The Gospel Twins Podcast
A podcast that brings the freedom and truth of God's Kingdom to the masses.
The Gospel Twins Podcast
Gospel Twins Classic: The Origins Of Christmas
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Winter used to be something to fear—dark, cold, and scarce—yet people pushed back with fires, feasts, and hope. We pick up that thread and follow it to today, showing how Yule logs, Saturnalia, and Mithra’s festival gave way to a feast devoted to the Nativity, not because Jesus was born on December 25, but because the church chose to redeem a date and reframe a culture. Along the way we hit Puritan bans, the secret survival of celebration, and the moment Christmas came roaring back with the crown and a new moral imagination shaped by Charles Dickens.
We don’t stop at history. We tell the truth about our own Christmases: the thrill of a personalized bowling ball, the heartbreak of a house ransacked, the chaos and comfort of blended families, and the annual tug-of-war with commercialization. We debate Santa with humor and conviction—imagination vs honesty, wonder vs myth—and share how a deeper reading of blessed are the pure in heart changed our posture from suspicion to sanctification. The point isn’t a perfect origin story; it’s using this season to honor the King, strengthen families, and fill homes with peace.
Expect a soundtrack: Donny Hathaway, Nat King Cole, Jackson 5, and a nod to Mariah’s modern classic. Expect movie nights: Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, Trading Places, Gremlins, and the great Die Hard question. Expect encouragement to craft your own traditions, protect your joy, and say no to pressure. Whether you light a modest candle or cover the house in lights, keep the heart of Christmas clear—gratitude, generosity, and a kingdom perspective that turns winter into worship.
If this conversation fed your spirit or made you laugh, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with your favorite Christmas memory so we can feature it on a future show.
Holiday Greeting And Setup
SPEAKER_05What's up, people of God? First, I'd like to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Gospel Twins. And we pray that you have a blessed holiday season. And you know, this episode was originally published on December 11, 2024. And I believe, and we believe actually, that this was uh the episode when we realized that we were going to be unapologetic, jovial, and full of laughter. And like this episode, we had so much fun recording it. Not only is this a classic episode, but it's our most downloaded show. So sit back, relax, and listen with your family to the organs of Christmas to the land. Y'all just enjoy it, God bless. Love you.
SPEAKER_00This is the Gospel Twins with your host, John and John, your go-to podcast for the kingdom perspective on current events and the good news God has for the culture. Get ready to renew your mind, one piece at a time.
SPEAKER_05People of God, people of God, welcome to the Gospel Twins podcast where you get your mind renewed piece by piece and episode by episode. And I am Sean.
SPEAKER_01And I'm John.
SPEAKER_05And we are the Gospel Twins.
SPEAKER_01Hey, we're gonna get it, man. We're gonna get it.
SPEAKER_04Getting better, man. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01Every time. Like some twins, they are, man. They don't really.
SPEAKER_05How was your Thanksgiving, man?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, it was blessed, man. As you say, I was carved out, bro. I was carved out all the fixings, all the fixings, but stayed kind of local, man, which was cool. So yeah, that was dope. How about yours, man?
SPEAKER_05Oh man, it was so memorable. Um I was solo dolo.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, how you pull that off, bruh?
SPEAKER_05We know my mom had recently got out of the hospital, so I was my my plan was to go visit her, but uh my sidic nerve flared up, and so I was having issues with that. So I stayed local and I didn't want to move around too much. So my mom, my mom gave me the pass, like stay at the crib. Oh man, wife gave me a pass.
SPEAKER_01I had to go out to analog. You talking about seated in heavenly places, bruh, man, dude. Wish I could get a whole of one of them Thanksgiving, bro.
SPEAKER_05Come on, man. Look, we're talking about football, food, and my dog. And my dog, man.
SPEAKER_01Come on, man. Come on, bro.
SPEAKER_04Like, I'll never be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01That's memorable, bro. That's memorable. That's that's a t-shirt right there, man.
SPEAKER_05And so uh I like to say this, man. You know, uh in my family, uh, on my mom's side, we always uh at we have uh we have get togethers, and so toward the end of the uh celebration, we go around, we get into a circle, and uh we ask everybody what they're thankful for. So I wanna I want to say this publicly. I didn't do it because I didn't go over there. So uh I'm gonna say it. Man, God has blessed me this year so much, man. And um, and I'm thankful for this platform, and I'm I'm glad that we finally doing this together because I don't know if you remember this, man. Uh when we first linked up, I had I had suggested this earlier, and you was like, oh no, dawg.
SPEAKER_01And I was like, okay, okay. I say, you know, yeah, yeah. Oh man, I you know, bruh, well, man, let me just say I'm thankful as well, man. And uh God has definitely been so, so good. And um, man, you know, just had to mature into some things, man, you know, in in God's timing, man. And uh, you know, and we and it gave us an opportunity to uh to cultivate our relationship more, uh, you know, and striking things back up and and letting the twin thing happen organically. So uh it was just time, man. You know, as it as the scriptures say, fullness of time is just can't be held back, man. You know, when a woman's due when she due to give birth, bro, the baby coming, you know, and it was it was just time, and it was the fullness of time, bro.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I could appreciate that. And um also, too, man. My uh my my stepdaughter came by man last night and we kicked it, man. You remember so things had got a little frosty over that. Uh yeah, she still, I don't think she listened to the episode yet, but she did mention, you know, she's she's very sarcastic, man. She she just is very, I mean, that's I guess that's her charm being sarcastic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's sarcasm. Yeah. Oh man.
