feeling that happened once we took off and they drew the curtain between the first class and everyone in the back. And it was this experience where everyone back there just disappeared.It's just kind of like, you can't see them, they're out of sight, out of mind, and you're just up front. You can lay down completely horizontally in these chairs, you have real glass, glassware and real cutlery, you know, and people treat you super, super nice. But like, in order to enjoy that, you need other people to not be enjoying that, right?So the idea of liberty kind of requires another, or it's almost a zero sum game where someone else has to be losing for you to be winning. And you know, I think of that with tourism, the idea that those of us from the North, you know, are stuck [00:18:00] at home in the winter while those with money, you know, can fly off to Mexico or Costa Rica and stuff like that.So that difference that like your experience is enhanced by other people's discomfort or suffering. And then I came across another lens, which comes from the Greek. So the Greek word for freedom is Eleftheria. And I didn't know the etymology, but one of my office mates in Edinburgh was from Greece, and we sat down with like a Greek etymological dictionary and I discovered that the Greek notion of freedom is completely different.It's almost counterintuitive, and it translates as something close to " loving the thing you were meant to love" or like "being the thing you were meant to be." And even more distinctly, the rios part in Eleftheria would translate into something like "returning to your home harbor after like a long voyage," and it's that, it's literally the experience of coming home, [00:19:00] which in a way is the freedom of not wanting to be anywhere else or to be anyone else, which is in some ways, I think to me, the most true freedom, because you don't want for anything, you actually love everything you are and everywhere you are, and you don't want to go anywhere else.So in that way, I think for me, cultivating a connection to place as an animist, you know, and I think that's a lot of what you and I I imagine experienced, you know, listening to Steven Jenkinson's many stories that keep circling around this idea of, you know, belonging is cultivating that place in you or that muscle in you that doesn't want to be anywhere else, doesn't want to be anybody else, but is actually satisfied and fulfilled by what is, which it's probably at the heart of most spiritual traditions at the end of the day, but to think of that as freedom, I think for me, really, really changed my perspective from, the idea of going around the world as I have and certainly in the past to experience all these different things and to [00:20:00] feel free and to be a nomad versus I would say the freedom I have here of loving Santa Fe and not imagining myself being anywhere else right now.Chris: Well, the theme of homecoming is definitely woven into this work, this dissertation, alongside hill walking.They seem, generally speaking, superficially very disparate or distinct activities, homecoming and hill walking. One is going and then it's coming. And I'm curious if you could elaborate for our listeners a little bit of what those terms mean, and where or how they come together in your work.Christos: Yeah. So the title of my dissertation, you know, is a "A Mountain Threnody: Hillwalkers and Homecomers in the Highlands of Scotland."So I set out to study hill walkers, which is basically a British term for going out for a walk or a hike where the focus is summiting some kind of peak, you know, whether a hill or a mountain, but that's what most people do there. When you set out on a walk, it's just assumed that you're going to end up going to the top of something and then [00:21:00] back down.What ended up happening is actually through Stephen Jenkinson's Orphan Wisdom School, I met several other Canadians of Scottish descent who had already or were planning on going quote "back" to Scotland to connect with their ancestral lands and their ancestors which is a lot of the work with Stephen's school and that, you know, that idea of connecting with your ancestry and with your roots and with your bones.And I kind of just started following along and interviewing people and talking with people that became friends just out of curiosity, because, you know, that's a lot of my background with being first generation Canadian and growing up in a huge Greek diaspora in Toronto and speaking Greek and going back to Greece multiple times and this idea of kind of being Canadian, but really home is in Europe and Greece, even though I've never lived there.So, there's a lot there, personal interest and eventually against my supervisor's advice, I was like, this might be an interesting [00:22:00] conversation to put these two groups together, these people who are spending their weekends summiting mountains in the Highlands and then these other people coming from Canada and the US and New Zealand and Australia who are going to the same mountains to connect with their ancestral, you know, lands and and people. And these two groups are probably the two biggest sources of tourism, like, in the Highlands, which is fascinating. Wow. Except that the one group, the Hillwalkers tend to imagine that they're in a pristine wilderness and that there's never been anybody there. And the homecomers like to imagine that the hills used to be covered in villages and their own people that were there for thousands of years and that they're reconnecting.So it's interesting how the same landscape is both imagined as being repopulated and also emptied. And that both groups are kind of searching again for this kind of belonging, right? This belonging through freedom, for this belonging through ancestry. The other piece that gets, [00:23:00] well, you know, we're interviewing this, we're doing this interview November 21st and we're, I think most people these days are pretty aware of what's going on in Israel and Palestine and this idea of home because to have a homecoming means there has to be somewhere out there that you consider your home.And that's such a loaded, loaded, loaded concept, right? Like many wars are fought over this idea of who a land belongs to, right? I mean, I know you and I have talked about both our families being from the borderlands with Greece, Macedonia, Albania, and those borders just change over and over and where you belong to what is home keeps changing depending on which war has happened, which outcome and things like that.And I think for those of us, I'll say in the Americas, who don't have deep roots here this idea of home being somewhere else other than where you live, is a very complex prospect because certainly when I go to Greece, people don't recognize me as being home, you know, they, they consider me a Canadian tourist. And at the same time growing up in Canada, I certainly never felt [00:24:00] like, "Oh, Canada is like my ancestral home. You know, it's, it's skin deep. My parents came over in the sixties. Right." So this idea of homecoming and, you know, maybe we can just riff on this for a bit. Cause I know you've explored this a lot. It's like, is it tourism or is it something else? Because a lot of people in Scotland, including people I interviewed, just laugh at these Canadians who come over and just start crying, standing over some rocks in the Highlands and who will buy some shitty whiskey at a tourist shop and feel that they're connecting with their roots and buy bagpipes and by kilts and all this stuff, whereas like most Scottish people don't wear kilts and don't blow bagpipes and don't necessarily drink whiskey all day, so there's these kind of stereotypes that have often been just kind of produced by the media, but it's almost like, other than that, how do people actually connect with the homeland, right?Like, what does it even mean to connect with a homeland? And one thing that I found that I think is one of the most powerful things is the idea of walking. So [00:25:00] this is why the comparison and the contrast with hill walking and homecoming is most people, when you go back to your homeland, there's something really central about walking in the footsteps of your ancestors, right?So walking around in the same village, walking the same streets, going to the same house, maybe even if it's not there anymore, going to... I remember going to my mom's elementary school in the little village that she grew up in the mountains of Greece and walking down the same hallways with her, and we went to the auditorium, and she, showed me the little stage where she would literally be putting on little plays when they were, like, in third grade and there's something about standing and stepping in the same place that is so fundamental. And so I'm kind of looking at homecoming through these kind of memorial or commemorative practices of walking. So it's not just walking, but walking and activating a landscape or activating the memories that are kind of enfolded in a landscape. And I've come to believe and understand that walking is a kind of almost magic technology that I [00:26:00] almost see it as really like opening up portals to other times and other places when done in a ceremonial kind of ritualized manner.So a lot of my work again, as an animist and kind of being as far as I know, the first in my field was just cultural geography, to kind of bring an animist lens to the field and kind of look at how, doing ceremony on a mountain, going into these glands and doing ceremony is more than just the material kind of walking, but is actually kind of connecting with these memories and these people in these places.In a way that's, I think, deeper than tourism and that's maybe the distinction between tourism and let's say homecoming on the surface that you might actually be doing almost the same thing, but I think there is this kind of animist lens to understand homecoming through where you let's say you bring a stone from home or you take a stone and bring it back home you know, like these kinds of Ritualize little practices that we do to connect with the place that I don't think tourists do in the same way, [00:27:00] you know?Because in tourism, you're often just trying to get away from where you live and experience something different, where this is trying to reconnect with something that's been lost or something that's in the past. Chris: Yeah, definitely. This leads me into a lot of different directions, but one of them is this question of animism that I'd like to come back to in just a moment but before we do, I want to ask you about. These heritage trips sometimes they're referred to as within the tourism industry, homeland returns which in most cases is a paradox or an oxymoron because most people are not returning to the places that they either were born in or lived in.They, typically, like myself, had never actually been there before. I'll just pull a little quote from your dissertation because I think it precedes this question in a good way. You write that quote, "the commissioner of Sutherland advocated for a state administered program of colonization in the Scottish Highlands, similarly arguing that the [00:28:00] Gaelic race and its inferior temperament presented an obstacle to the onward march of civilization. Locke set out a vision for the colonization, displacement, and reeducation of Gaelic Highlanders, where eventually, quote, 'the children of those removed from the hills will lose all recollection of the habits and customs of their fathers.'Locke's vision has broadly come true," end quote. And so, within the context of the wider spectrum and calendars and geographies that we've kind of been discussing, but more specifically in the context of Scotland, I'm curious if the people that you met there, either locals or visitors and especially in the case of those coming for a homecoming or heritage trip had an understanding of these things, of this history.Christos: No, that's what I found out. [00:29:00] What I've found in my lifetime, cause this isn't the only kind of project around this kind of theme that I've done. Maybe we'll get, I did another project with Mexican friends going back to Spain and kind of repatriating or reconnecting back through the kind of the displacement of the Spanish civil war.But what I've found is those of us of the colonies, that's kind of what I consider myself in ourselves, like people of the colonies. I'm not sure if it's better or worse that we're the ones that hold on to the stories and the memories and the people back quote "home" or in the "homeland" for the large part have moved on and don't really give much thought to these histories of displacement.It's almost, oh my God, it was strange to be in this country where most of the place names in the Highlands are Gaelic, and 98 percent of Scottish citizens cannot read or understand Gaelic, so partly it was this strangeness of being in a country where only two out of every hundred people could even understand the names of the places where they lived, even [00:30:00] though they had never left there and their people had never left there.And you know, if you let that sink in, it's like, let's say you and I being of Greek descent, imagine if 90 percent of Greeks couldn't understand Greek, you know what I mean? And couldn't understand the name of their own village. And well, there's, here's another angle to this in Scotland.When you want to learn traditional Gaelic fiddle, you go to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia in Canada because that's where the Highlanders who immigrated to Nova Scotia in the past kept the tradition pure and kept fiddle playing what it had always been. Whereas, you know in Scotland now, they're into hip hop and trap and drum and bass and stuff like this.And so if you're Scottish and you've never left Scotland in order to connect with the music of your ancestors you have to go to Canada, so most people that I interviewed and I think this is fair, you know to assume of most people Don't [00:31:00] think much about the ethnic cleansing that went on whichever side that they were on And it's kind of left to us in the colonies either to also let it go and move on and try to settle into these new lands or you kind of keep holding on to this memory of a place you've actually never lived, you know, and it's almost like both propositions are grief soaked.Both are kind of almost an impossible poem to hold because obviously there were people here before our European ancestors came. Obviously, we don't have these deep roots or memories or connections to this place. We don't have ceremonies or songs or much that's derived from this land, at least not yet.And yet many of us lose the language and the ceremonies and the traditions of the places where our ancestors came. It's almost like at least we still know where we've come from. Whereas to be in Europe, or at least in Scotland, and to have never left, but to nevertheless have also lost the connection with [00:32:00] your own ancestors and your own language and those places it's almost like a parallel process where there are people that get on the boats and leave, but there are people that are left behind. But it's almost like, regardless whether you leave or whether you stay, the fabric of that culture just gets completely rendered and torn apart by that displacement. And somehow, even though you never leave having so many of your people leave actually kind of compromises the ability to stay where you are, and to be connected to where you are. ⌘ Chris Christou ⌘ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber!I interviewed one woman who had an ancestor who in Scotland, they call like psychic abilities, the second sight.So the idea of having kind of psychic premonitions or all of a sudden knowing that like your brother has died, even though he's in Australia, you know, that kind of thing. That people had that when I lived in Scotland and when they moved to Canada, they actually lost that ability. You know, so it's this idea that it's not that you carry almost these knowledges or abilities just in you, but it's actually comes from the connection [00:33:00] to the place.And once that connection becomes severed, you lose those capacities. And I've actually never said this out loud, but I wonder how much the people that stayed behind actually lost because of all the people that left, if that made sense. It's almost like, how does a culture stay resilient when almost everyone between the ages of like 20 and 40 leaves and never comes back.I think you could consider that this is all just stuff to wonder about. But like, for those of us that come from these kind of like largely settler countries like Canada and the U. S, we're still living through these questions. We're still living through these implications of like, how long do you hold on to the past? And at what point do you just kind of let go and move forward? And If you do so, how do you move forward in a place that you don't have any roots?Chris: You know. I remember going to see, going to my father's village in northern Greece for the first time some eight years ago, and knowing that I had [00:34:00] one baba or grandmother left there, and after searching for a few hours, she was hard of hearing at the time, finally found her, finally found the house and shared a delicious meal and traded photographs.I had no Greek or Macedonian language ability at the time. And then I was I called a taxi later on some, you know, at the end of the day to go back to the city, to the hotel, and standing in her garden there, she began to weep, right, without having said anything, even with the language barrier, I could understand what she was saying, and she was, she was mourning the migration of my family or my side of the family, or my father's side of the family to Canada, and then, her son and his family to Germany.And so, there's this question of what comes upon the people that quote unquote "stay." that's so often lost in the discourses [00:35:00] around migration, kind of always focusing on the individual, the migrant themselves, or the places that they arrive in.But do we just let it go? And how do we do that? I have this other quote from your dissertation that lands really strangely in this moment, in this conversation and it has to do a little bit with the kind of what I think you refer to as a national geographic imaginary.And so this is the response of the people in Scotland, in the Highlands embedded and engaged and indebted to these hill walking and homecoming industries. And so in your dissertation, it's written that "in February of 2017, an uproar on all sides erupted when, in a rare sign of bipartisan solidarity, both Mountaineering Scotland and the Scottish Gamekeepers Association attempted to pressure the Scottish government to abandon a [00:36:00] proposal to increase woodland cover, trees, from 17 percent to 25%. by 2050. The commitment to plant 10, 000 extra hectares of trees between now and 2022 was made in the government's draft climate plan. The protesting organizations argued that there had not been enough consultation and consideration given to the changes to the highland landscape that would come about by this tree planting initiative.And they were voicing their concern on whether, quote, 'adequate weight is being given to the significant changes this will have on the landscape of Scotland, and in particular, the dramatic open views and vistas which have come to signify to the outside world that which is unique about our country.'" End quote.And so this seems to be, to some degree, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but a manner of contending [00:37:00] with that past in a way that is, you know, perhaps ignorant of it. Or that is perhaps also faithfully serving the needs, the economic needs of the people, of the place.Christos: There's a lot there. I'm, what's coming to me, do you know this quote? It's from ancient Rome. It's a bit convoluted, but this is a Roman text talking about the colonization of Britain, so of the Romans conquering the Gaelic people in the Picts, but it's In a speech written by this Roman historian that he's attributing to like the Gaelic king, basically. So it's not, this wasn't actually said by a Gaelic king, it's just a Roman kind of putting these words in his mouth to kind of create like a battle scene, but but a lot of people quote this and it's from the Gaelic perspective referring to the Romans saying "the Romans make a desert and call it peace."