A Christmas Selection Box 2022

It’s traditional in Ireland to give chocolate selection boxes at Christmas, with a variety of different treats inside. Unfortunately, I can’t share that chocolate with you over the internet. I wish I could, because Irish chocolate really is some of the best in the world and I’m not the only one who thinks so. But I can’t give you that, so instead I’ve collected a few Christmas treats for you from around the internet. Enjoy!

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• First, here’s a Christmas song from Northern Ireland-based Rend Collective. I like the song, and I also like the scenery in this music video:

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• Next, I’m sharing with you a Christmas quote from C.S. Lewis (who grew up in Ireland). This quote is taken from his book, Miracles:

“In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still, if embryologists are right, to recapitulate in the womb ancient and pre-human phases of life; down to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders.” – C.S. Lewis

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• Here’s some more Christmas music–this is a short instrumental version of a traditional Irish Christmas carol called Don Oiche Ud I Mbeithil (That Night In Bethlehem):

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• Next up is an article: “Christmas Hope for the Brokenhearted” by Tim Challies, a Canadian blogger who recently lost his son. He writes about why we can still have hope, and still celebrate Christmas, even through grief. Tim also wrote a book about his experience of loss, called “Seasons of Sorrow”. It was the most moving book I read all year, heartbreaking and yet also intensely hopeful. You can buy it here.
  

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• You may be reading this from Ireland, or from anywhere, but either way you can enjoy a few photos from Christmastime in Ireland. The Christmas lights and occasional dustings of snow only highlight the beauty of this island even more.
  

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• Finally, here’s a throwback to one of my own poems about Christmas: Away In A Graveyard (A Poem For Christmas)

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I hope you have a very happy Christmas, wherever you are!