SPEAKER_05And so she made a comment like, uh, I don't know, I forgot something happened, and she said, uh, yeah, he he's always he he gets offended by little stuff.
SPEAKER_01And I'm like, whoa.
SPEAKER_05No, I or I find things rude, I find rude things out of small stuff, something similar to that paraphrasing. So I said, no, I was like, you know, I I said, I said, my mom's or my dad's side of the family, man, they were all about, they were all about being polite and all that. And I said, even even when I was in college, man, in black college, uh, it was a class about that etiquette. Yeah, we had to, man, um, they we would had um we will have programs, so and they wanted you, you had to dress up, you had to put on the suit to go to these programs. You couldn't just wear whatever. And the teacher, your professor had to look you up and down and check you off.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so some stuff like that, you know, just you know, just add it added to my character, man.
SPEAKER_01For sure, for sure, man. Yeah, yeah.
Should Christians Celebrate Christmas
SPEAKER_05All right, all right, man. Let's get into this topic, man.
SPEAKER_01Let's go, let's go.
SPEAKER_05Uh, I don't know how to I didn't know how to title this, but I did say should followers of Christ celebrate Christmas or just make it just the Cospel Twins Christmas. No, there we go.
SPEAKER_01Oh, did you see how we pulled that off? See that? The virtual fist, but there it is.
SPEAKER_05So, yeah, I want to kick it, uh, talk about like the origins of the origins of Christmas, uh, the traditions of it. Yeah, of course, we are always gonna put it through the lens of the uh the kingdom. Oh wow and I also want I want to talk about our experiences. We're gonna talk about music, no, all of this is Christmas, man.
SPEAKER_01Christmas, man.
SPEAKER_05And I got and I got stuff for you.
SPEAKER_01Yes, sir. Yeah, got the clothes then, you know. We gonna just leave it right there.
SPEAKER_05All right, right, right, right. That's why you're trying to throw me a hope. All right.
SPEAKER_01That's that's a private private joke, folks. Yeah, you know, we we gonna and we're gonna leave it private, so you know.
Origins: Solstice, Yule, And Saturnalia
SPEAKER_05Okay, December 25th, man. You know, we're talking about biblicals and pagan origins, you know, uh the early Europeans celebrated light and birth during the darkest days of winter, you know, because winter is always back then, man. You know, they didn't have heat, they had to depend on burning wood, you know. And so people died in the winter time.
SPEAKER_01Yes, right. So it was it was a it wasn't not a festive time of the year, yeah. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05Not not at all. I mean, it was like people wasn't they didn't look forward to winter at all.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for you know, and you know what, man, let's let's let's let's unpack that a little bit, man, because when when you do get into things like this and origins and of of things and traditions going down, we we do have to factor in in the beginning, how it started, what was the environment and climate like, man? And then you know, like even when we read the scriptures, it'd be like prepare for the winter, you know, and all of that stuff. This is not just you know, just cool things to say. Literally, if you were not preparing for the winter in the summer, you could like you said, man, you could be close to death if not die if you didn't make those preparations. So that's that's serious, and we take stuff like that for granted, man.
SPEAKER_05I absolutely do, I absolutely do for sure. 100% so um did you uh check out that? So a lot of this uh information I got is from um this uh documentary from the history channel called Christmas Unwrapped.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I checked it out, yeah. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_05Uh I actually had that on DVD, bro. I love it so much. And um, and I would like share it to my kids and so because I wanted them to understand where I was coming from at that time. My my my views of Christmas has changed since then. But uh, you know, I'm a single I was a single dad and I had three girls in the house, and my house was a festive, but I did we'll get to that. But I only only we get back to that. But I want to uh still talk about the origin. So in the Norse country, which you know the Nordic region, they celebrated, they celebrated as you it was called Yule then, and that was around December 21st. The winter solstice when uh fathers and sons used to drag the biggest law they could find and set it on fire, bro. And um, and also they drug inside was evergreens. That was the plant that that uh they looked at as a symbol that could uh a tree that would last through the winter. So they you know that was something very special. Okay, so that's how that started with that, you know, because it's the evergreens proved that persistence persistent in the darkness in the darkest of the times, yeah. And um, as long as the uh Ewlog burned, which was about 12 days, bro. So that's just like the length of people's vacations during the holidays, right? Yeah, man, just see how that all see how all that just absolutely all comes from something, absolutely, absolutely, and um the early Christmas is or you know, because they was celebrating life, you know, uh feasting and revelry reign supreme, man. And yeah, and meat and meat was abundant, you know. Right, right. You know, they partied in defiance of winter, right? You know, yeah. Check this out, Warner. Look how we live in this city. Look how we right, absolutely, absolutely. Yep, and and so that was the Nordic. So this in Germany, people feared the pagan guy Odin. The god Odin was the god that said who who prospered and who perished. And so because they believed in that God, they feared, they fear even going outside during this time. So wow, uh yeah, and so and then let's go to Rome. Rome was less scary, so one week before the winter solstice, the Romans celebrated Saturnalia, Saturnalia, okay.