[00:38:00] And that's kind of what's happened in Scotland is the villages were cleansed, literally. You know, the houses were burned down and knocked down. The people were forcibly, sometimes violently, thrown out of their homes into the cold. Many of them just had no prospects to be able to stay and move to Glasgow.And many of them, you know, came to Toronto and Saskatchewan and North Carolina and all this. And so after they left, these highlands kind of became empty, like this vast emptiness. And then once the Victorian English came into that landscape and started painting it and writing Victorian poems about it, this aesthetic of this, treeless, vast expanse became kind of that National Geographic kind of aesthetic of the mountain peak and the colorful heather and then the loch or the lake, kind of [00:39:00] reflecting the mountain.You can just imagine the scene, right? Of like the mountain peak being reflected in inverse in the lake, you know, kind of thing. It's just that perfect kind of symmetrical perspective photograph or painting. And then that kind of became the symbol of freedom and tranquility which is basically like a site of ethnic cleansing becomes a symbol of beauty.And then what happens is you keep managing the landscape to maintain that aesthetic, which is why you find the strangeness of, like, environmental groups arguing that planting trees is ecological vandalism, that you're ruining the ecology of a place because your trees are gonna get away in the way of these vast expanses.So it's it's this weird wondering on, like, how certain aesthetics become symbolic of something. And then you manage the land, to maintain that aesthetic. Even though it's [00:40:00] absolute death for the wild, the wildlife and even the people in that landscape, to maintain it in that way. The thing that might not be obvious to most people which wasn't I didn't know about this whole world before I moved there, but Scotland's one of the few if not only place in all of Europe where you can still be a feudal lord like they call it a laird, l-a-i-r-d, but it's like a lord where all you need to do to be a lord is you just buy land and if you have enough land you're you claim title of Lord Wow.And most people that are lords in Scotland these days are not even British. You have people from Saudi Arabia, from all over that have bought up the highlands in many ways. And they have these estates and you know, Balmoral estate, which is like the Queens, or I guess she's dead now. Now it's King Charles's estate.And what you do is maybe once a year you and all your rich friends from all over the world fly in [00:41:00] and do this traditional game hunt where you might be hunting deer, but more often you're actually hunting wild birds. You know, so grouse especially. If anyone's seen, I find it fascinating watching Downton Abbey, that TV series, because it's kind of, it covers a lot of the kind of that, that time in Britain.And there's an episode or two where they go into the Scottish countryside to go, you know, go hunting. So it's this weird aesthetic where you dress up in a certain way, kind of like an old time Scottish lord, and you go out on the land with dogs and you shoot down birds, and in order for the birds to live there you need the landscape to basically be wide open, because that's actually what they prefer.And so, this is why, again, for the context of that quote, you have an environmental group, and basically, rich, elite gamekeepers working together to keep the government from planting trees in this landscape because it's in both their interest to maintain [00:42:00] this landscape as an ecological wasteland, essentially that people can't sustain themselves off of or people can't live in So you're kind of farming emptiness if that makes sense in a way you're like cultivating emptiness. Yeah. For tourism. Which again I mean, you've been talking to so many people about this subject. To me, it's fascinating what tourism can be or what it can mean, you know, or like what need is trying to be fulfilled in these, in these landscapes that often get kind of territorialized as touristic, you know, because most people, when they travel, they don't go to walk around the suburbs of a city. There's only certain places that tourists are drawn to, right? Hmm. And so I'm always curious about why and what tourists are drawn to, you know, what is like almost like the resource there that is being extracted. In Chris: the context of your work, you know, largely in regards to, to landscapes and we've spoken a fair amount today about [00:43:00] landscapes as, as objects at the very least.But in, in your dissertation, you know, there was a line that struck me certainly I think coming from your animist tendencies and sentiments where you say that "landscapes are mediums and landscapes are a process," and I'm curious, as we kind of wind ourselves towards the end of our time together, if you could elaborate on this for our listeners a little bit, this, this idea of landscapes as mediums or as processes.Christos: Yeah, so I've done my, my PhD in the field of cultural geography, or sometimes called human geography, which is kind of like anthropology except kind of rooted in place, I'd say that's the big difference. It's not as popular here in North America, but in the UK it's much more popular. And probably the primary focus in that field is landscape, which I think most people might be familiar with that term in terms of like, maybe landscape [00:44:00] gardening or landscape painting.But when you get deep into it, which is kind of what grad school is, is you're like a big weirdo and you just get so deep into something so friggin specific that, you know, most people think you might think about once in your lifetime, but you end up spending nine years thinking about and writing about.It's almost like you can't perceive a place without some kind of filter, if that makes sense. It's almost like there's no such thing as just like a place or land that's just objectively out there. Like, I spent most of a winter, you know, down where you are in Oaxaca, but you having lived there for this long, like if you and I walk around in the streets of Ciudad Oaxaca, you're going to perceive so much more than I am, or at least many different things than I am, right?I'm going to be purely a tourist, I'm going to be reading on a surface level where you might have dozens of memories come up from your time living there and different things that have happened. And [00:45:00] so, in that way, like a landscape is almost, is always like a medium, meaning like our own perceptions, our own projections, our own memories are always affecting the way that we perceive a place.And so cultural geography, the field that I'm in, kind of looks at that. It looks, literally at the kind of the, the collision of culture and geography and like the politics of a place. You know, I was talking about like earlier about landscape management. You know, there are people that are choosing how to manage the landscape in the highlands, where to allocate money and where to cut money from.And all of those decisions are based on preferences of aesthetics and land use, in terms of landscape. So for anyone that's interested, it's a fascinating field to start looking at what we perceive in a place or in places [00:46:00] and how, what we perceive or what we wish to be there affects, you know, the politics of a place.And again, the contemporary crisis right now, Israel Palestine, this question of like, who belongs there? Whose land is it? What do you see in that landscape? For some people, they see an ancient Jewish homeland that these persecuted people are trying to return to and reclaim and for other people, they see, you know, an indigenous Arab people that are being displaced by outside colonizers and, you know, both in their way are right and wrong.I'm not going to wade into the politics of it, but the way that landscape is used as a medium, politically, economically, culturally, is a really fascinating subject, at least for me.Chris: Well, thank you for that, and to finish up with a question around pilgrimage, which Jerusalem being the quote unquote, "holy land" and where so many pilgrimages landed in in previous times and of course in contemporary ones as [00:47:00] well. I'm curious about what you could describe as ritualized memorial acts of walking. And I'd like to finish by asking what have been the most achieved and enduring acts of ritual that you've encountered? What lessons might they have to teach us in a time of hypermobility?Christos: Again, that's like a huge question. Okay, I'll try to be succinct if I can. I don't know why I'm drawn to these kinds of histories, but anywhere I go in the world, I tend to be drawn to, yeah, histories of displacement, I would say.It's a strange thing to be interested in for most people, but it probably speaks to the fact that I am the fourth generation of men to leave the country that I was born. You know, that's between both sides of the family, it's not all one lineage. But being of Greek descent, Greece has long been a country where people leave, you know?Like, right now, the [00:48:00] United States is a country where people come to, but to be claimed by a place where for hundreds of years now, so many people, whether by choice or circumstance, leave their home probably does something to you, you know? And so Anywhere I've traveled in the world, I tend to either seek out or be sought out by these kinds of histories, and so I referred a bit earlier to this project I did years ago where I was spending a lot of time in Mexico and ended up meeting what became a friend is an artist from Mexico City, Javier Arellán, and he was second generation Mexican.His grandfather was from Barcelona in Spain and was a fighter pilot for the Spanish Republic, so like the legitimate democratically elected government of Spain. And when Franco and the fascists kind of staged a coup and the Spanish Civil War broke out you know, he was on the side [00:49:00] of the government, the Republican army.And Barcelona was basically the last stand of the Republicans as the fascist kind of came up from the from the south and when Barcelona fell everyone that could literally just fled on foot to try to cross into France, nearby to try to escape, because knowing that if they were captured they would be imprisoned or killed by the fascists who had basically taken over the country now.But the French didn't want tens of thousands of socialists pouring into their country because they were right wing. And so rather than letting people escape they actually put all the Spanish refugees in concentration camps on the French border. And that's where my friend's grandfather was interred for like six months in a place called Argilet sur Mer, just over the French border.And then from there, Algeria took a bunch of refugees and he was sent to Algeria. And then from there, the only countries in the whole world that would [00:50:00] accept these left wing Spanish refugees was Mexico and Russia. And so about 50, 000 Spanish Republican refugees relocated to Mexico City. They had a huge influence on Mexican culture.They started UNAM, like the national university in Mexico City. And my friend Javier Grew up in Mexico city, going to a Spanish Republican elementary school, singing the Spanish Republican National Anthem and considering themselves Spaniards, you know, who happened to be living in Mexico. And so when I met him, with my interests, we, you know, overlapped and I found out that him and his wife were soon setting out to go back to that same beach in France where his grandfather was interred, in the concentration camp and then to walk from there back to Barcelona because his grandfather had died in Mexico before Franco died, so he never got to return home. You know, maybe like a lot of Greeks that left and [00:51:00] never did get to go back home, certainly never moved back home.And so we went to France and we started on this beach, which is a really kind of trashy touristy kind of beach, today. And we thought you know, that's what it is today, but we then found out talking to people that that's actually what it was back in the 1930s, 1940s was this touristy beach and what the French did was literally put a fence around and put these refugees on the beach in the middle of like a tourism beach literally as prisoners while people on the fence were like swimming and eating ice cream and, you know, and being on vacation.So even that site itself is pretty fucked up. A lot of people died there on that beach. And it was 15 days walking the entire coast from the French border back to Barcelona. And whereas Javier's community in Mexico city actually raised [00:52:00] funds for us and we're really excited about this idea of homecoming and going back home to Spain.We quickly discovered when we started talking to locals about what we were doing, they would stop talking to us and walk away and they didn't want anything to do with us. They did not want to know these histories. They didn't want to touch it. And what we found out is like Spain has never really dealt with this history.And it's such a trauma and nobody wants to talk about it. So again, it's this strange thing where it's like us from the Americas, you know, my friend from Mexico was wanting to return home and it was a strange trip for him because he thought of himself as a Spaniard returning home and these Spaniards were like, "you're a Mexican tourist and I don't want to talk to you about the civil war, you know?"And I think that really hurt him in a lot of ways because he almost kept trying to prove that he wasn't a tourist, whereas for me, I knew that I was a tourist because, you know, I have no history there.[00:53:00] In terms of pilgrimage, I've done other pilgrimages, other walks I won't get into now, but there's something about walking a landscape or walking a land as opposed to driving, obviously, or flying that the pace of walking, I think, allows you to interact with people and with places at a rhythm that is maybe more organic, maybe more holistic. I did do the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage in Spain, like I did that another 15 days as well. And for me there's nothing like walking. You know, there's, there's something that happens. To your mind, to your body, to your spirit when you're moving that I've never experienced through any kind of other travel.And unfortunately there are only so many places in the world where you can walk for days or weeks on end that have the infrastructure set up to do so. And I know that here in the Americas other than walking on busy roads, it's pretty hard to get long distances through walking.And so I think another thing that tourism has done is kind of cut off the transitional kind of walking and you just kind of fly off and just kind of plop yourself [00:54:00] down and then get extracted out through an airplane, but you don't have the experience of seeing the landscape change day by day, footstep by footstep, and experiencing the place at that speed, at that pace, which is, you know, a very slow pace compared to an airplane, obviously.Chris: Mm hmm. Perhaps, perhaps very needed in our time. Christos: I hope so. I think there's something about it. I think there's something humanizing about it. About walking. Chris: Well, I've asked a lot of you today, my friend. And we've managed to court and conjure all of the questions that I've, that I had prepared for you.Which I thought was impossible. So, on behalf of our listeners and perhaps all those who might come to this in some way, your dissertation at some point down the road, I'd like to thank you for your time and certainly your dedication.And I imagine a PhD, nine year PhD [00:55:00] research process can be extremely grueling. That said, I imagine it's not the only thing that you have on your plate. I know that you're also an artist a teacher, writer, and Kairotic facilitator. I'm saying that right. To finish off, maybe you'd be willing to share a little bit of what that entails and how our listeners might be able to get in touch and follow your work.Christos: Yeah, first I'll just say thanks for reaching out, Chris, and inviting me to do this. I've listened to your podcast and love these kinds of conversations around these topics of place and belonging. It's obviously deep in my heart and I said this to you earlier, other than my supervisors and my examiners, I think you're the first person to read my dissertation, so I appreciate that you took the time to read it and to draw quotes and to discuss it with me because, I think most people that have done a PhD know that it can be a pretty solitary process to go so deep into such a tiny little corner of like knowledge that for most people is not what they're interested in every day and to [00:56:00] share these stories. Thank you. So yeah, my website is ChristosGolanis. com. And part of what I do is working with this Greek term, kairos. So in Greek there are at least three words for time. One is chronos, which is like linear time. One is aeon, which is like kind of eternal time.And one is kairos, gets translated as kairos, which is like almost the appropriate time or ceremonial time. And my best definition of that is you know, there are some things that are scheduled, like you and I for months ago planned this particular time and this particular day to do this interview.But deciding, let's say, when to get married with your partner doesn't follow any kind of rational, linear timeline. That's more of a feeling. And so the feeling of like when some, when it's appropriate for something is what Greeks consider to be keros, like, you know, keros for something like it's, it's the appropriate time for something.So. What I do is I kind of counsel people to craft [00:57:00] ceremonies or rituals for big transitions in their lives to mark things in their life through ritual or ceremony. Like I said, for like a homecoming two weeks of walking the coast of Spain can be a ceremony, right, of kind of walking your dead grandfather back home. I think there's something about the impulse to go out into the world, to find something, to integrate something, to process something, right versus staying right where you are and kind of with community, with others. It's kind of ritually marking it, integrating it, and you know, it's cheaper, it's easier on the environment, and sometimes can, can go a lot deeper than going away and coming back, and maybe not much has changed.But it can be dealing with the transition of someone from life into death or a birth or a career change. And so basically using ceremony and ritual to really mark and integrate these significant moments in our lives so that we can be fully with them as they're happening or as they've happened in the past, but haven't been able to be integrated.So that's some of the kind of [00:58:00] work that people can do with me if you want to reach out through my website. Chris: Well I very much look forward to seeing and hearing your dissertation in the world outside of these small groups of podcast interviewers and academics. So, hopefully one day that's the case if there's any editors or publishers out there who enjoyed what you heard today and want to, want to hear more, please get in touch with me or Christos and we can, we can get that into the world in a good way.Christos, thank you so much brother. It's been a pleasure and I hope to have you on the pod again soon. Christos: All right. Thank you. Get full access to ⌘ Chris Christou ⌘ at chrischristou.substack.com/subscribe

