Here There and Everywhere

Christmas Eve Hilarity

All of a sudden, life slows down and friends can gather, relax, share stories and share laughter. We were full of hilarity as we sat down to make Christingles, which, as it turns out, none of us have ever made before and none of us have a clue what they are supposed to look like.

Here is an explanation of a Christingle from NationMaster.com encyclopedia:

A Christingle is a symbolic object used in advent services in churches of many Christian denominations. It has its origins in the Moravian Church , with the first recorded use, in Germany, in 1747.
This is the story of the first Christingle:
One Christmas time back in 1747 at a town in Germany, Pastor John sat at home in front of his fire. He was thinking how he could explain the love of Jesus, and what Christmas really meant to the children in the church. He decided to prepare a simple symbol to help make the message of Christmas fresh and lively for them. Pastor John gave each child a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon, with a prayer that said “Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children’s hearts”. This was the first ever Christingle service.
Many years later, in 1968, Christingle services were introduced to the Anglican Church in Britain, and the custom spread quickly; each year there are more and more Christingle services in England and Wales, although today’s Christingles are a little different.
The Christingle consists of:

• an orange representing the world with
• a red ribbon around it representing the blood of Jesus
• fruits and sweets (usually dolly mixtures) are skewered on 4 cocktail sticks which are pushed into the orange representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons
• and a lighted candle is pushed into the centre of the orange representing Christ, the light of the world

Here are some illustrations I found online:

Here is where the hilarity begins – have you ever tried to tie a red ribbon around a sphere? Have you ever tried to determine the proper “Anglican angle” for the fruit filled cocktail picks? Worst of all, how can such a simple assignment end up looking more like Sputnik than an object to teach children lessons in holiness? We struggled to meet the challenge, and, in the end, had fulfilled our mission, but not one of us was confident that we had produced the real thing. Our results:

After so much stress and hilarity, we needed to unwind, so off to the Ritz Carlton once again, where we discovered that the disappearing Christmas Tree is back in all its glory:

You can opt for a plate from the Ritz Carlton Christmas food yummies buffet:

Or you can order the Ritz special Christmas Tea, which comes in towers (and you can actually order coffee with it if you prefer coffee to tea)

A lovely beginning to Christmas.

We wish you a Merry Christmas, and unexpected joy in the coming year.

December 24, 2009 - Posted by intlxpatr | Arts & Handicrafts, Christmas, Community, Cultural, Doha, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Friends & Friendship, Living Conditions, Qatar, Technical Issue