SPEAKER_01Right, okay.
SPEAKER_05Uh a month-long celebration of food and drink. Remember food and drink?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, food and drink.
SPEAKER_05Food and drink. Food and drink. And so that was so they named that after the god, uh God of Saturn, man. So uh those festivals were the battress, man. Just drinking right, right. And the upper class Rome, uh many influential uh influential Romans worship my Mithra, the god of the sun. They consider the birthday of my uh Mithra the holiest day of the year, December 20th. December 25th. Yes, yeah, uh the winter sauces and the part of that world, man. So uh early Christians didn't celebrate the birth of Christ, it was the resurrection that was essential to Christianity. So uh the birth of Christ didn't become essential until the fourth century. So evidence points that Christ was born in the spring.
SPEAKER_01Right.
From Mithra To Nativity: Date And Adoption
SPEAKER_05Um they said, you know, because of uh what the Bible says about the shepherds of the children. Yeah, and so uh so Christians thought it would be natural to celebrate Christ the same day as the world was or Rome was celebrating uh Mithra December 25th. So that's how you get it. So by the fourth century, the church made it official. December 25th declared the feast day of the nativity.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes, yeah. Which is which is man uh important that uh people realize that it it isn't December 25th was never considered where people believe that's when Christ was born. It was this was the day that was allocated for the celebration of his birth. And that's and that's that needs to be defined because you got a lot of people that's arguing over that. Christ wasn't born in December 20th. We know that, yeah. We know that. We we don't know what day he was born on, um, but this thing that the Christians did was uh was part of the mandate, man. They're they're taking and subduing the things that uh the the social culture was taking and using um in darkness, and they were flipping that and making it a thing of light. And this is what we need to understand. This is really what we're called to do. We're not called to destroy every cultural celebration, but bring it, but bring it out of the darkness into the light, or else, how else is the key? The thing is that the kingdoms of this world are going to become the kingdoms of our Lord, and they are becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and is Christ. So we need to understand this is we're still in the mandate of subduing and dominating. So just like you said, we just bringing everything through the lens of the kingdom so people can understand. We're not stupid people, we know Christ wasn't born in December on December 20th. So go on, bro.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and then what you said, um, which I was about to speak on, which I love that you set me up. Um Christians Christians knew they couldn't uh outlaw the pagan, the you know, the pagan traditions at Christmas, so they adopted them, you know, evergreen, sure, and uh they used to decorate the evergreens with apples, which symbolizes the Garden of Eden. And then also uh, you know, the Holly. Holly was Holly was recast as represent Christ's corn uh crown of thorns, thorns, and so uh yeah, man. So the tension between piety and revelry would reach a conclusion in Puritan England. The celebrations were considered unchristian, so they outlawed it, bro. See, yeah, yeah, and it was so in the middle ages, Christians would gather in Gathic cathedral gothic cathedrals, and they would call that Christ Mass.
SPEAKER_01That's it, that's it, man. Isn't that something how all this stuff, man? It just comes and man, it's good it's good to to know where it came from, bro. This is this is just man, I love history, bro, and and you I love your research. You love research. I love the fact you love research because I don't, and uh, but that's what makes us the tandem that we are, bro.
Puritans, Bans, And The Return Of Christmas
SPEAKER_05Yeah, bro. Carry on, bro. Carry on, yeah. So and um it's in uh in England before the 1800s, people celebrate Christmas. It was like Mardi Gras. They said they they compared it to Mardi Gras or New Year's Eve, bro. So led by uh Oliver Cromwell, the Puritans overthrew the king's forces in 1645, and their intentions were to get rid of everything they considered decadent, especially Christmas. Man, they was they were some kill joys.
SPEAKER_01We're gonna make this all godly, and so we're taking all the joy and fun out of everything, do you make it like heaven? Wow, of course. Oh, yeah, right, right.
SPEAKER_05And so, man, and now we have a date, and so in 1652, Christmas was outlawed, but shops were forced to stay open while churches was forced to close. Wow, man. So this yeah, that's crazy. And so the celebrations of Christmas went underground, bro. And so uh in 50, uh 1950, no, is that is that right? Uh no, that can't be 18 in 1856. The men of Canterbury passed a resolution saying if Christmas would not come back, they would have their king back on the throne. And so the monarchy was restored with Charles II, and Christmas was restored with him.
SPEAKER_01Wow. So yeah. Wow, that's what's up, man.
SPEAKER_05Hey, so hey, so it's funny though, your your your boys are Puritans, man. So so uh Christmas was restored back in Europe. So they say, hmm, let's let's leave Europe and let's find a colony so we can uh be kill joys there.
SPEAKER_04And where do y'all think he went when they went to the oh my god, oh my god, they went to America, they went to Massachusetts, people. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01The kill joint colony, man.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no, they went to America like we about to find us so yeah, the Puritans of Boston outlawed Christmas. So, hey, but check this out. So anyone found celebrating Christmas during this time, uh feasting or doing any other stuff was fine. Five shillings, man.
SPEAKER_01Oh man. So what that translate to today's money?
SPEAKER_05Huh? How do you know I knew that?
SPEAKER_01Because I know you right.
SPEAKER_05I was all on Google. Um 48 dollars, bro. Oh snap man, dude. Come on, man.
