{"id":1197,"date":"2012-12-13T06:24:25","date_gmt":"2012-12-13T11:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1197"},"modified":"2012-12-13T06:24:25","modified_gmt":"2012-12-13T11:24:25","slug":"the-misplaced-comma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=1197","title":{"rendered":"the misplaced comma"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I was pulling out and dusting off my fairly impressive collection of Christmas music \u2014 ok, wait; that is total \u201cimpression management.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s actually, almost a bold face lie.\u00a0 Sorry.\u00a0 I mean, yes, my collection is<\/em> impressive, but the truth is (confession time, friends)<\/em> that I listen to Christmas music all year round.\u00a0 I know, I know… many of you wish the triumphant tunes were confined to December days only \u2014 perhaps some of you will even pause your loyal readership for a few weeks \u2014 but there\u2019s something about singing \u201cpeace on Earth\u201d and \u201cgoodwill toward men\u201d that puts me in a good mood all year long.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Recently, though, as I was again humbly, vocally accompanying the recorded artist on the CD (fathom that idea),<\/em> I stumbled upon an error in the way contemporary culture sings a song.\u00a0 In fact, the words are still the same, but a singular punctuation mark has been moved; it profoundly changes the meaning of the song.\u00a0 Yes, I uncovered the misplaced comma.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We sing \u201cGod Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The song, however, was originally written as \u201cGod Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notice the placement of the comma.\u00a0 That comma makes all the difference in the world.\u00a0 We have changed the meaning of the song.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When we sing…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God rest ye, merry gentlemen<\/em><\/p>\n

Let nothing you dismay<\/em><\/p>\n

Remember, Christ, our Savior<\/em><\/p>\n

Was born on Christmas day<\/em><\/p>\n

To save us all from Satan’s power<\/em><\/p>\n

When we were gone astray<\/em><\/p>\n

O tidings of comfort and joy,<\/em><\/p>\n

Comfort and joy<\/em><\/p>\n

O tidings of comfort and joy!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

… sometimes I think we act as if everything around us is happy…\u00a0 like we are always happy.\u00a0 \u201cGod rest you, happy people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well, sometimes life isn\u2019t happy.\u00a0 In fact, a lot of days a lot of us have tough stuff to handle.\u00a0 Life isn\u2019t always happy, and a solid faith doesn\u2019t necessarily make us merry.\u00a0 While we may be able to tap into an inner joy and unparalleled peace \u2014 perhaps, something related to that peace on Earth \u2014 we\u2019re still not always happy.\u00a0 Christmas time, especially, is often a painful struggle for many.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yet when we examine the misplaced comma and return it to its rightful place \u2014 \u201cGod <\/em>r<\/em><\/strong>est ye<\/em> merry,<\/em><\/strong> gentlemen\u201d<\/em> \u2014 and then we acknowledge that the 15th century carol, written in a minor, melodiously dark-sounding key \u2014 we see that the writer was not simply sitting back, believing it was so easy to be happy and merry.\u00a0 The writer is encouraging each of us to rest in God\u2019s merriment \u2014 in the joy available via the creator of the world \u2014 regardless of the darkness… regardless of that minor key.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard it said that \u201cif Satan can\u2019t make you bad, he\u2019ll make you busy.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 There\u2019s a part of me that believes there\u2019s a lot of truth in that.\u00a0 Look at us running around these days.\u00a0 We\u2019re working and wrapping and buying and baking.\u00a0 We\u2019re spending so much time preparing<\/em> for Christmas that we\u2019re almost avoiding the meaning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hence, the encouragement to rest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No matter what.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Resting in the merry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I was pulling out and dusting off my fairly impressive collection of Christmas music \u2014 ok, wait; that is total \u201cimpression management.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s actually, almost a bold face lie.\u00a0 Sorry.\u00a0 I mean, yes, my collection is impressive, but the truth is (confession time, friends) that I listen to Christmas music all year round.\u00a0 I … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “the misplaced comma”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[193,194],"class_list":["post-1197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","category-holiday","tag-christmas-carols","tag-god-rest-ye-merry-gentlemen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1197"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1202,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions\/1202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}