That's a fun movie, from 1976, in which a group of Victorian English people are mistakenly rocketed into inner space, right down to the core of the earth. (What they find, well, you can probably imagine.) But the title and the premise are good: There's newness to be found at the center of the earth -- our earth, our core. This is the heart of the Christian Faith. God will always speak to beleaguered humans, but rarely until we get to the earth's core. The core is where we live; the core is where our "Heart and Soul" (Cleftones, 1961) feel (as one); the core is where our pain comes undisguised, unmasked. There, in the core, is where we meet God; or better, where the Saving God meets us. The cast circles over 'Theron Ware', 'Babette', Lloyd Bridges as 'The Loner', right over to Rod Serling's superb "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar". But we are "Circl(ing) for a Landing" (Three Dog Night, 1968). I can never rest until we land -- land at the Earth's Core. Merry Christmas to you all, and God Bless Us Every One. Podcast 371 is dedicated to a true fellow traveler, Tom Agricola.

It's Halloween! And for this spooky holiday, we've compiled 5 of our spookiest episodes! Enjoy hearing about: - a man who should be famous for inventing a veterinary device, but instead became famous for murder - a popular Mexican dish that has its origins in human sacrifice - a strange way that Victorian English people used mummies - what happened to the mummified remains of an unidentified man - the strange story of how ancient Italians kept vampires from eating living souls It's a super-rewind digest episode! Enjoy listening and Happy Halloween! Review this podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-says-it-s-true/id1530853589 Bonus episodes and content available at http://Patreon.com/MichaelKent For special discounts and links to our sponsors, visit http://theinternetsaysitstrue.com/deals