SPEAKER_01You know back then, bro. 48 bones.
SPEAKER_05Man, you know 48 bones is a is a fifth of something.
SPEAKER_01You know, you didn't just killed a lot of my joy, dog.
SPEAKER_04Like, man, what man? 48 dollars, man.
SPEAKER_01You spirits away, bro.
SPEAKER_05Uh so, but um, you know, as there's so many different colonies in um in America, so the colony in Virginia was the first to drink eggnog, you know, the Jamestown, Jamestown settlers, man. And so, uh, yeah, the eggnog, man, they even got vegan, boy. They got vegan.
America’s Traditions: Eggnog, Trees, And Santa
SPEAKER_01See, I'm dude, I'm happy for you, bro. Because I love eggnog. I love it, man. This brother got the origin of eggnog, man. Which is a celebratory uh drink, man. Which is you do they bro, I never even know this. Do they sell eggnog all year round? No, they don't. They know it it comes around at Christmas time, right? Christmas, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you know, the traditions and so uh yeah, so nog means, you know, out of eggnog means uh drink containing rum. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, okay, okay.
SPEAKER_05So in so in 1843, Charles Dickens, who's England's most popular writer, wrote a Christmas Carol. Carol, yeah, yeah, yes, and forever changed Christmas, man.
SPEAKER_01It did, man.
SPEAKER_05Over the world, bro.
SPEAKER_01Worldwide. Yes, it did. Yes, it did.
SPEAKER_05It changed uh it changed how employers looked at employees, and it also changed the family uh construct. Um, so you know, children were raised to just be workers, and by that time, so after the Christmas carol out, so parents started looking at the kids like you know, humans, man, with emotion, you know. Wow, you know, let's consider what let's consider what they like and what they want. Do you see that?
SPEAKER_01Wow, man, man. Christmas Carol, man. You see that, man? Don't tell me, don't tell me the stuff that God won't use, bro. Uh no, come on, man. See, who would ever thought that that that's where it it came out of that, man?
SPEAKER_05Come on, that's powerful, man.
SPEAKER_01That's powerful. Good good research, bro.
SPEAKER_05Thank you. I'm I'm almost done.
SPEAKER_01So hey, keep it coming, bro.
SPEAKER_05Okay, uh at that time, most Americans was Protestant, man. So uh Protestants ignored Christmas altogether, man. So they didn't the Puritans had didn't have to kill their joy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Protestant, but dude, come on, Protestants just ignored fun, just period. You could everything that could bring possible joy or a smile or laughter to you, bro, was outlawed that's banned.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, blaspheme, blaspheme, yeah, and so uh we as we go back and look, the tree, the Christmas tree comes from Germany, the Christmas cart come from England, and here in America, we brought Santa Claus.
SPEAKER_01Oh Santa Claus, very and so in 1822, Clement Clement Clark Moore, who was uh Episcopal Minister, man, check this out from New York wrote a poem, 'Twas the night before Christmas, man.
SPEAKER_05So he man, uh he you know, he ushered in the reindeer and chimney, man. So that can that's where that come from. Wow. So kids start start kids start looking for reindeer. So because that when he put that up, because he was a uh minister, he didn't put his name to it. And so once he started seeing it, things kept start catching on, and kids were like getting involved and wanting to see with a reindeer and on the roofs and all that, he's like, Oh, that was me, I'm the author of this.
SPEAKER_01Not now trying to step up and take the glory.
SPEAKER_05Okay, you know, you know how they do that. Oh, yes, and so then in 1863, a cartoonist Thomas Nass created the iconic look of Santa Claus because he was, you know, before that, he was a gnome, he was an elf, and right, right, right. He he was a drunkard uh on a sleigh was driven by a turkey. I mean, just all type of things. That's funny, man. So that's the research I got, man.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, that's good stuff, man. Good stuff. Give yourself a jingle ring on that, man. Okay, okay. Oh, ho, yeah, all right. Oh if if I had it, I'd have done it for you, bro. All right. That's dope, man. That's dope. And man, just to hear the origin stories, it's the man. I do, I love origin stories, man.
SPEAKER_02I do too.
Dickens, Family Culture, And Modern Meaning
SPEAKER_01It it because no matter how it starts, you know, even if it starts off uh, you know, it's people say that was pagan, that's this and this, but man, it's not where it's not where it's from, it's where it's at, man. And the thing is, this is what sanctification is about. And uh, you know, if that's the case, when we come, when we all come to Christ and we all come into the kingdom, man, we all coming in at different various stages of you know our experiences and stuff, man. So the sanctification process is ongoing, and the more that you sanctify, the more sets it set it apart. So right now, when you think Christmas, you don't think pagan, you automatically think Christ. This is the this is this is the subduing and then dominating. Now Christmas belongs to the kingdom because this is when the day that we are celebrating, setting aside to celebrate the birth of our eternal king, man. So that this is this is what we're supposed to be doing, people. We're not supposed to be going back, trekking the origins of things so we can curse them. Let's check the origin and see how we have sanctified things over time, and now we are dominating, we're ruling those things. So same thing in Hollywood, stop cursing Hollywood and what let's let's let's subdue and dominate the movie industry. We ain't gonna stop having movies. We you know, I don't know why people think when Christ returned, like it movies are gonna be gone, and and all anyway, don't get me off on that. Christmas, merry Christmas! All right, bro, go, go, go.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so uh let's get into uh let's get into uh some traditions and some memories and some music and for sure, man, and some snow.
