The First of Logos

The First of Logos

My folks were full of the fear of God,
And full of His holy gravity.
Music, and dancing, were frivolous wastes
And bywords for depravity.
And birthdays passed with nary a mention
So’s not to lead our thoughts astray –
But I was still the lucky one,
For I was born on Christmas Day.

I was born in the dark of Winter,
In the midst of an Almighty freeze
Too far North for much of the sun,
Too bleak for that many trees.
But ev’ry year, the town would string up lights
As if to lead my way,
And hope that it might snow for me –
For I was born on Christmas Day.

Ev’rybody wore a smile,
And nobody wore grey –
Ev’rything was done with style,
Right through to Hogmanay !
And my fav’rite animal, the deer,
Was ev’rywhere, with a sleigh !
How much I loved this time of year,
To be born on Christmas Day !

I was born in ignorance,
And thought all this must be for me –
The whole of the town would celebrate
That time I changed from two to three,
They cheered some more when I turned four,
At five and six, they cried hooray –
My parents couldn’t stop it all,
For I was born on Christmas Day.

They may not have given me presents,
But they gave me the greatest gift on Earth –
I used to think how lucky Jesus was
To coincide my birth.
And piously, I’d thank the Lord
For far more joy than words can say.
And so I grew up loving life –
For I was born on Christmas Day.

The choirs would sing,
The bands would play,
The bells would ring,
The shops display,
And all the world felt good and near,
In one long cabaret –
How much I love this time of year,
To be born on Christmas Day !

Like other kids with Santa, though,
We all must learn the truth –
I gradu’ly became aware,
As I slowly left my youth.
But nonetheless, I didn’t mind,
There was no shame to pay –
They never could take the glow from me,
For I was born on Christmas Day.

I was born in happiness,
Despite attempts to tamp it down –
And I got to cast my birthday wish
To spread my joy throughout the town.
I stopped believing in the end in Christ,
But that’s okay –
Cos I still believe I must be blessed,
For I was born on Christmas Day.

And yes, the lights still shine,
And yes, the drinks still sway,
And still the robins pine,
And still the reindeer bray,
And I wish my parents well, despite,
Their lack of festive fray –
Let all the world join-in tonight,
To be born on Christmas Day !

So, what’s this title about ?  Well…

In 1935, Clayton Woodworth proposed a new calendar.  He was a prominent Jehovah’s Witness and editor of The Golden Age magazine for the faithful, and he considered the Gregorian calendar to be irredeemably Pagan.  His scheme was laid out in his publication, and it received tacit official approval by the inclusion of a ‘trailer’ in the 1935 Watchtower Yearbook.  It introduced a whole new method, with new names for the days of the week, and new lunar months that began their year from the the first New Moon after the Spring Equinox.  An example is shown below the Year of Ransom.

The important part for us is that the first New Moon will fall between March 20th for the rare occasions the Equinox falls on March 19th) to April 20th (if the Equinox is on March 21st).  This will result in months of either 29 or 30 days, with a thirteenth month of ‘Sanctuary’ being required every two or three years.

Thus, the tenth month could begin anywhen between the 10th of December and the 10th of January…

It’s not surprising that the JW leadership appear to have quickly soured on the idea, but it’s also fascinating to wonder what it would be like had they persisted.  In particular, I wonder if part of the appeal was to dislocated the calendar from the Gregorian, so that any given date of the latter would fluctuate upto a month on the new one – making keeping track of those nasty secular dates and birthdays and public holidays that much trickier, (not to mention all of those specific AD-years when the world failed to end…)