“Nativity at Night” – Geertgen tot Sint Jans, c. 1490
Greetings my fellow port swillers! Allow me to quote:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
– Luke 2:8-14
You know how Ol’ Robbo knew he was a religious man even in his misspent yoot? The fact that he tears up every time he reads or hears this passage. (I have a very, very definite, albeit completely inarticulable, vision in my head of the appearance of the heavenly host.)
Anyway, I hope that each and every one of you who drop in here from time to time have a very joyous Christmas!
The Port Stands At Your Elbow 
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
December 24, 2017 at 4:48 pm
tubbs
OMG – you too?
Something like Aurora Borealis, only with angels for the pixels, filling the entire firmament ?
And a Blessings on you and your House. And thanks for your work.
December 24, 2017 at 4:58 pm
captainned
So Robbo, are you Linus or Charlie Brown?
December 25, 2017 at 8:19 pm
waterdog
A very Merry Christmas to you and yours Robbo! My eyes watered up tonight seeing a few flashmob versions of the Hallelujah chorus circulating around YouTube. Seeing joy and fleeting glimpses of reverence coming over the faces of so many in the crowd gives one hope. And now… on to one last viewing of a Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart.
December 26, 2017 at 9:13 am
The Maximum Leader
I hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas. Ours was good, but we did have a roast pork loin instead of roast rib of beef this year. (Have to economize a bit – long story.)
December 27, 2017 at 9:44 pm
Robbo
Thankee, all.
Cap’n, I have been Charlie Brown all my life.
Tubbs, kinda-sorta. But more intense, less ethereal. And more blazing out than shimmering. Like I say, I can’t describe it. FWIW, when I started reading C.S. Lewis’s take on the medieval concept of the Heavens, as opposed to the modern concept of dead, empty space (as found in his “Out of the Silent Planet” and some of the Narnia books), I felt that he was on to the same idea.