SPEAKER_01Come on, man. Yeah, I just come on. What is it this is the this is the no go ahead, go ahead.
SPEAKER_05Isn't Christmas the the most famous holiday that we celebrate?
SPEAKER_01It is, it is, man. It it is the most, I mean, what's that? What's the song? The most wonderful time of the year. I mean, it's just something magical about Christmas, man. It used to be, you know, people talk about the Christmas spirit, you know what I mean? And and it's typically a spirit of love and giving and joy, and it embodies all the things, man, that that the kingdom is is made up of. And uh, man, absolutely the most famous, and and and probably because it's the most famous, it could be the most exploited as well. So, you know.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I have a love hate relationship. Well, you know, now that I have grandkids in my life, Christmas um has changed. Yeah, yeah. There was a point when I was going, um, there's a time when I used to was a Jehovah's Witness, so I wouldn't celebrate it at all. And then when I left, when I left the Kingdom Hall, I still took some of the traditions. I didn't I celebrated to a point because I didn't want my kids to go to school and not have anything or think about.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_05But I didn't have, I didn't have my house, wasn't decorated. I didn't have a tree. I did have a uh at one time I just had a nativity scene, but that was it. I didn't have any tree or uh mistletoe garland. I didn't have any of that stuff. So but uh as time grew went on and I got married and then uh grandkids came into it, and then we our tradition at my home, uh we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve because uh you know we uh my my wife has four, I have three, so we got a huge, oh blended, huge, blended family, all grown, and they all have significant others and other another parents, so it's just so Christmas Eve.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, yeah.
SPEAKER_05So we know so our tradition on so we had we get up and uh everybody meet around here about noon or one o'clock. Uh you know, so but the the yeah, the menu is really it's not really too much thought into it. One year we like one year we had sloppy joes.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_05One year we had pizza. Yeah, yeah. You know, just made it simple.
SPEAKER_01But because you just a month away uh Thanksgiving had just passed with all that fixings and stuff, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05But you know, but still, but you know, but still a lot of you know, a lot of people go big on there, you know.
SPEAKER_01They do that, they do. That's true.
SPEAKER_05Isn't ham the like the meat or the on Christmas?
SPEAKER_01I guess I think it is. It never was at our house, but you know, yeah. But it was at your house. Yeah, I guess like turkey or chicken, something like that. Yeah, yeah, it was. What about the turd tunnels? No, we didn't have we didn't well, let me not not lie, man. My mom and them used to eat those, man, but I never did. Bro, I can look, look, you could you could probably say this about all meats. Like, man, if you were back where all meats were, they all stink or whatever, but bro, I can't I can't bring myself to eat nothing that I just I see you washing the poop out of it, bro. I I just can't roll with that. And for those who don't may not know what we're talking about, we're talking about chitterlings. Chitterling.
SPEAKER_05Chitterling or chitlins.
SPEAKER_01Chitlins, there it is, there it is. That's that's that's the that's the chitlins.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, then uh at the household when I was growing up, my mom, man, she would get anywhere from three to five. She would get five three to five buckets of chitlins and dump them in the tub. Oh man, she would be in there on her knees. On her hands and knees.
SPEAKER_01That's it. That's it.
SPEAKER_05Oh, and then and that smells appropriate for the bathroom. For the bathroom, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm not eating nothing that didn't meant spent its preparation in the bathroom, bro. I just like do man the bathroom, man.
SPEAKER_05Shh, man, dude. And guess who used to have to clean the tub after she was finished?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm sure that was your job.
SPEAKER_05That was my job. Like, you got I got two other brothers in here. Why me? Oh, bro. Oh, I just chillers, man. Uh man, but I would eat them, man. And you know, you back then, oh man, yeah, it was a staple on and um on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Oh, yeah. Both holidays.
SPEAKER_01Dude, you went vegan random, man.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_05You know, the mountain oysters and the hog malls.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah, yeah, the mountain oysters, though.
SPEAKER_05Man, we got so proficient in uh chitlins, man. I used to make chitlin sandwiches.
SPEAKER_01Oh, get out of here, bro. Oh, you chitlin' sandwiches hot sauce, bros. There you go. With the Franks, with the Franks on it.
SPEAKER_05But Frank's going to everything.
SPEAKER_01Oh, everything.
SPEAKER_04Oh, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Oh, man. That's dope. That's dope.
SPEAKER_05Hey, so do you um do you have a favorite Christmas? Do you remember your favorite Christmas or your best Christmas?
SPEAKER_01Man, you know, um I don't know why this one stands out, man. It was a Christmas, because you know, I had uh two sisters, older sisters, man. And on Christmas, I mean, our Christmas would be decked. I mean, just full of stuff. Tree just had stuff all under it. And one year they bought us all bowling balls, and uh, yeah, with our names on them, man. And I and I had a swirl like orange, brown, and blue bowling ball, dude. And it it was just, I don't know, for some reason, that just was so dope to me, man. And uh that just stood out. So that was, I mean, had a whole bunch of other stuff, but just something about that bowling ball, man. Uh it just stood out. And it was, it was always, and just man, always waking up to the smash. You'd always cook breakfast because we we'd have um we celebrated Christmas on Christmas, but it would be really early, you know, like three in the morning, you know, because you know how you kid, man, you can't wait and you go to bed early, you know, so you can wake up early, you know. So um, yeah, so it was it was always great, and she just had it smelling like bacon and eggs and pancakes and grits and all that, man.