This episode's guest is artist & former singer/guitarist of Artrockers The Victorian English Gentlemens Club Adam Taylor. You can find out who Adam's not sold paintings to, how many record sales is a sub-optimal & hear a The Victorian English Gentlemens Club Playlist? YEAH REMIX/Karaoke disaster. As always it was a joy... so ENJOY! Listen to the full Playlist? YEAH playlist ⁠HERE (ALL)⁠ or this just this episodes tracks and references HERE (EP023) Featured Artists: Squid, Pissed Jeans, IDLES, Mclusky, Super Furry Animals, Eminem, Metallica / Marianne Faithfall, Peter Kernel - - - - -   CONTACT    Facebook⁠ - ⁠Twitter⁠ - ⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠TikTok⁠ - - - - -    GUEST LINKS Adam Taylor Instagram - Website - The Victorian English Gentlemens Club - - - - -    OTHER LINKS   Artwork   Ryan Hunt  ⁠ Facebook⁠ - ⁠Twitter⁠ - ⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠YouTube⁠ - ⁠Esty⁠    Susa Maule   ⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠Etsy⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/playlistyeah/message

Most of the town of Lahaina, which served as the first capital of the former Kingdom of Hawaii has been destroyed, along with many of the sacred sites of Hawaii's indigenous religion as wildfires ripped through the region. Mokihana Melendez, who teaches aspects of Hawaiian traditional culture, talks to William Crawley about the significance of the religious and cultural heritage that has been lost. St Andrew's looks like a typical Victorian English parish church but it's only 10 minutes from the Kremlin. Rev Malcolm Rogers talks about what like was like living in Russia during the ongoing Ukraine war. After 9 years and a series of legal challenges the Charity Commission has finally published its report into the child protection and safeguarding policies of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain. We hear why a former Elder is "shocked and disappointed". As we mark the second anniversary of the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, a group of British Imams and scholars give a different picture of what life in Afghanistan is like - but are they right? Heavy metal and pipe organs are not normally associated together but Mark Deeks, leader of the band 'Arth' and Leeds Diocesan organist David Pipe performed 'Organic Doom'. They told William Crawley how this unusual collaboration came about. Producers: Amanda Hancox and Peter Everett Editor: Tim Pemberton

JUST IMAGINE! You are a Victorian English lady, walking home after a long day of work in a dirty, disgusting factory, when you hear a bump in the night. Suddenly, a demon in a black cloak jumps out and spits blue flame in your face, and then starts to claw at you with razor bsharp metal claws. But by the time you are able to react, he's gone! Sounds crazy right? WRONG! This is the story of Spring-Heeled Jack.Do you have a story of your own? Share it below! it may show up in a future episode!i'mnotcrazypodcastofficial@gmail.comCheck out Vinn! Instagram - catspurr.musicYoutube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsryIzwXm3a8e4fyx8NvT8ACheck out out shit!Tiktok and YouTube  - imnotcrazypodcastInstagram - imnotcrazyny

Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard audiobook. Allan Quatermain was the quintessential Victorian English gentleman cum African big-game hunter. In this book, the second in the series, Quaterman and his two good friends from KSM have tired of their dull and unfulfilling lives in England, and decide to search for the truth of an old tale about the existence of an isolated white kingdom deep in darkest Africa. Their journey and subsequent adventures are sure to satisfy those who enjoy tales of dangerous quests and heroic just-in-time derring-do.

In the last episode, we learned how authority and docility are natural, necessary, and fundamental for our homes. But in her fourth principle, Mason introduces a limitation to these two things: the respect due to the child's will. (Okay, so technically she says ‘personality,' but I'm here to translate that Victorian English for you, and she's definitely not talking about your kid's Enneagram type.) We want children with strong wills who choose what's good because it's the right thing to do. But there are just so many ways to get the right behavior with the wrong heart motivator, and that's what we're discussing today. Just remember: what you motivate a child with is what you motivate them towards. And anything other than “For it is right,” is wrong.----------You can find the full episode notes here. ---------Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.

Today's ID the Future features the newly released Darwinian Racism: How Darwinism Influenced Hitler, Nazism, and White Nationalism by distinguished historian Richard Weikart. Here Andrew McDiarmid reads from the introduction and chapter one. Weikart begins his book by revisiting the harrowing Columbine High School mass shooting and underscoring the curious fact that one of the mass shooters, a white nationalist, claimed inspiration from not just Adolf Hitler but also Charles Darwin. Since Darwin was a peaceable Victorian English gentleman and naturalist, what possible connection could there be between Darwin on the one hand and Hitler and contemporary white nationalism on the other? Weikart shows that the connection is in fact quite clear from the writings of Hitler, Darwin himself, and Read More › Source

One of the most-watched series on OTT for its pure tale of fantasy, and is set in the backdrop of Victorian English high society.  This series gives the viewers  insight into the wealth, lust, and betrayal during a fictionalised Regency Era England, through the lens of the Bridgerton family. This series boasts of an Emmy award-winning and over 50 nominations for various other awards. On today's Now You Know, I shall treat you to some exclusive trivia that you may not have known so far. I'm your host Nikhil, let's kick-off!1. Season 1 of the series saw some classical covers being used from celebrity artists and their hit tracks like Ariana Grande: Thank U, Next (2018), Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B: Girls Like You (2018), Shawn Mendes: In My Blood (2018), Billie Eilish: Bad Guy (2019), Taylor Swift: Wildest Dreams (2015) and Celeste's ‘Strange'.2. The series' costumes could not be hired from external sources or even rented. Most of the costumes had to be customised for the show exclusively as the series director wanted to introduce modern elements and colours into the Bridgerton costumes. Hence a whopping 7500 pieces were tailor-made for the show's first season by the designer Ellen Morijnick.3. There is an inside musician's joke when Lady Featherington makes a reference to a piano piece being played by Mozart, but actually it's Beethovan's  piano piece called Sonata.4. Have you ever noticed in the series that the Bridgerton family always wear pastels in shades of blue and pink, whereas the Featheringtons always wear bright colours with patterned clothes in shades of yellow or green. Well, that's some lesser-known trivia about the popular series Bridgerton for you on OTTplay Now You Know. I shall be back again with another episode pretty soon. Until then it's your host Nikhil out of here.

The Electrical World of Louis Wain is an Amazon Prime feature about a Victorian English illustrator whose whimsical pictures of cats entranced the nation. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy (The Crown), Taika Waititi and Olivia Colman.

How do you get from The Opera to The Musical?  Any answer to that question would have to include the powerhouse Victorian English duo of Gilbert and Sullivan and their ground-breaking form of “light opera.”  Hilarious, cheerful, and energetic, they innovated both in opera and satirical comedy.  Not only were they beloved by theater-goers of the late nineteenth century, they remain popular to this day, influencing the creators of drama, film, and musical theater. This episode of Opera For Everyone focuses on two of Gilbert and Sullivan's earliest successes, Trial by Jury and H.M.S. Pinafore.  Join us for a close look at these two delightful shows. Hosted by Pat and Rosie.

The Victorian English gentleman who announced he was the Son of God, and proceeded to have carnal relations with various attractive young ladies in his secretive religious cult. The 'Abode of Love' is an important chapter in British history, and not at all an excuse for John and Angela to giggle at a load of saucy Victorian hypocrites. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Kate talks about Remittance Men in 1800's Haliburton County. Remittance Men were 'black sheep' sons of Victorian English aristicocracy who were were sent far by their families with an income - as long as they stayed far away. One of those was Theophilus Bellairs. Plus Paul talks about Canada's top secret WW2 spy school on the shore of Lake Ontario near Whitby - it was the first of its kind in North America and many famous people were either students or visitors. Kate Butler is the Director of the Haliburton Highlands Museum. Paul Vorvis is the host of the Your Haliburton Morning Show 7 - 9 a.m. Fridays on Canoe FM 100.9 and streaming on your devices. Haliburton County is in cottage country about 2 1/2 hours north of Toronto. You can contact us at timewarp@canoefm.com

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - Book 1 Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Overview: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll (a pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). A young girl named Alice falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as a prime example of the literary nonsense genre. Its play with logic gives the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. One of the best-known works of Victorian English fiction, its narrative, structure, characters, and imagery have had a huge influence on popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. The book has never been out of print and has been translated into at least 97 languages. Its legacy covers adaptations for stage, screen, radio, art, ballet, theme parks, board games, and video games. Carroll published a sequel in 1871 entitled Through the Looking-Glass and a shortened version for young children, The Nursery "Alice", in 1890. Published: 1865 List: 100 Classic Book Collection Author: Lewis Carroll Genre: Fantasy, Literary Nonsense Episode: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - Book 1 Part: 1 of 1 Length Part: 2:47:25 Book: 1 Length Book: 2:47:25 Episodes: 1 - 12 of 12 Narrator: Kara Shallenberg Language: English Edition: Unabridged Audiobook Keywords: absurdity, childhood innocence, puberty, frustration, riddles, illogical, death, ridiculous Credits: All LibriVox Recordings are in the Public Domain. Wikipedia (c) Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. WOMBO Dream. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/free-audiobooks/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/free-audiobooks/support

