#The Why of Christmas
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The why of Christmas
Thinking up the worst possible outcome.
Maybe even two or three or more ways that it can go wrong. And then getting stuck thinking about them.
It’s one of my least useful skills.
Especially when it comes to imagining how someone is going to respond to something hard. Or how a difficult situation is going to work out.
If you’re like me, then you know how this “skill” can really run you through the wringer. Long before anything has actually happened. Much less anything bad.
One of the worst ways that this plays out? With other people. Especially people we don’t really know. When we have to rely on what someone has told us about them.
Probably the most obvious (and most damaging) example of this is with God.
Here’s why I say that. We live in a culture that’s created a lot of versions of God that are horrible.
And it’s not just people who supposedly hate God. Some of the people who proclaim their faith the loudest proudly show off their petty, vengeful, resentful, hateful versions of God.
So it’s really no surprise that even people who don’t horrible-ize things imagine the worst possible outcomes from any interaction with God. They’ve been given every reason to get stuck thinking about God that way. They’ve been given every reason to stay away.
Except the truth.
Today’s Gospel (Matthew 1:1-25) gives the names of the Son of God – Jesus and Emmanuel.
Jesus means “God saves.” It tells us what God will do through Jesus, and how God works.
Emmanuel means “God with us.” It tells us who Jesus is, and what’s in God’s heart.
That’s the truth about God. How do we know that’s really the truth about God?
Because that’s what plays out in the Incarnation. In the pattern of redemption that runs from Christmas through Good Friday to Easter.
God saves. And He does it by being who He is, by being God with us.
The thing to know is how God does it.
God doesn’t save us begrudgingly. God isn’t the God of “if-I-have-to.”
God doesn’t save us judgmentally (although some of God’s noisiest alleged followers want Him to be). God isn’t the God of condemnation.
So how does God do it?
Isaiah tells us in the first reading (Isaiah 62:1-5), and it has zero to do with anything about what you and I have done. Or how far we’ve wandered. Or how much we don’t fit in someone else’s messed up version God.
Here’s the truth. And it’s the why of Christmas, the source of the joy of Christmas.
God looks at you and loves you.
God looks at you and gets excited about being with you.
God delights in you.
This Christmas, may God fill your heart with the joy that comes from knowing just how much you mean to Him.
Readings for Christmas Eve
#Christmas#The Why of Christmas#God#Jesus#Catholic#Christian#Church#God delights in you#God's Love#God with us#Emmanuel#Christmas Eve#Moments Before Mass
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Silly doodles of silly skeleton boy 💀🤲
#WHY IS HE SO TALL#gojo you kid scaped#am i eng serv player? yes. do i care? no.#malleus cant loose his silly tall friend tittle he might explode#scully j graves#twisted wonderland#twst scully j graves#twst fanart#disney twst#twst#twst event#lost in the book: nightmare before christmas#lost in the book with tim burton's the nightmare before christmas#reinbouxsart#twst yuu#yuno yamine#disney twisted wonderland#malleus draconia#twst malleus#twisted wonderland malleus
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buckle up lads we're going BACK INTO THE BOOK
#art#twisted wonderland#twisted wonderland spoilers#lost in the book with nightmare before christmas#hajimari no halloween#(the origin of halloween huh) (oooh)#why yes i did wake up way too early to watch the stream and will have no memory of drawing this later#anyway THE MAGIC BOOK IS BACK TO EAT US ONCE AGAIN!!!!#this does make things make a lot more sense if it doesn't have to. y'know. actually take place in the established world#like how jack and sally are apparently just gonna be THERE as themselves WHY NOT#i'm certainly not complaining mind you#scully looks like he's gonna be super adorable and i love him already#spooky scary skeleman who just goes :O a lot and is excited for halloween#he seems like he might actually be more of a fusion of jack and sally? or maybe i'm just reading too much into it#still getting jazzy vibes off of him though. is not scully j graves an incredible jazz musician name.#does this open up the possibility that the last time we went into the book there was a sexy anime boy stitch just offscreen the whole time#...maybe some things are best left uncontemplated#god everyone in this event looks fantastic i'm so glad i saved up some keys after all#a little sad that there's no lilia but you know what the fact that a halloweentown malleus exists is still pretty dang good#and sebek's hat is SO tall#the biggest hat for the loudest boy#i hope oogie is here too i need him and jamil to meet#i need jamil to be faced with a guy who's just a bunch of bugs standing on each other's shoulders in a trenchcoat#i am not coherent right now i just needed to get this out before i go pass out again
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#why he got buttcrack lips 😭#the REAL nightmare before christmas#vil schoenheit#twisted wonderland#I DONT KNOW THE NEW GUY'S NAME#november thiha here. it's skully j graves#twst#thihart
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j… jesus oppa ;____;
#ashsksjsks jesus k-idol era… and when he does his comeback stage…..???#i just want you to know the last thing i saw before my plane took off was an “i’m going to jesus cafe” message from my grandma#and the first thing i saw when i landed fifteen hours later yesterday was 130+ unread messages on kakaotalk#and i opened it and most of it was cutesy photos my grandma had sent me of her and white jesus#also: she is not even christian…. her friends were like wanna come and she was just like WHY NOT?#also… if you’re interested… in japan there’s a manga called 聖☆おにいさん (translated as ‘saint young men’)#which focuses on the lives of roomates jesus and buddha#(also there are fancomics based on this… including. of course. jesus/judas)#christmas
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small collection of sketchy doodlydodads from @bloominglegumes 's Jazz n Powl humanformers au bc they live in my head rent free all day everyday ;v;;