SPEAKER_05And yeah, that sounds good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're making me hungry now. For everything but the bacon, I'm sure. But the bacon, they they got vegan bacon, right? They sure do. Oh man, vegan, yeah, they got every alternative for any food, don't they?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and they come a long way. It was a time when it had nothing like that, but uh yeah, man. And then and even the product has gotten better to where it's like, man, sometimes I look at like, man, you sure this ain't an animal?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. You when you took me to the uh that breakfast spot that had the vegan replacement stuff, all that man, it was good. I was I was pleasantly surprised, bruh. So yeah, and so what did your family used to go bowling? Y'all went bowling together? That's the funny part about it, man. No. Oh, okay. I thought y'all had shirts and shoes. No, that was the funny part about it, man. Is that we I mean they took us like shortly after that because they bought them too for us for Christmas, but no, bowling wasn't a thing in our house, man. So I that was kind of a trip, and and I guess that's why it sticks out so much. I'm like, you know, man, okay. Bowling and it had my name on it, bro, and gold letters. I was like, yeah, that's dope.
SPEAKER_05That is. Hey, where's that bowling ball now? You don't have it anywhere.
SPEAKER_01No, man, I wish I did, bro. I wish I did. Uh found a picture, man, you know, my parents uh when my when they passed away and I was cleaning out all these stuff. Uh found all these old pictures, man. And I actually came across one of the Christmas pictures where I'm still in my blue pajamas, and I just got the bowling ball on my on my lap and you know, and took a picture with it. So I I just I recently made it a uh that was a year ago or so, just over a year ago. Yeah. So that was uh that was pretty dope, man. So I got that picture of the bowling ball, but don't got the bowling ball no more. No, do you remember what year that was? Oh man, I was a youngster, bro. Okay, man. Um I had to be maybe five, six, maybe okay, okay. Yeah, so you're talking about 1976 or so? Five or six? Yeah, yeah, dope, man. Dope. Man, I have a few memorable. Um I know you do, bro.
SPEAKER_05Hey, before I go, what about you? Do you what do you have a oh your your worst Christmas?
Best And Worst Christmas Stories
SPEAKER_01Oh man, yeah, dude. Uh that was uh when I was I was I was grown. I was uh me and Stephanie, my wife today, uh, we were on Christmas Day, bro. We had bought some matching outfits, and uh, and we normally go visit hit everybody, you know, on Christmas back then, especially when we were dating. Um, hit her family, my family. But we would split it, like you said, somebody get it on Christmas Eve, and somebody on Christmas Day. And on Christmas, man, we we had matching outfits, we were sharp, bro. And something popped off to where me and her got into the most heated argument about I don't even remember what the argument was about. And it was early in the morning because we were about to set out, you know, to start hitting the spots and and hang out, bro. We we argued so bad that we split up that Christmas. We didn't even spend Christmas together.
SPEAKER_05Oh man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man, it was rough, bro. She went to see her family. I stayed with mine, and yeah, that was that was that was the worst one ever, bro. That was the worst.
SPEAKER_05Oh wow, yeah, okay, man. Um, dude, man. I'm gonna start off with my worst. It's a couple worst, man. It's two of them, actually.
SPEAKER_01Oh man.
SPEAKER_05Uh you and I grew up in Inkster, bro. So and my mom was young, pretty, and single. Yeah. And so we were, man, our house was.
SPEAKER_01bro. Yeah. Respect. Respect. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05But it was targets, man. You know, right where we stayed at.
SPEAKER_01I remember oh yeah, right across from Brookside too.
SPEAKER_05All right, man. Yeah. So I remember um it was a my mom must have hit a lick or something. She had she had a nice little cash flow that that Christmas. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She uh we were that's when we was going to Wonderland. She took us to Wonderland and I remember Darren got his first let my brother Darren, my older brother Darren got his first leather jacket. That's what's up you know and she had bought it and so we would make a different we had made multiple trips. That's like man she had she must have she must hit a lit.