Timothy Rau, mallet in hand, stands in front of the post-and-beam barn he built for his wedding. He learned how to make mortise-and-tenon joints from his grandfather, the late Everett Rau, to create a timber frame for a sign that announces the name of their Guilderland farm. He’s hardly stopped since, and now owns the New World Barn Company, which both restores ancient structures and builds new ones in traditional ways. He says in this week’s podcast, that he was inspired by the words of John Ruskin, the Victorian English art critic and philosopher: “When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our fathers did for us.’” Rau is saddened that the 1833 house that Altamont’s first doctor, Frederick Crounse, lived in and practiced from is to be demolished. The town of Guilderland and the village of Altamont together purchased it for $40,000 in back taxes in 2006 and then let it languish. The municipalities have each set aside $50,000 to demolish it. Rau would like to work with the demolition crew to save at least the post-and-beam frame with the idea it could be rebuilt elsewhere, perhaps at the Altamont fairgrounds where the public could appreciate it and learn from it. "There's nothing more honest than a timber frame," he says. "Everything is there for you to see — the marvel and the awe." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fiction Friday: Ep 15 – Spring Heeled Jack May or May Not Be RealJoin Jess and Ashley as they discuss the story of (maybe) fictional Victorian English attacker of women, Spring Heeled Jack. Is he real? Is he an urban legend? Are all people named Jack bad? Stay tuned.If you have story requests reach out to us at StudyingScarletPodcast@gmail.com-----------Our Links:Facebook link - StudyingScarletPodcastTwitter - StudyScarletPodInstagram - StudyingScarletPodcastTeepublic - StudyingScarlet

[School of Movies 2020]  This little-seen gem from 2007 was adapted from an adult fairy tale written as prose over four years by Neil Gaiman, with gorgeous illustrations by Charles Vess. It has a warmth and charm about it that is instantly appealing. Stardust tells the tale of Tristan Thorn, a lad born from two worlds who works in a shop in a little Victorian English village which borders a portal to the realm of Faerie. Tristan has the hots for a shallow girl named Victoria, and pledges to bring her back a fallen shooting star to win her affections. Turns out the star that fell in Faerie takes the form of a young woman, who is understandably pissed off at being used as a love token. There's fencing, fighting, witches, sacrifice, regicide, ghosts, sky pirates, chases, escapes, true love, miracles! This episode was commissioned by Ruky Saavedra Brenden Agnew of Cinapse  @BLCAgnew    From Sequentially Yours  Kaoru Negisa  @Moonpanther22  and Debbie Morse  @bastet8300 

In this classic upside-down ghost story , an American family buys an old English estate which they have been warned is haunted and end up making after-life miserable for the ghost within. Wilde would often poke fun at the differences in culture between Victorian English and Americans and this story is a prime example. Support our show and checkout www.simplisafe.com/1001! Only 14.99/mo- no long contracts-no tools required. This is a great product- highly reviewed (40,000 Amazon reviews)- we recommend it. NEW Enjoy 1001 Greatest Love Stories on Apple Devices here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-greatest-love-stories/id1485751552 Enjoy 1001 Greatest Love Stories on Android devices here: ​​https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=479022&refid=stpr.  Get all of our shows at one website: www.1001storiespodcast.com HERE: (main website all 1001 shows) https://www.1001storiespodcast.com or HERE: at Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Iwdojx2zx4jj2xj25fwupwrdcxq or HERE at Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-history-challenge/id1482436263 CALLING ALL FANS.. REVIEWS NEEDED FOR NEW SHOWS! REVIEWS NEEDED FOR NEW SHOWS! A SECOND NEW SHOW AT 1001- 1001 HISTORY'S BEST STORYTELLERS- OUR INTERVIEWS WITH SOME OF TODAY'S BEST HISTORY AUTHORS ...LINKS BELOW... all shows available at www.1001storiespodcast.com The Apple Podcast Link for 1001 History's Best Storytellers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-historys-best-storytellers/id1483649026 The Stitcher.com link for 1001 History's Best Storytellers is:: ​​https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=474955&refid=stpr.  SUPPORT OUR SHOW BY BECOMING A PATRON! www.patreon.com/1001storiesnetwork. Its time I started asking for support! Thank you. Its a few dollars a month OR a one time. (Any amount is appreciated). YOUR REVIEWS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS AT APPLE/ITUNES AND ALL ANDROID HOSTS ARE NEEDED AND APPRECIATED! LINKS BELOW... Open these links to enjoy our shows! APPLE USERS Catch 1001 RADIO DAYS now at Apple iTunes!  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-radio-days/id1405045413?mt=2 Catch 1001 Heroes on any Apple Device here (Free): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-heroes-legends-histories-mysteries-podcast/id956154836?mt=2  Catch 1001 CLASSIC SHORT STORIES at iTunes/apple Podcast App Now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-classic-short-stories-tales/id1078098622 Catch 1001 Stories for the Road at iTunes/Apple Podcast now:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-stories-for-the-road/id1227478901 ANDROID USERS- 1001 Radio Days right here at Player.fm FREE: https://player.fm/series/1001-radio-days 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales:https://castbox.fm/channel/1001-Classic-Short-Stories-%26-Tales-id1323543?country=us 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries: https://castbox.fm/channel/1001-Heroes%2C-Legends%2C-Histories-%26-Mysteries-Podcast-id1323418?country=us 1001 Stories for the Road:https://castbox.fm/channel/1001-Stories-For-The-Road-id1324757?country=us Catch ALL of our shows at one place by going to www.1001storiesnetwork.com- our home website with Megaphon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Letters 1 through 7 - Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamicy years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napolean and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifeofqueenvictoria/support

Letters 8 through 11 - Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamicy years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napolean and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifeofqueenvictoria/support

Letters 12 through 18 - Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamicy years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napolean and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifeofqueenvictoria/support

Letters 19 through 23 - Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamicy years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napolean and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifeofqueenvictoria/support

Letters 24 through 33 - Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamicy years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napolean and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifeofqueenvictoria/support

Letters 34 through 43 - Elizabeth Bancroft went to England with her husband, historian George Bancroft, for three of the most dynamicy years in European history. As Ambassador to England from the United States, George moved in the highest circles. In his wife's letters to their sons, her uncle, her brother, and Mrs. Polk (the President's wife), we see glimpses not only of early Victorian English life, but also of Queen Victoria herself! Mrs. Bancroft speaks of dinners with Benjamin Disraeli, visits to Wordsworth, weekends in the country with Louis Napolean and Sir Robert Peel with such matter of fact aplomb that one cannot help being impressed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifeofqueenvictoria/support

This episode Megan & Milena cover Victorian English flower painter and botanist Marianne North and 20th century African American ophthalmologist, inventor, educator and pioneer Dr. Patricia Bath Marianne North In case you didn’t know, flowers are for women. For a respectable Victorian Lady, flower painting was a very respectable hobby. What was not expected, is […] The post Ep. 14 Tropical Plants & Cataracts appeared first on My Favorite Feminists.

We'll read the opening to, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" written by Oscar Wilde and first published in 1890. The Gothic and philosophical story was considered offensive and indecent by Victorian English sensibilities.It was thus censored, sparking much controversy. The title character, Dorian Gray, sells his soul to make a portrait of himself age, rather than himself.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

This podcast is based upon a journal kept by an Arthur Burdell describing his early years living in the Surrey village of Warlingham. In it Burdell provides us with a detailed and colourful depiction of life in a late Victorian English village.

First, I’d better tell you what hygge (pronounced hue-guh) means: it is a Danish word to describe a special moment or feeling. There is no English equivalent word, but several put together can approximate this concept- cosiness, charm, happiness, ‘contentness’, security, familiarity, comfort, reassurance, kinship, and simpleness.And so, the conscious creation of a special moment in a certain time and place that such a wonderful feeling of intimacy and friendliness- that is hygge! To me, it is a type of motionless, indoor forest walking; consciously becoming one with your simple environment and your companions in a moment of shared contentedness. I like the concept of ‘cozy’ most of all- as in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, when Scrooge is shown by the ghost of Christmas Present the little kitchen of Bob Cratchett, in which sits his entire family including Tiny Tim. The kitchen is humble, and the family is poor, but they are all happy together, celebrating their thrifty Christmas dinner. Scrooge is touched, he doesn’t know it, but he is witnessing Hygge, Victorian English style!It is thought that the long, sunless winters in Denmark gave birth to this concept of the preciousness of hygge. Small, delightful moments in one’s life can illuminate both the mind and spirit in the midst of even an otherwise gloomy existence! Sprinkle enough bright moments throughout your day, and then each and every day can be a delight, filled with times to cherish.My Christmas was absolutely wonderful this year, filled with a snowy landscape, candles in all the windows, and my family, both grandchildren included, playing with their presents about the tree. I grilled a ham, slathered in orange marmalade, (I know, not too paleo, but it was Christmas!), and we had mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and we’re all so full that no one wanted dessert- although we were able to eat some chocolates from the Sweet Shop in La Crosse’s north side, which were amazing. They make their own candies with equipment that must have come from Dicken’s London, with real ingredients, from scratch!Needless to say, that is a day of endless Hygge! It is so much, that it wears you out, and you are happy to fall into bed. But now, two days later: a day long rain has come, and the temps are in the 40’s- unheard of at this time in Wisconsin! The snow has been washed away, but I have achieved hygge several times already today, even though it is still raining, and dark now, at 4:30 PM. The electric candles in all the windows, and the lit Christmas tree helps, as did my book reading in my favorite easy chair, feet up and a cup of green tea by my side. My wife sleeping on the couch, with two sleeping felines, one on the couch back, the other on her leg, and a small space heater blowing gently onto us both. And I had just before gone down to the cellar, doing pushups on my gymnastic rings, and flies, and rows, then a series of isometric presses on the power rack- and so now, I was deliciously exhausted and content- hygge!And so, you see you can achieve this state of hygge almost anywhere, if you set your mind to it. It takes no money, very little time, and does wonders for your mood and state of mind- it’s rather like a form of meditation or prayer. An attitude of gratefulness permeates you’re entire being.I remember years ago, when I was a mailman. It was a rainy, cold winter day, much like today, and I was soaked through. I had heated up my lunch using the microwave at the old folk’s home on my route, and had parked along the shoreline of Lake Onalaska on a dead end road. The dark waves tossed before me, and I cranked the heater in that mail truck onto high. I unpacked my lunch of a sm

