I received very special Christmas Greetings from my friend Klaus-Jürgen Grün. He and his team at PhilKoll live in the realm of philosophy.

I am now downloading it to the global and eternal internet. As we all know, said internet will never forget. After all, I wish to share nice texts and preserve them for posterity.

In his award-winning article: “On the Basis of Morals“,  Arthur Schopenhauer tells us his definition of the festival of love:

“Well, taste is certainly an individual thing;

But for me personally, there is no better prayer than the closing lines of dramas in ancient India (and also those of English plays performed in front of the king).

They were:
May all living creatures remain free from pain.”

Somewhere else, he reminds us that the so-called religion of love

clearly is deficient in a huge and important aspect, in that it limits all its regulations and leaves the entire world of animals without rights.

It is different in moments of happiness

for the Brahmin or Buddhist. Instead of roaring a „Te Deum“, he goes to market and buys birds. Later, after having walked out of the city gates, he frees them.

No further comment!

RMD
(Translated by EG)

P.S.
Arthur Schopenhauer (* February, 22nd,  1788 at Danzig; † September, 21st, 1860 at Frankfurt/Main) was a German philosopher, author and university teacher. On October, 18th, 1813, he earned his doctorial title from the University of Jena for his work: “Ueber die vierfache Wurzel des Satzes vom zureichenden Grunde” – About the four-fold root of ample-reason-axiom.
Well, that is almost 200 years ago now!

P.S.1
I took both the picture and the signature from the central media archive Wikimedia Commons.

Since we have just had our Christmas Party, I keep seeing Santa Claus wherever I look and everything looks Christmassy in our country, here are some more “Christmassy“ impressions.

By accident, I got hold of this picture with the Christmassy motto “Mary and Joseph look upon it with joy”. Jens Gassner took the picture during a night-time train journey – of course he used his  “Smart phone”. And then he added the following text to the picture:

What you are looking at on this picture is not Jesus Christ in the manger, but an iPad. For the five-year-old boy, this is the first time he touches a tablet. After a minimum of instruction, he tries game after game and is apparently absolutely thrilled.

Mary and Joseph, the joyous spectators, are not married, either – the persons you see in this scene, as well as the photographer, accidentally met because they were sitting in the same train.

Greetings,
Jens

Now isn’t that already something like a modern Christmas Tale. Many thanks to Jens!

RMD
(Translated by EG)

In recent years, I always wrote a daily advent calendar article in the IF blog. It was a separate category.

This year, I will not write one. Some way or other, I simply no longer feel like it. Mind you, this feeling is partly because over the last few days, including today, I have been packed with advents calendars and special bargains for the first of advent like crazy.

No airline, no merchant, no provider of comical services or any other things was above sending me “great” bargains wrapped into an advent calendar or something similar.

I am fed up with advent nonsense. For me, there will not be an advent and neither will I make an advent calendar of my own.
Regardless, I wish you a nice advent!

RMD
(Translated by EG)

P.S.
If you still feel you wish to have an advent calendar, all you have to do is open the IF blog category “advent calendar“. There are any number of articles from the last few years.

P.S.
1
Since I do not have an advent wreath, either, I took the  picture from the central media archive Wikimedia Commons. The copyright is with THWler 33142 at de.wikipedia.

It was worth waiting for! Tonight, Santa Claus is coming!

I end the advent calendar of 2012 by wishing you all a happy Christmas in the name of IF-Blog. Perhaps this little poem with double-meaning by Klaus Hnilica is to your taste?

I would also like to wish you all a safe arrival in the New Year!

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One more night to go!

Now the time has arrived. Tomorrow, we are not setting the alarm clock. All the offices will be in a state of Christmas hibernation. The people look forwards to a hectic Christmas, or else flee towards a stressful skiing or other vacation. Some fly to the South Sea – and celebrate Christmas lying under palm trees. On an island in the sun.

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Another 2 nights to go!

Then Father Christmas will come. Well, how about already starting to get in the right mood for the holiday.
With the Comedian Harmonists in a recording of 1932

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3 nights to go!

Christmas, the festival of love and presents! But we should keep in mind that we can only love others if we also love ourselves. The same is true for presents. Only if you give something to yourself, you can give something to others!

Today’s advent calendar offers a few precious bits of advice how you can combine the two.

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Another 4 nights to go!

The nights get longer and longer. I look forward to the Christmassy cuddling more and more each day. It means the smell of fir, burning candles, delicious gingerbread and a little quiet around Christmas. It is the memories of many Christmasses that make Christmas something special

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Another 5 nights to go!

And still we are talking Christmas presents… Today, you get two recommendations in case you cannot think of anything appropriate next week, either. Because these are presents you can probably even still get on the morning of Christmas Eve.
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Another 6 nights to go!

For me, this poem is part of the quiet winter and Christmas season. Everybody knows it. There are numerous variations to it. Language experts like to extend it by the occasional punch line. Depending on how you feel, it is said to be by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Lewis Carroll or Christian Morgenstern.

But the one thing that makes it different from most other poems is that it is “ultimate nonsense”. Consequently, it is an excellent fit for our stupid times.

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