Faith Maturity And The Case For Celebration
Santa, Truth, And Imagination
SPEAKER_01So I remember leaving leaving the house and going back to Wonderland and we got back man our house was ramsack oh man uh man they took everything Darren's new leather jacket oh bruh man stole your Christmas legit man and this the house was just a mess man i just remember it's like there my mom was just like oh devastated man total devastation dude oh that's oh man i'm sorry about that yeah but uh somehow she still made it work man i like i said she had some money that year yeah yeah yeah but you know what bro come to find out it was our it was our next door neighbors no it wasn't yeah they man they they they broke into our house a couple times i don't know if you remember my mom had ended up had to get bars on the house on the window y'all getting them yeah yeah yeah yeah come to find out they were what happened they would just man they would you know they was being uh pretending like they were my mom's friends man and just come over party and drink and then and then when you know when when because they knew our schedule they knew who was home and who wasn't and so yeah my mom later found out man after we moved from Inkster that uh it was the neighbors that did all that man wow man yeah friends like that bruh yeah yeah man come on yeah it was just terrible yeah I can I can see how that could be one yeah so yeah so I can remember that and then um another Christmas where I I forget something we did something my brother and I did something my mom got upset she's like y'all could chalk Christmas up um she said she said I'm buying y'all clothes and oh stuff the stuff you need not the stuff you want the stuff you need that's I thought we thought man we thought she was bluffing man woke up man unwrap we were unwrapping books bro I was like nah I mean y'all y'all were tandemly acting up that yeah man she just gave it me uh Darren Taris and myself she was like closing books closing books wow wow man no I mean I got nothing uh story time story time okay yes so my brother Darren man was five years older than I am yeah this guy was five years old when he came into my room and said you know Santa Claus ain't real and I remember like what what man Santa Claus ain't real it's like man mom be getting mom didn't do that to you he didn't do that to you he said mom value your stuff what was his motive bruh was he mad at you no that's how Derek get down Derren's kind of he was a bully sometimes and he just you know what I'm saying just he was just a truth seeker man he just kept it he just kept it a hundred man for the buck he no he was he ain't about no lies man i don't I think that's my dude that I don't know they ever lie you know wow no I can't say lie to Derek but man to come in and just destroy and I'm gonna tell you what what followed after that so me finding the news like oh say real I took it to school now you're gonna perpetuate the madness I told anybody who would listen bro whoever had ears to hear that is here that's cold blooded bro i'll tell you what's even worse than that my mom had to come to the school and apologize man and made me promise that I wouldn't tell nobody else oh bro they were gonna expel me oh man because you was a dream killer on the loose bro you know man come on you was killing dreams bro i was i said i was telling the truth because i we didn't have no chimney you know right right right how you saying bro yeah he's like there is there went to the event like is you think he's coming through that like no kasana's magic yeah come through those areas bro man not the that not at the not not when your house got broken into you looking really right right we wanna pop somebody man i don't care what color you got on red white man you about to get popped after that man it was on poppin' bro yeah oh dog man man that's cold man that's cold but i will tell you my best man you was a part of it man 1983 i can make it like yesterday that's when i had her my mom bought me all that yellow that the the Michael Jackson the human nature outfit yes the human nature outfit she bought me she bought me a red coat that i i i i you know i have a liking to the beaty jacket yeah yeah she bought me uh i had the castle gray skull i had the he-man oh man i had a few of those action figures man i was like yeah i was raised in the root that year dog i i do remember that man yeah dude remember that yeah you set it off bro yeah man she showed love that year dude dude yeah yeah 83 man i remember that crazy tell him tell him that is human nature come on man now is now was that the same year that we was going through we were walking through fair man your mom was at work and we was up there is that was that that same yep you had you had on your beadie jacket didn't you that that oh yeah uh that was uh I got the beady jacket later but she until then I for for winter she gave me a coat that was red and it kind of favored the favored the beaty jackets yeah because I remember man these little slimmies was following us around man because you was walking through the wall looking like Michael Jackson and everything just I was just getting love just just by being there I was getting that Tito love bro well that was a trip man yeah you're you're yeah man your mom used to set it off man she used to get us those buttons and stuff man MJ buttons and man yeah yeah I love that she worked at the fair uh worked worked at the lane man because she would come randomly come on with stuff like what yeah man I it was Christmas a lot of times she came a lot of times throughout the year yeah that's dope so what are your what's some of your favorite traditions of Christmas oh man uh man it was you know just the uh you know the the the gifts and the hanging with the family man and just man I used to just love just it was just such a a festive and loving time at my house man you know just had on the the the whispers christmas album and all that stuff man would just be playing you know we had the big old record player with the you know you know with the big dooley the speakers on both sides with the eight track and all that stuff and yeah man it was just it just was just fun man just to look forward to that just that atmosphere that ambiance man yeah that just yeah that changed my view i i think um i've i can't remember i was out somewhere when this when this brother said man you know because i was like i don't celebrate christmas he said he said man but it's so much love and joy and right peace it's like man it's like how could you nice like so he said people are so nice around this time yeah absolutely and that changed that changed my view of it man and he was right man i mean no like it was it's so much good in it man it is man it's so much good in it i stopped celebrating it when i when i first turned christian bro that's when i stopped because all the origins and i mean when people talking about the you know if somebody would have broken down the origins the way you just did uh you know i probably would have thought different man but when they you know pulling up the scripture in jeremiah about bringing the trees in your house and decorating the trees and this is to the god this and and all that man and i'm like man i'm new into the faith so i'm like well i definitely don't want to be uh you know doing nothing that's giving no other god or deity no praise so i shut it down man and me and my wife man we were just you know she submitted you know man good woman good christian woman submitting