Ryan and Dave are whistling past the Transylvanian boneyard with a surprise special guest in tow - Mr. Craig Elliott, esteemed Charlottetown quirk comic and the master of EVE Online. Francis Ford Coppola's cult classic B-movie in A-list finery is up for review, and your hosts and guest revel in everything from Gary Oldman's perhaps TOO authentic Transylvanian accent to Keanu Reeves's valiant but hilarious attempt at a Victorian English accent... if Victorian English men were from Venice Beach. Also, Ryan gets in-depth on the development of his own feature-length vampire screenplay that owes a lot to Bram Stoker's novel, Dave is shocked - SHOCKED, I tell you! - at the overt sexuality in the movie, and Craig brings a buttload of interesting factoids to the table about Vlad the Impaler and the history of goths. WHOA! Next week, Ryan's next pick will bring your hosts to the theatre for the much-anticipated sequel to John Carpenter's Halloween - .... uhh, "Halloween"!

For Episode 93 of Beer, Bros & BS we visited Concrete Beach Brewery in Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Florida. We were also joined by the head brewer and friend of the show Eric. Since we recorded inside the brewery all the beer we had was brewed in the tanks right next to us.We had a full plate BS for this episode including which city was giving out free deodorant to its transit users, Tony’s European adventures, MoviePass and a review of Hereditary and a highlight of several theme parks including a Soviet era interrogation, a theme park where Jesus resurrects every 30 minutes and Victorian English park with a trebuchet.As always, we started off with a few rounds of Would You Rather and What Burns Your Bacon. We also had a new intro and plug from none other than Trish Stratus!If you’re on Spotify, make sure to subscribe and follow us!

