A Very Special Day

A Christmas Day mega-blog : well, telly's pretty grim!
And a very special piece of research ... ?

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But first ...

 Advent Alphabetical Almanac 

Y is for Yeshua

The first Hebrew letter in the name Yeshua ("Jesus") is the yod. Yod represents the "Y" sound in Hebrew. Many names in the Bible that begin with yod are mispronounced by English speakers because the yod in these names was transliterated in English Bibles with the letter "J" rather than "Y". This came about because in early English the letter "J" was pronounced the way we pronounce "Y" today. All proper names in the Old Testament were transliterated into English according to their Hebrew pronunciation, but when English pronunciation shifted to what we know today, these transliterations were not altered.

Thus, such Hebrew place names as

ye-ru-sha-la-yim

ye-ri-ho

and yar-den

have become known to us as

Jerusalem

Jericho

and Jordan

and Hebrew personal names such as

yo-na,

yi-shai

and ye-shu-a

have become known to us as

Jonah

Jesse

and Jesus.

Pronounce it "ye" as in yes, "shoo" as in shoo and "a" as in cat. Put the emphasis on the "shoo" and you are speaking His name correctly.

It means "one who saves" and is exactly the same as our name Joshua.

It was a very ordinary name that was made very special indeed by Christ-mas.

And this song reminds us of the central truth ...

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I'll come with you Yusuf; I'm not wanted here.

Miriam, don't be so negative.

Who wants to have anything to do with an teenage unmarried mother?

O.K., O.K. You know it wasn't me and when we get back from this taxation office thing we'll sort it all out.

Here's the printout; we need to get a move on.

Will you make it to the Church of the Annunciation in your condition, Miriam?

Don't fuss so much, Yusuf. I'll be OK!

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Here we are, the Egged coach route 955. I'll help you on.

Ooh!

Hold on if you can, its only 2 hours!

What happens when we get to Jerusalem?

There'll be the usual security checks, but, hopefully it'll be all right. We get off in the Central Bus Station.

Then we've got another walk.

Why, Yusuf?

Oh, politics, darling. Arab versus Jew. It's been the same since the time of Isaac and Ishmael. It's the heritage that we live with. So we are off to the Damascus Gate ...

... the Arab bus terminal is just round the corner.

What number are we looking for?

It's the 21, here's the map ...

... and another checkpoint before we get there!

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Why is this called Manger Square, Yusuf?

Probably from the French "manger" because of all the cafés!

You're just silly. Ooooh, there he goes again. It's getting close.

Look at all the people, we'll need to find somewhere to stay. Everywhere will be packed solid! You'll need some rest before we go to the tax office tomorrow.

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He's a beautiful baby, Yusuf. You will still marry me won't you?

Of course Miriam, I'll do anything for little Yeshua. Were you asleep just then?

No, I was saying a little prayer.

To thank God? It was good of the pub owner to let us use his grotto.

Yes, but a prayer to ask God as well.

Ask Him what, darling?

I've asked God that little Yeshua will grow up to be a peacemaker in this sad and broken world.

When all this is over and the baby is a bit bigger, we'll need a holiday. We need to get away from all this unpleasantness.

Only if we can really afford it. Where should we go?

click on image to enlarge

How about Egypt?

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 the fat bus bloke wishes all his readers ...

 ... who are Christian : Happy Christ-mas 

 ... who are agnostic : Happy X-mas  

 ... who have no faith : Happy Xcess-mas 

seasonal staff at Gibbs & Gurnell, Union Street, Ryde:
on duty yesterday
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Postscript (on-line source)

Icy conditions
A government warning said that anyone travelling in icy conditions should take a shovel, blankets or sleeping bag, extra clothing including a scarf hat and gloves. 
Also a 24 hour supply of food and drink, a de-icer, rock salt, torch & spare batteries. In addition they should take a safety triangle, tow rope, petrol can, first aid kit & jump leads...
I felt a right prat on the bus this morning!

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 Next Bus Blog : Wednesday 26th December