#don't ask why i'm drawing christmas stuff in the summer#it's always chrmsas winter holiday season to me#transformers#maccadam#transformers fanart#maccadams#tf idw#frootertooter archive#humanformers#prowl#jazz transformers#jazz#jazzprowl
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christmas season at the wolfstar flat
#jegulus#jegulus fanart#marauders fanart#regulus black#james potter#wolfstar#james x regulus#marauders#regulus black fanart#james potter fanart#starchaser#peter pettigrew#sunseeker#regulus x james#dorcas meadowes#marauders era#mary macdonald#remus lupin#sirius black#mine#hp#my art#regulus didnt want to wear christmas related things but james convinced him to at least wear a red hoodie#that it's james' hoodie might have made the convincing process easier.....#man this was supposed to do a small little doodle and now its the most elabroate thing ive ever done#but im so happy with how it turned out??#sirius is in charge of the picutres on the wall which is why half of them are of remus
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Someone's antlers fell off for winter
#geminitay#shiny duo#why is she so distraught as if this has never happened before? Idk I'd like to think she is just this distraught each time#just in time for christmas antler headbands though <3#tubby art#she probably gets like mild seasonal depression but only because of the antlers
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Christmas Party of Two (Finished drawing here)
#WIP!!#why did I make a background. why did I do this to myself truly#technically it probably would have been more orderly by christmas but I wanted them to have random alien junk strewn around#I then greatly regretted that decision#my art#gravity falls#ford pines#fiddleford mcgucket#fan art
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#me misremembering clara's line as ''why don't we run off somewhere'' led to this#all the times twelveclara eloped: the gifset#dwedit#dwgif#doctor who#timelordgifs#whouffaldi#twelveclara#clara oswald#twelfth doctor#peter capaldi#jenna coleman#am i gonna tag all the episodes?.. yes i am!#s8#s9#hell bent#deep breath#robot of sherwood#the caretaker#last christmas#face the raven#mine#my gifs
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ill be real with u i hate the new guy it would have driven me insane if i didnt draw something other than his actual canon design 💀
edit: point of reference i drew this the day we first saw him 🫡, still dont love his design now that we know his name lol
#fanart#twisted wonderland#twst#idk what to tag cause like what even is his name#nightmare before christmas#WHY IS HIS CANON DESIGN LITERALLY GOJO#BRUHHH#also did this quickly but he was making me so fucking mad 💀#he was making me so fucking mad i was almost late to work thats how mad he made me 😭💀#skully j graves#skully
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#slay the princess#spoiler#spoilers#slay the princess spoiler#AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH#also unrelated but it takes me so long to draw him#why do i draw him all the time regardless? I have no idea#injury#blood#i cant make up my mind if he should have a BEAK or nah#or sometimes?#I wont be online as much for the next few days. gonna be preparing for Christmas and the New year. But expect a few art on queue
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everyone out of the way, this is the only thing I'm going to be thinking about from now on.
(okay, there is one more thing)
#art#twisted wonderland#twisted wonderland spoilers#lost in the book with nightmare before christmas#hajimari no halloween#jade is having the time of his life being a nasty little mofo and i love him for it#and gosh...leona and sally being friends is SO cute#sometimes i forget that leona is canonically a feminist#sally poisons a man and he's like 'you go girl'#they have so much in common though!#they both have eye scars and no ears on the sides of their heads!#no but they're adorable and i love it#and i suppose i have to reluctantly admit that i understand why lilia could not be in this event#he would just be stuffing frogs into his mouth left and right without even blinking#every time we get a moment of culture-clash he would just be there like 'mm-hm. yes. i do not see the problem.'#man. i do so adore any event that forces the boys to Work Together#their one weakness...not being petty dipshits who get into slapfights at the drop of a hat#absolutely nothing got done that first day and the mayor set off the emergency alarm because he was so done with them#this is perfection#anyway brb gotta go do some missions for the other jack's birthday#see you next week for more of scully becoming increasingly disillusioned with all these fake halloween fans
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Don't talk incriminating shop infront of your boss at the office Christmas party.
#tf2#tf2 fanart#team fortress 2#tf2 demoman#tf2 spy#tf2 pauling#i have....3 other ideas for the christmas party! hopefully i get time to draw them all o7#im sorry engie fans he just really amuses me. engie really gets the short stick in my drawings lol#spy stooped to wearing a silly tie that you can't see at this angle kdjdjkfsdk#i might fuss with the holly garland later as i think it could be seen as mistletoe but i just wanted to do a christmassy border#IDK why there are lines near the edges! they're not there for me in PS ;;
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A little winter Shazam and Billy Batson doodle.
#shazam#billy batson#dc#why doesn't Billy know Shazam here? good question#it's either an AU where they're separate people or maybe Billy's trying to envision how it would be to meet Shazam as a normal kid#snowman rescue accomplished!#threshie#threshasketch#technically the Shazam movie happens around Christmas#so it's a holiday movie#♥
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A lot of Christians read A Christmas Carol and gloss right over the "pay workers a living wage" message and take away "not being merry on Christmas is a cardinal sin" instead.
#And then they use this for antisemitism#If you don't understand why a lot of non xtians and former xtians hate Christmas#Think about all the stories where not being sufficiently happy on Christmas is the sole problem to be solved in 22 minutes#we have multiple words of negative connotation just for people who don't like christmas#Christmas#a christmas carol#Charles Dickens#Chuckie Dick#post o' mine
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