Cheesy Jokes and Serious Thoughts for Christmas

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    What has four legs, a red nose and flies?   Rudolf the Red-Nosed Roadkill.

What is Frosty's favorite dinner?

Spaghetti and snowballs.

                                          Where doe Santa keep his red suit?    In his Santa Clauset.

 Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Earl.

Earl who?

Earl I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

                                                     Why does Santa use reindeer to pull his sleigh?

                                Because the elephants kept crashing through the roof.

What is the best Christmas carol in the Twilight movies?

I'm Dreaming of a Bite Christmas.

What has a red suit, a white beard and rows of razor sharp teeth? Santa Jaws.

What would you call your wedding anniversary if it was December 25th?

A Marry Christmas.

Who had a beard, webbed feet and wrote "A Christmas Carol?"

Charles Duckens.

What do you call being caught in a chimney with a fat man?

Santa Claustrophobia.

 What happened when the family cat swallowed some tinsel?

He needed a tinselectomy.

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Anna. 

Anna who?

Anna partridge in a pear tree.

Question: Why was Santa's little helper depressed?
Because he had low elf esteem.

What is Santa's favorite American state?
Idaho-ho-ho.

Question: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Answer: Frostbite.

Where does Christmas come before Thanksgiving?
In the dictionary. 

This is for English teachers. 
Q: What do you call Santa's Helpers?
A: Subordinate Clauses

What is the snowman’s breakfast?
Answer: Frosted flakes!

How do snowmen greet each other?
Answer : Ice to meet you!

You just had to know eventually I would get to the funny cat pics.

Now for the serious talk. Christmas is a full on holiday--it smells good (catch that scent from the cinnamon pine cones?), looks sparkly and cute (lights up again), feels cozy  (snuggly blankets in front of the fire with hot cocoa or wassail), tastes yummy (yeah, bite the head off that gingerbread man!), sounds great (all types of music singing cheer and closeness and holiday, etc.) It is entertaining with endless gifts,  movies and music and fun.

Except for that annoying bell the Salvation Army persists in ringing at the front of stores. That is so annoying to be bugged to give to the less fortunate. The homeless, or impaired, or orphaned--is that my business? 

Shouldn't we have a right not to have them bug us? Isn't that the separation of church and state? I don't need all that Jesus stuff at this holiday, like giving to the poor, or kindness to strangers if I don't wish to. Peace and forgiveness. That's my business. Condemnation for behavior that's nobody's business but mine. And I shouldn't have to be reminded on a public street. At school Jesus and all that radical Christian stuff has been eradicated. When can I finally have a secular holiday?

Well, first of all the very word holiday is rooted from holyday.  A day to meditate on the spiritual side of life. Christmas means Christ worship in the old days. He is still memorialized as the greatest teacher who ever lived, the proclaimer of brotherhood, kindness and conscience. All the major religions admire him. Why is he considered so irritating to some Americans?

He was an all or nothing sort of person. You were with him or not. He was who he said he was or not. No in between. Forgiveness, purity, mercy. Very, very hard precepts. It is hard to hang with Jesus. Its all or nothing with Christ.

Students in public schools who profess Christianity are in danger of having their civil rights violated by some administrators and staff who find the message of Christ to be very irritating--not only those horrendous ten commandments, but that part about not lusting or lying  and giving to the poor and such. These leaders will nail kids for even saying, 'Merry Christmas.' 

Not much holiday spirit there. Or tolerance. I've observed it first hand towards kids and staff. I was told even playing Handel's Messiah was against the separation of church and state. So, I chose to play it anyway, thinking you have to take a stand sometimes. Might as well be Handel. No problems arose. No lawsuits.

It is our obligation as a democracy to extend tolerance to all. Even the annoying, I-Am-The-Only-Way Jesus, and his followers.

Teachable Moment: Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"

 

Charles Dickens is remembered as the greatest creator of literary characters after Shakespeare. He is also a hero of the Victorian Era, being the conscience of the British Empire and exposing the neglect and abuse of the poor in the burgeoning Industrial Age.

He himself suffered as a child when his father was put into a debtor's prison. But from a young man he wrote numerous popular stories marketed in the United States and the UK, and these have continued to evolve into film, theatre, mini-series and are still enthusiastically enjoyed by generation after generation. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens

Dickens' novel make characters dynamically real. It is hard to deny knowing Pip or David Copperfield or Oliver Twist personally after reading the novels.

"A Christmas Carol" film, 1984

Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit

He also wrote short stories, and "A Christmas Carol" is one now celebrated in every possible creative venue. My personal favorite is the film (1984) of the same title with George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. David Warner, as Bob Cratchit, brings tears to my eyes every year. The script is very compelling. You can show it at a public school because it is not openly a Christian film (Jesus is never mentioned by name), plus there are enough spirits, time travel, etc., that makes it a fantasy.

I've shown it to students of all demographics and they really appreciated it. They felt for Tiny Tim, and were shocked by Ignorance and Want. The kids are relieved Scrooge changes his way and avoids the lonely tragedy of a selfish life. The older students have compared and contrasted two different film versions.

Please consider reading the short story aloud. Dickens can pull the reader into a setting almost miraculously. As Ebenezer Scrooge walks through the streets of London to his home, just to see Marley's face on his door knocker--that is one of the best descriptive passages for mood and tone I have ever read.

How long it would take to list all the various renditions of "A Christmas Carol"? Wow, a couple of days. I do also like "The Muppets' Christmas Carol" with Michael Caine, "Scrooged" with Bill Murray, and Patrick Stewart as Scrooge in the TNT presentation of "A Christmas Carol."

So many Christmas Carols, so little holiday season.