sermon transcript Introduction Three Different Kings Well, as I meditate on Christmas, and I have that privilege of thinking about it every year and thinking about what I want to say to you at this time, and meditate with you on the goodness of God and sending His Son, so many thoughts come to my mind, so many themes. One of the thoughts that hit me this week as I was meditating on Christmas and on the incarnation and the gift is that it's really a tale of Three Kings. Now, I'm not thinking about that song, "We Three Kings of Orient are... ", and all that, which talks about the Magi, but I mean the account of three different kings and how differently they extended their kingdoms. A history is filled - it's replete - with the decrees and the deeds of kings of mighty men of power and ambition, whose decrees moved armies and changed landscapes and built kingdoms. And most of the time their ambitions were ungodly, they were ambitions of power and greed, and they were written, those deeds and decrees were written in blood. Sometimes there were good kings, who used their positions of power well. Many of those were Christians, believers in Christ, who sought to honor their Lord. But, as I look at the accounts in Matthew and in Luke, I think about Three Kings, I think about Caesar Augustus, who was the king of the Romans, the most powerful man on earth at the time. And because of his decree, he the mover and shaker, we think about kings being movers and shakers, his decree caused the entire population of the Roman world to move out, it moved Joseph and Mary to leave Nazareth and go down to Bethlehem where Jesus was born, in fulfillment of the prophecy in Micah Chapter 5. So, Caesar Augustus, I think motivated by a desire for taxation money and to control his empire, issued that decree. And then you've got a second king, King Herod, who was in Jerusalem, and you remember how jealous he was for his throne and how much he yearned to keep his little throne under Caesar Augustus. And how when the Magi came and said to him, "'Where is the one who has been born, King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and we have come to worship Him.'" He was threatened by that. He was threatened by it, and so he decreed that all the boy babies in Bethlehem and its vicinity be murdered so that he could stamp out this threat to his throne. Now, it's really an amazing thing to meditate on that third king, and that is Jesus, who is born King of the Jews. Now you think about that, no one's born King, inevitably they have to grow up into it, their father's are already on the throne, etcetera, but Jesus was born king. And I think as we meditate on Caesar Augustus, as a mover and shaker and his decree caused empires to move, and populations to move. And then you think about Herod, whose decree caused soldiers to move out and how Bethlehem was shaken. I look at the third King Jesus, and He is the one who Himself was moved, who descended from heaven to earth, and who Himself was shaken by the decree of God the Father, that He would die on the cross for our sins. What a different way of building a kingdom. And so, I want to meditate with you today on John chapter 6, and how Jesus the King left His throne above and came, He was moved. He left a position of power and authority and comfort and adulation, and came to Earth to be shaken to the roots of His being by dying on the cross. Good King Wenceslas Now, this summer, I had the privilege of visiting one of my favorite cities in Europe, Prague, which is the capital of the Czech Republic, a beautiful city. Been there several times and in the old town near Prague Castle there's this imposing bronze statue. And I've taken pictures near it, I had my picture taken near it, it said I didn't know at first who it was, but the first time I came, I asked. And it is Wenceslas, who is the patron saint of the Bohemian people? He's viewed by them as their protector saint. Wenceslas as you know, is well remembered by the Christmas hymn, Good King Wenceslas. I love history and I went over all the history of Wenceslas in the sermon this morning, and I thought, "If you're interested, come and ask me, I've discarded it." It's really fascinating, but when you wrote it and you're preaching it and you're bored by it, get rid of it. Alright, but there are some interesting features to Wenceslas' life; he was born to a pagan mother who hated Christianity, but he had a grandmother who loved Christ and who raised Wenceslas as a Christian. Eventually, his mother threatened by him, had the grandmother killed and tried to get Wenceslas away from Christian influence. But in due time, he rose to the throne of that part of the world of Bohemia, and he became a good monarch. He desired to use his power and his authority to bless the poor and needy and is especially charitable to children, to orphans, to slaves. Eventually, he was assassinated, a young age, at age 22, and he is revered by the people there. Now, the hymn, Good King Wenceslas was written by John Mason Neil. It was first published in 1853, and in the story, I rewrote it because it's in this kind of old Victorian English, but this is basically what happens in the hymn. In the hymn, Good King Wenceslas is standing in his comfortably heated castle, and he's looking down from that lofty, comfortable perch on the snow-covered ground below. It's night time and it's bitterly cold, but the moon is shining brightly and Wenceslas can see plainly, a poor man braving the frigid temperatures in an effort to collect firewood for his family. Now, moved by compassion by this pathetic site and the suffering plight of this peasant, Wenceslas calls one of his servants to come stand near by him. The two of them stand and watch this man gathering firewood, and Wenceslas asked his servant, "Do you know who that man is, and where he lives?" "Yes, Sire," the servant answers, “He lives almost four miles away at the base of the mountain near St. Agnes' fountain." Then King Wenceslas sprang decisively into action, "Bring me some meat, bring me some wine, bring me some pine logs and firewood from my personal store, this very night, you and I are going to watch this poor man feast in his own home with the provisions that we bring." So, the godly Wenceslas and his servant go out into the storm, out into the bitter cold in the wind, it's made far worse at that point by a howling wind, they're both heavily laden with all these stores that they're carrying, the food, the wine, the firewood, and after a while, the servant begins to complain that it's difficult to make headway against this wind, carrying all of these things. "Sir," the servant said, "The clouds are hiding the moon, it's getting harder and harder to see. The wind is really kicking up now. I don't know if I have enough strength to make it all the way to that hut." Wenceslas answers is servant, "Walk behind me in the footsteps that I've laid in the snow. Walk in my footsteps with good courage, follow my example, know that I am also bearing this terrible weather, and if you follow my footsteps, you'll have the strength to get there." So, the servant follows in his master's footsteps, the tracks he made in the snow, in some mysterious way, the servant is somehow warmed by the footsteps themselves. They get to the poverty-stricken man's hut, and they surprised him with the lavish blessings that they have carried in their arms to his hut. I can't imagine if it really ever happened, the man hearing a knock on the door during a stormy night, he opens the door and there is this king carrying all of these things and saying, "If you don't mind, we'd love to share a meal with you." And I think of how special that would have been. Now, there's no historical record of this actually happening, it is consistent with the record of his benevolence to the poor and needy, Wenceslas, I mean. But it's also a beautiful picture of the benevolence and the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I picture it this way, The Book of Amos speaks of God dwelling in a high, lofty palace with its foundations on the earth. And so that's a poetical picture of God seated on His throne, and we would have to picture Him in absolute perfect comfort and pleasure. He's comfortable up there, He's filled with joy. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ was worshipped by a 100 million angels, completely adored, completely at peace. And He sought to brave the storm of sin and death for our sake, He sought to bring in His arms a feast and to lay it out for us and enable us to feast on Him, really, forever and ever. Now, as you look at the stories, the two almost can't be compared. The kind of journey that Jesus made, His command didn't send forth a bunch of soldiers to build a bloody kingdom, He Himself left His throne and went forth, and the gifts can't be compared, the sacrifice can't be compared but it's symbolic. The Real Christmas Present I think about 2 Corinthians 8:9 which says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor. So that you through His poverty, might become rich." This is the real Christmas present, this is the real joy of this season, contemplating how through faith in Christ and through the cost he paid, how wealthy we are, eternally wealthy. So, what I want to do is I want to go through John 6, and I want to talk about Jesus leaving His Father's heavenly throne and descending down to earth. And you may wonder why I zeroed in on John 6, but it just has to do with the many times, it says in this Chapter that He descended from heaven to earth, and in that descent, we see the Christmas theme. We see the idea of the incarnation, John 6:33, for example, Jesus speaks of "the bread of God," as "He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." See that in verse 33? And then in Verse 35, "Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty," and "I am the bread that came down from heaven," in verse 41. And in Verse 50 and 51, "Here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of the bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Context of John 6 So, this is the central mystery, the central wonder of Christmas, and that is the mystery of the incarnation, how Christ descended or came down from heaven to earth to save us. So, I want to feast on this idea, I want to feast on Christ by the ministry of the Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit. In order to do that, we need to get a little context in John, chapter 6. Jesus, at the beginning of that chapter, feeds the 5000, we have that account in all four of the Gospels, and then in John's Gospel, after He has fed the 5000, they want to take Him by force and make Him king right away. But they don't understand the nature of His kingship or the kingdom that He sought to bring, and they certainly didn't understand how He would have to give His body on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. And so, He hid from them so they could not take Him by force and make Him king. He sends His apostles, His disciples, across the Sea of Galilee in a boat, and He himself goes up on a mountain to spend time with His father in prayer. During the night, as His disciples are toiling across the lake in an adverse storm, Jesus comes to them walking on the water, they're terrified, but He assures them that it is He, and they're willing to have Him into the boat, and immediately the boat goes to the other side. Now, the next morning, the crowd that had traveled by boat across the lake, get there and they're shocked to see Him, they don't have any idea how He could have gotten there, because they're always aware where Jesus is and they know He didn't get in the boat with them. And so, they're amazed. They said, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" And Jesus confronts them concerning their true motivation, this is in John 6:26-27, He says, "If I tell you the truth, you're looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the loafs and had your fill. Do not labor for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him, God the Father has placed His seal of approval." Well, their minds were on earthly things, earthly food, earthly drink, earthly comforts and earthly kingdom. That's what they wanted, that's all they understood. Where Jesus’ Mission Began Seven Times Asserted Jesus wanted them by faith in the Word to lift their eyes up to the heavenly realms, to heavenly things, to things that would last forever, so He uses throughout this teaching a dominant metaphor, the idea of bread of life, which descends from heaven to earth to feed the world. So, we're going to begin where Jesus' mission began, and that is heaven. Seven times it's asserted in this chapter, I've already read them for you, but I want you to look at it with your own eyes. Look at verse 33, "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." You see it again in verse 38, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of Him who sent me." Verse 41, we have it again, "At this, the Jews began to grumble about Him because He said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.'" And then in verse 42, they said, "'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, I came down from heaven.'" In Verse 50, "'But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.'" Again, verse 51, "'I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.'" And then again in verse 58, "'This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.'" Jesus Entered the World Willingly So, behind all of this, we get a really staggering concept, Jesus entered the world willingly, He decided to enter the world, that is completely unique in human history. There is no other human being who can be... It could be said, he or she decided to enter the world, He's the only one, he made a willing choice. He existed from eternity past, He is the eternal Son of God, He existed with His Father before the foundation of the world, and His kingship is an eternal kingship. It says in that very passage, that prophecy that I mentioned earlier, Micah 5:2, it says, "But you Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come from me one who will be ruler over Israe1," listen to this, "whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." So, Jesus sat on a heavenly throne before His incarnation. We have a beautiful picture of that glorious throne in Isaiah 6, the vision that Isaiah had of “…the Lord, seated on His throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. And above Him there seraphim, each with six wings. And with two wings, they were covering their faces, and with two wings they were covering their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.'" And it is the Apostle John that tells us, Isaiah said this because He saw Jesus's glory and spoke about Him. So, that is Jesus on His throne in heavenly glory, and from that throne, He made a willful decision to enter the world. He said this to Pontius Pilate when he was on trial for His life, remember? He mentions the nature of his kingdom, Jesus did. Pilate says in effect, "Aha. So, you are a king, you are building a kingdom. You are a king then," he said. Jesus said, "'You are right in saying that I'm a king. For this reason, I was born, and for this I entered the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'" Now, that's staggering assertion, which He makes before an unbelieving Governor, holds His life and His death in his hands. He said, "Yes, you are right. For this reason, I entered the world to testify to the truth." Jesus Entered the World Obediently & Was Sent on Mission by the Heavenly Father He made a willing decision to enter the world, to descend from heaven to earth, but also we know that He entered the world obediently. He did it in submission to the command He received from His father, we get this again and again in this very chapter. Look at verse 38, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of Him who sent me." So again and again, we get the idea of Jesus not merely taking it upon himself to enter the world, but entering the world, obediently on mission from the Father. "The Father sent me," Jesus says again and again. Again, verse 44, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him and I will raise him up at the last day." And again, verse 57, "The living Father sent me and I live because of the Father." So, Jesus is completely father-centered here, His mission came from the Father, the Father sent Him. How Jesus Came Down from Heaven Not So Plainly Asserted Here … But More Plainly Told Earlier in John’s Gospel Now, how did Jesus descend from heaven to earth? Well, it's not so plainly asserted here, but it is hinted at. Look at verse 51 again, He says this, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." So here we have the doctrine of the infleshment or the incarnation of Jesus, He took on a human body. It's told plainly, more plainly, theologically earlier in John's gospel, in John 1:14, "The word," that's Jesus, "Became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we have seen His glory. Glory of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." The History Given More Plainly in Luke Well, we get the more clear record of it in Luke's gospel. And in Luke 1:31-35, we have the visitation of the Angel Gabriel and he comes to the Virgin Mary, and he says this to Mary, "'You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father, David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, His kingdom will never end.'" Now, Mary asked a very reasonable question, "'How can this be since I am a virgin?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the Holy One to be born of you will be called the Son of God.'" Well, that's exactly what happened. She was with child by the power of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous way. But then He was born in the natural way. We find therefore that Jesus is supernaturally conceived, but naturally born and so, He is fully God and fully man. We have the account very famously for us in Luke 2:1-7, where it says that, "Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and lineage of David, and he went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. And she gave birth to her first born, a son, and she wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." So, Jesus supernaturally conceived, but naturally born, fully God and fully man. That's how He descended from heaven to earth, that's how His mission began. Why Jesus Came Down From Heaven To Give Life to the World Well, why did He come? What was the purpose of His mission? Well, there are many answers to this question, even in John 6, but let me zero in on just a few. First, He came to give life to the world. Look again at Verse 33, "For the bread of God is He, who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Jesus came to give us life. To Bring Fullness and Satisfaction Also, He came to bring us fullness and satisfaction, that's where you get the eating kind of idea, feasting on Jesus. Feasting brings fullness and satisfaction. Verse 35, Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." And so, Jesus satisfies. Now, Jesus satisfies our deepest longings, everything that you want, all of the desires you have in your heart that are God-given, all of those are met in Jesus. And He has more satisfaction still to give you, He yearns to satisfy you every moment of your lives, the rest of your lives. He doesn't want you to be satisfied with idols and with created things, He wants you to be satisfied with Him and Him alone. And then when you die and when you're taken into heaven, and when you sit at table with Jesus, and when you see that new Jerusalem, and you see that new heaven and a new earth, you are going to be perfectly, completely satisfied, you're going to be filled with pleasure. Because at His right hand are pleasures forever more. He came richly to satisfy us. Sin doesn't satisfy. Sin actually starves us, it starves our souls, it tries to lure us into addictions and then deprives us of all joy until we are enslaved to that which gives us nothing but starvation. Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly. He came to satisfy. To Raise Up the Elect on the Final Day And He says, He came to raise up the elect on the final day. Look at verses 38-40, Jesus said, "'For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last day.'" So, Jesus came to raise us up, what does that mean? To call us out of our graves, to give us resurrection bodies, that we will live in glorious resurrection bodies in a resurrected world, filled with His glory forever and ever, He came to do that. So, He descended from heaven to earth to give us final resurrection. To Feed His People So They Will Not Die He came to feed us so that we would never die. Look at verses 47-50, He said, "I tell you the truth, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died, but here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die." Well, Jesus doesn't mean there merely physical death, we know that Christians die physically, but the Book of Revelation speaks of a second death, which is eternal torment in Hell. And Jesus descended from heaven to earth that He might rescue us from hearing, apply to us those dreadful words, "Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." That is the true death. To Give His Flesh For the Life of the World And Jesus gave His flesh on the cross, He gave His body that we might eat by faith and not die eternally. So, He gave His flesh for the life of the world. Look at verse 51, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this flesh, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." This is the mission Jesus came down from heaven to do, lavish generosity to the sinners of the world, and He came to feed us with His flesh that we might live eternally. No Christmas Gift Could Possibly Compare! Now, no Christmas gift can possibly compare with that, it doesn't matter what's wrapped under the tree waiting for you or what gifts have yet to be bought, if you're anything like me. Alright, let's not talk about that. Every year, I resolve to do better and not procrastinate. I told the postman, I promised him, I said, "A year from now, actually 11 months from now, in two weeks, I'm going to be here." And he said, "Yeah, right." I keep trying not to procrastinate on gifts, but it doesn't matter what gifts we select, whether from Amazon or you go to the mall or whatever, there is no gift that you can give that is eternal. I don't even think - I think the average Christmas gift, like 19 out of 20 toys that are given under the tree break within one year, one out of 20 makes it through a year, isn't that amazing. Sorry, kids. That's what's coming your way. But you know, right in the text, in verse 27, it says, "Do not labor for the food that spoils." Don't labor for things that don't satisfy, don't labor for things that don't matter, don't put your hopes on that, but instead for the food that feeds you for all eternity, that gives you eternal life. Labor for that. The Divisive Effect of Jesus’ Mission How is This Gift Received? By Faith! Well, we need to see though, right in the text, the divisive nature of Jesus's mission. You know, you think, this is such good news, this is such a great story, why doesn't the world care about it? Why is the world all wrapped up in the materialism, wrapped up in the trappings of Christmas and the symbolism of Christmas, but without the reality and no concern about Christ and His gift? It's because of the divisive nature of the mission itself. Jesus said, "Do not suppose that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." And so, He came to divide people, and you see it right in the text, the divisive nature of Jesus's mission. Well, this gift that He came to give is received only by faith, that's the only way we can receive this gift. Look at verse 28 and 29, "They asked Him, 'What must we do to do the works of God? To do the work God requires.' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this, to believe in the one He has sent.'" Do you see that? We always are saying, what can I do? What good work can I do to feel better about myself. And there are all kinds of charities, like every time you walk in the supermarket, you can drop some coins into The Salvation Army pot, there are all kinds of charities people can give to and they're good charities. But some people are convinced that by these kinds of actions, they can be paying for their sins. To the unbeliever, to the outsider, to the sinner who's outside of the grace of God, that comes and says, "Look, I've got it; I know I'm a sinner. What good work must I do to gain eternal life?" Jesus says right in this text, "'This is the work of God, believe in the one He has sent.'" Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. There's no other salvation. He says it many times in this passage, not just once. Look at verse 35, "Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." So, to come to Christ means you'll never go hungry, to believe in Christ means you'll never be thirsty, that means to come to Christ, equals to believe in Christ, it's the same thing. So, you come to Christ not by moving yourself geographically or coming forward at an invitation, but in your heart believing that Jesus is the Son of God and died for your sins. So, to come to Him as a sinner and to feed on Him, on His work on the cross, where He gave His flesh for the life of the world, that is salvation. That's the work that God has for you to do. But No One Can Receive It Without God’s Work in their Hearts But here's the thing, no one can do that unless God works it in them by His sovereign grace. No one, you can't of your own free will, over your own choice, up and do this. He says it very, very plainly, and that's why there's a division in this passage, many people resisted Jesus's teaching. Look at verse 36, "'But as I have told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.'" And again, verses 41-43, "At this, the Jews began to grumble about Him because He said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' They said, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, I came down from heaven.' 'Stop grumbling among yourselves,' Jesus answered.” The Division Intensifies More and More… Obvious by the End of the Chapter Well, the division actually intensified, got worse as the chapter went on. Look at verse 51-55, "He said, 'I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.'" Verse 52, "Then the Jews began to argue, sharply among themselves, 'How can this man give us His flesh to eat?' Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up the last day, for my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.'" Well, verse 60, "On hearing it, many of His disciples said," I think a vast understatement "'This is a hard teaching, who can accept it?'" I might actually intensify it and say, "This is actually an impossible teaching, for the natural man to accept, impossible actually." And then in Verse 66, we have this incredible statement, "From that time, many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him." It's staggering, because of this teaching, because He said, "Eat my flesh and drink my blood." They turned back and would no longer follow. So, there's a division here right away, between believers and unbelievers. The Absolute Sovereignty of God Asserted And so, in the middle of that, explaining all of that, we have the absolute sovereignty of God over salvation, plainly asserted. It is a moral and spiritual impossibility for anyone to come to Jesus unless the Father draws him or her, it's impossible. Look at verse 43 and 44, "'Stop grumbling among yourselves.' And Jesus answered, 'No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day.'" No one can equal; it is impossible for anyone to do this on their own, the Father has to draw you. The Father has to draw – and now I'm speaking to Christians - the Father has to draw your co-workers and relatives and neighbors and people you're trying to share with in this season, He has to draw them, or they'll never come. But secondly, if the Father does draw the person, they will inevitably come, isn't that awesome? If the Father is at work in someone's heart, drawing them, they will most certainly come. Look at Verse 37, "'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never drive away.'" So, it's a moral and spiritual impossibility for anyone that the Father is drawing by the Spirit to refuse, they're going to come. And thirdly, if the person does in fact come to Christ by faith, it is a moral and spiritual impossibility for Jesus to lose any of them, they will all of them be raised on the final day. Look what He says in verse 39, "'And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that the Father has given me. But will raise them up at the last day.'" I find that incredibly encouraging. Isn't it? And now I know I am a Christian. I was thinking about this, I was listening to a Christmas hymn just the other day. I hadn't heard it in a while, and it talked about how the Father's love pierced into the singer's heart, and I thought that was it. I was resisting, I was hardened, I wouldn't, I didn't want to be a Christian, I thought they were weird, I don't want to go on the fall retreat, no way, etcetera. And then the Lord reached through all that hardness by His hand of sovereign grace, the Father reached out and drew me powerfully and tenderly into His kingdom. And if you're a Christian, you're listening to me today, He did the same to you. Different way, different time, different people spoke to you, but He did the same work in your heart that He did in mine. And that's why you celebrate Christmas as a Christian and not as a pagan, because God in His sovereign grace worked it in you. Simple faith, look at verse 40, "'For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last day.'" Who Can Receive This Difficult Teaching? So, we have a question at the end of this chapter, who can accept such a difficult teaching? It's an important question, isn't it? Look at verse 60, "On hearing it. Many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching, who can accept it?' Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, 'Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of man ascend back to where He was? To where He was before. The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I spoke in to you are Spirit, and they are life, yet there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus had known from the beginning, which of them did not believe and who would betray Him? He went on to say, 'This is why I told you, no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.'" Verse 66, "'From this time, many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. 'You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy one of God.'" Peter said it for all of us, we have nowhere else to go. Jesus, you are the word of God and you have the words of life. Where else can we go? Now, if he had said a little more, he said, "I don't get it, the eat my flesh, drink my blood thing makes no sense to me, but I know who you are. And maybe in due time, I'll understand the eat flesh, drink blood thing, but I know who you are, you are the holy one of God?" Jesus's answer was this, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." And so by His sovereign grace, He reaches out and chooses those whom He gave, the Father gave to the Son from before the foundation of the world, that's what's going on when we celebrate Christmas, not just this time, but year round. The Call of Jesus’ Mission: Believe and Live! This is the Central Message of this Chapter… and the Whole Gospel of John So, the call of Jesus's mission is this; believe and live, or we could say, believe and feast and live, how about that? Believe and feast and live. At the end of this gospel, it explains the whole thing, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book, but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” That's the central message of this chapter and of the whole gospel. This is the Central Call of Christmas Itself Will you labor for the food that spoils? Or for the food that endures to eternal life, which Jesus alone can give you? What are you going to set your heart on, not just Christmas time, but year-round? Are you going to live for created things? Are you going to live for the food that spoils, or you're going to live for the eternal things that God has given you in Jesus? And so, I yearn for all of you to believe in Christ, to trust in Him. I know this time of year, there are some people that visit Church and they come and there'll be some Christmas Eve. Every year, Christmas Eve, I see a lot of people that I don't recognize, some of them are relatives, but sometimes they just come because they want to be in a Christmas service, and they do it the Sunday before Christmas, or they'll do it on Christmas Eve or something like that. They just want to get close, they want to have some religious feelings and all that. If you're like that, can I just plead with you? Trust in Christ, acknowledge that you're a sinner. Acknowledge and feast on Jesus by faith, say, "I believe that your body was sent into the world to die on the cross for my sins, and that God raised you physically from the dead in a resurrection body. I believe that, I trust in you, forgive me for my sins." Applications for Christians Now, if you're a Christian, I'm going to say the same thing to you, "Feast on Christ through faith." It's amazing how many times you have to do that. I mean, even just recently, I was in a situation, I was like, "Alright," and I just closed my eyes and I said, "I need to believe in you, Jesus, right now." Because circumstances overwhelm you, you could be overwhelmed with shopping, you could be overwhelmed with grief and an affliction, you could be overwhelmed with busyness or fatigue, whatever, it doesn't matter. You just close your eyes and say, "Lord Jesus, you're my savior, you're my life. I want to walk by faith and not by sight, I trust in you, afresh and anew." That's what we need to do, we feed on Him by faith, based on His word, and guard your hearts from laboring for the food that spoils, you know it's a temptation. You know that all of the swirl of allure of the world and all that, it's constantly assaulting our souls and drawing us away from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. And embrace the absolute sovereignty of God over salvation. Let's be faithful as witnesses, amen. Let's be faithful to share the Gospel, but let's not be children as we do it, let's be mindful of the fact that most of the people we're going to talk to, are going to reject. But let's be confident that there going to be some that God shows before the foundation of the world that haven't been converted yet, and the father is going to use you to share the gospel and through the words of the Gospel as you share, He's going to powerfully draw those sinners to faith in Christ. So, let's be active in doing that, throughout this week and throughout the year, and let's delight in Christ, let's realize what we have yet to come. The best things are yet to come. Jesus said in Matthew 8, "I tell you the truth, many are going to come from the east and the west, and they're going to take their places, at the banqueting table in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." So, picture that feast that's yet to come, and let's be involved in missions. I love Jonathan and Gohar McDonald, I love their commitment to Christ, I love all of the workers that we've sent out around the world to lead others to Christ. I'm grateful for that. I'm pleading with you, financially, let's make sacrifice to make our Lottie Moon offering goal. Let's do that. Look at yourself, look at what you've given or what you have given, and say, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" Give yourself to the Lord first in commitment and then to the mission work as the Lord commands. Now, let me say one thing, I don't usually mention this, but don't forget to give to the church budget too, okay? We're a little bit behind on the budget, I usually don't mention it, but it's not either, or. It's both, and. So, our budget enables us to reach out here in this community, enables us to do the works we have to do here, so just as you're making a commitment financially and all that, pray about what the Lord would have you do and be generous. One final word before I pray, remember, we're going to be praying this week, Wednesday morning at 6:00 AM, and then keep doing that throughout the season. Closing Thoughts and Prayer So, if you've got some time, maybe you have a little more time, maybe you're off from work, join us in praying. We're praying for God to do a work, a supernatural work of holiness in this church, and a supernatural work of evangelistic fruitfulness and power reaching out. We've had more than 20 people joining with us for prayer, come and join us, we'd love to have you. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you that you sent your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, He descended from Heaven to Earth to make us rich. We think about that hymn, Good King Wenceslas, and how the king looked down into the storm and the cold and saw someone suffering and not making it. And he was moved with compassion. How much greater, O Lord, did you see from your holy throne? How we would not make it on judgment day, a storm of judgment was coming our way, and we were not ready. Thank you Jesus, for taking on flesh and dying on the cross, shedding your blood that we might live forever. Enable us by faith to feed on your death and your resurrection, that we might live forever, in Jesus name. Amen.

The Free Style. The New Sculpture. The French Manner. Call it what you want - one thing is certain, the marriage of Victorian English sensibilities and French modelling technique conspired to produce sculpture of a variety and style that England had never seen.