Merry Christmas to all

I wish to extend the warmest of Christmas greetings to our readers, with hopes for a prosperous New Year.  

The old year 2024 is fast winding down.  (Some say fortunately.)  Beyond doubt, many changes have occurred over the past year, the outcomes of which will only be made known by living the consequences of our respective choices as the future inevitably unfolds.  I am no soothsayer, and make no revelations. Let it be, in other words.

Meanwhile, it is appropriate to attach a photograph along with these greetings.  I chose one of the Nativity, taken of a carved oak panel found in the at Traquair House Chapel, Innerleithen, Scotland.  Hidden stairways and priest holes notwithstanding, the chapel at Traquair only dates from the mid-19th century with the passage of the Roman Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829. 

April 3, 2023  Traquair Chapel panel

The panels (there are 12 of them), however, are of Flemish origin, dating to the early 1500s.  Brought back to Scotland by craftsmen touring the Low Countries, they are said to have first been installed in Bishop Lamb's chapel in Leith (i.e. "Queen Mary's Chapell in Leith"), Edinburgh, until they were supposedly acquired by the Charles Stewart, 5th Earl of Traquair (1697-1764) for 20 guineas.

The panels are said to have been whitewashed over, hidden during the Reformation period, though that seems unlikely given the late date.  In any case, the panels were not publicly displayed in Traquair Chapel until the late 1800s.  Scripture reminds us:  "Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light."  Mark 4:21-23.

That is a whole other story.  For now, though, may this be a joyous Christmas season filled with abundant blessings throughout the coming year.