It’s almost Christmas!  It’s been a wonderful Christmas season, and I’m looking forward to time with friends and family.

Seeing as Christmas is just five days away, I thought I’d dedicate this week’s Lazy Sunday to posts related to this most joyous of holidays:

• “Napoleonic Christmas” – As featured in “Lazy Sunday XCIV: 100 Week Review,” this post improbably became my second most popular post thanks to WhatFinger News sharing it on their main page last December.  The post examines an interesting revisionist take on Napoleon from a PragerU video, and the Prager connection is why WFN shared the post.  Napoleon is a fascinating figure, a man Beethoven admired—then reviled—and someone who completely changed the trajectory of modern European history—for better or for worse.
• “Christmas Eve” – My brief riff on Christmas Eve, which I characterized as “the most magical, mystical part of Christmas time,” this post explores that mysticism—that sense of ancient legacy and tradition—inherit in the night Christ was born.
• “Christmas and Its Symbols” – This post features analysis of a daily devotional from Daily Encouraging Word, which discussed the symbols of Christmas.  We Protestants tend to be practical, literal folks, but we lost some of the magic and mystery of the season—and of our faith more generally—when we abandoned symbolism for literalism.  Christ and Christianity took old pagan symbols and repurposed them to tell the Good News of the Gospels.  Talk about meeting potential converts where they are.
• “Singing Christmas Carols with Kids” – I’m blessed to teach music for a living, and a substantial portion of my side income comes from teaching private lessons.  This post celebrates the fun and joy of singing Christmas carols with young people, an activity which links us to our ancestors and our faith.

That’s it for this pre-Christmas Sunday.  Stay warm, have fun, and have a Merry Christmas!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

• Lazy Sunday – APR Pieces
• Lazy Sunday II – Lincoln Posts
• Lazy Sunday III – Historical Moments
• Lazy Sunday IV – Christianity
• Lazy Sunday V – Progressivism, Part I
• Lazy Sunday VI – Progressivism, Part II
• Lazy Sunday VII – Deep State
• Lazy Sunday VIII – Conservatism
• Lazy Sunday IX – Economics, Part I
• Lazy Sunday X – Economics, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XI – Walls
• Lazy Sunday XII – Space
• Lazy Sunday XIII – Immigration
• Lazy Sunday XIV – Gay Stuff
• Lazy Sunday XV – Work
• Lazy Sunday XVI – #MAGAWeek2018
• Lazy Sunday XVII – #MAGAWeek2019
• Lazy Sunday XVIII – SubscribeStar Posts
• Lazy Sunday XIX – Music
• Lazy Sunday XX – The Laziest Sunday
• Lazy Sunday XXI – Travel
• Lazy Sunday XXII – Reading
• Lazy Sunday XXIII – Richard Weaver
• Lazy Sunday XXIV – Education
• Lazy Sunday XXV – Techno-Weirdos
• Lazy Sunday XXVI – Small Town Living
• Lazy Sunday XXVII – Bric-a-Brac
• Lazy Sunday XXVIII – World History
• Lazy Sunday XXIX – The New Criterion
• Lazy Sunday XXX – Trump, Part I
• Lazy Sunday XXXI – Trump, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XXXII – Festivals
• Lazy Sunday XXXIII – Virtue Signalling
• Lazy Sunday XXXIV – The Desperate Search for Meaning Series
• Lazy Sunday XXXV – Corporate Grind
• Lazy Sunday XXXVI – Best of the Reblogs, Part I
• Lazy Sunday XXXVII – Best of the Reblogs, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XXXVIII – Best of the Reblogs, Part III
• Lazy Sunday XXXIX – A Very Dokken Christmas Series
• Lazy Sunday XL – Christmas Carols
• Lazy Sunday XLI – Food
• Lazy Sunday XLII – 2019’s Top Five Posts
• Lazy Sunday XLIII – Music, Part II: More Music
• Lazy Sunday XLIV – SubscribeStar Saturday Posts, Part II: The Search for More Money
• Lazy Sunday XLV – Techno-Weirdos II
• Lazy Sunday XLVI – Man Time
• Lazy Sunday XLVII – Winning
• Lazy Sunday XLVIII – Culture
• Lazy Sunday XLIX – Family
• Lazy Sunday L – The Best of Lazy Sunday
• Lazy Sunday LI – Just for Fun
• Lazy Sunday LII – Democratic Candidates, Part I
• Lazy Sunday LIII – Democratic Candidates, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LIV – Coronavirus
• Lazy Sunday LV – Animals
• Lazy Sunday LVI – Movies
• Lazy Sunday LVII – Christianity, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap
• Lazy Sunday LIX – The God Pill Series
• Lazy Sunday LX – Music, Part II: Gigging
• Lazy Sunday LXI – The Tuck
• Lazy Sunday LXII – The South
• Lazy Sunday LXIII – Holidays
• Lazy Sunday LXIV – Grab Bag
• Lazy Sunday LXV – Rioting
• Lazy Sunday LXVI – Video Games
• Lazy Sunday LXVII – Phone it in Fridays, Part I
• Lazy Sunday LXVIII – Phone it in Fridays, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LXIX – Phone it in Fridays, Part III
• Lazy Sunday LXX – Phone it in Friday, Part IV
• Lazy Sunday LXXI – Road Trips
• Lazy Sunday LXXII – Forgotten Posts, Volume I
• Lazy Sunday LXXIII – Forgotten Posts, Volume II
• Lazy Sunday LXXIX – Forgotten Posts, Volume III
• Lazy Sunday LXXX – Forgotten Posts, Volume IV
• Lazy Sunday LXXXI – Forgotten Posts, Volume V
• Lazy Sunday LXXXII – Rural America
• Lazy Sunday LXXXIII – Space, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LXXXIV – SCOTUS
• Lazy Sunday LXXXV – Big Ideas
• Lazy Sunday LXXXVI – Education, Part II
• Lazy Sunday LXXXVII – Universal Studios
• Lazy Sunday LXXXVIII – The Mountains
• Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – Halloween Hijinks
• Lazy Sunday XC – Elections
• Lazy Sunday XCI – Questions, Part I
• Lazy Sunday XCII – Questions, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XCIII – Questions, Part III
• Lazy Sunday XCIV – 100 Week Review
• Lazy Sunday XCV – Questions, Part IV
• Lazy Sunday XCVI – Questions, Part V