to it and but man my my daughter was affected like you said but i'm i'm holding i'm towing the line i'm towing my christian faith line bro and i'm not gonna do it i'm not i'm choosing jesus over everybody i don't care i will suck all the joy out of the world with price do you understand modern day puritan exactly exactly purchase about oh man dude and yeah and then uh but no man when i when i begin to mature in my faith and see like wait a minute you know and it and what really did it for me was um one day man i'm sitting there reading the scriptures man and then i'm reading matthew five and you know i get to the part where he says blessed are the pure in heart you know for they shall see god god yeah and and that was on my and that was the time when i was doing all my i was transitioning from christianity to the kingdom at that time and i was doing a lot of word studies man and that's when i looked and studied and and i was reading uh matthew henry's commentary and with his commentary on that he said that scripture means blessed the pure in heart sees god in everything you know and i'm like oh are you serious i'm like i thought i had to keep my heart pure so i can one day see god and he was like you know and his commentary was like you know this couldn't mean you know this what i thought it was meaning because he was like you have to see god now in order to see god uh in the end you have to see god in your life now he's in your life right now and i'm like oh as we talk common sense what we say common sense and then i was like oh my god that just made so much sense to me man and then i'm like how can you think the one of the most festive and joyful and loving times of the year is void of christ you know and and and people like you were talking about with kirk frankly and and and and christmas is about jesus you know you know the birth that we're celebrating so how can i i'm not responsible for the commercialization of christmas and what other people doing with it i'm responsible for how i see it right yeah so yeah and that's that changed everything from there how you uh feel about Santa Claus though since I talked about ruin it uh ruining it for others Satan Claus uh you know bro uh I don't think anything about him uh if he's a representation of of the spirit that uh is being lifted up for the giving uh person and taking all the kids uh christmas gifts and all of that stuff it's just it's the representation it's not him the obviously as you said Santa Claus don't exist but but you know my favorite phrase it was that Jesus I don't like the dudes I can tell you that no i i just don't have no thought about him you know what i mean i don't give no credence to him so if someone says Santa Claus um you know if that's where you choosing to keep your child's imagination flowing early on in their years fine um but that's all they they're no different than a cartoon character what do I think about Mickey Mouse you know what do I think about Popeye you know they they're just characters they're just characters so but I like what Popeye stands for he's the he's the underdog he's a tough guy eat your spinach and you know and you know be healthy and and all that and uh and yeah and Mickey Mouse man well you got a talking mouse or you're a billion talking mouse oh yeah I know but it just it just across it just to me it just it's crossed too many lines man so what what is it about saying I always say that because somebody said unscrabble the the letters in Santa and what do you I I was remember dating this girl man and um Santa Claus was just huge in their family.
SPEAKER_05Santa Claus Santa Claus was huge in their family and like to where their Christmas party they would have a a person come in at Santa Claus and give out gifts and I remember um she and I got into an argument and she was like the kids need to believe in Santa Claus like they believe in Jesus and I was like you can miss me with that and so I I I just went the other I just like oh I'm on a crusade now right right it's people that actually think that oh I'm about to ruin it for everything I'm gonna kill Saint Nick man she was serious about that it's so serious too where like her kids not grown now grown cannot they still can't say there's no Santa Claus because their family gives a Santa Claus gift.
Snow, Spirit, And Seasonal Joy
SPEAKER_01You get gifts from the family mom and dad and all that right there's a Santa Claus gift so if you publicly say there's no Santa Claus you're not getting that Santa Claus oh my goodness I said what's up with the blackmail man I said and uh because you know that her kids were smart man so I put them to the side like how you feel about Santa Claus well we know he's not real but we can't say that to mom we can't go we can't go public with it's just one gift they're like man just like take a stand man to this day bro they grown and they cannot utter that Santa Claus is not real wow yeah that's a bargain you will you will not get the Santa Claus and I remember the first time I spent Christmas with her I brought I mean because she was the one that started breaking it down man so I started breaking because she and her kids you know I saw how much joy it was and stuff yeah yeah it was man one thing I do miss about old school is uh back in the day when this when it was like so I because I like snow I like snow until I like I like you know you know you know after January just let it go you know right right when it when I'm done I'm done but yeah yeah man it was just um man this this particular christmas uh eve we talking like about a foot and a half of snow outside wow but it was we were in the country it was in the we were in the country bro and it is it was so pretty you could see the you could see the stars the snow covered everything and she's like we gotta go outside and we gotta light candles for the reindeer I'm like what man I'm up chilling at the fireplace you might we gotta go outside and light candles and put reindeer reindeer imaginary reindeer man we went out there and she actually spent money on reindeer food so we had reindeer food we had candles wow like man can't we go back in now man well but here's the thing dog let me ask you I mean I get the I get how you I get your feeling with it but but but just look at man the the joy that a child experiences like right now man bro you know I don't know are you familiar with the elf on the shelf yeah I am okay okay I already hear you I already hear you I gave it to my dog but but bro you know the thing is man I see the I see the joy and I see the the excitement it generates in my granddaughter and I'm like you know just in the sea and think he's moving on his own and that the parents get up and move and then they they make little they make little footprints out of flour and stuff to where it looked like it's going like he just came in trek From the snow and North Pole and go to where bro, I just look at it like man, that's pretty dope, man. That's really dope. And that's the thing, man, is to me, it's just like it's just like God gives parents or you know, just things in life to be the the precursor for you to make the transition over to when we become adult, that we take that faith that we used to have in our parents and all that, and and they convey it on to the Lord. This is you can trust God like that. And I just see that same same principle and cultivating children's imagination through cartoons, animation, stories like that, characters like Santa Claus and Rudolph. And so when you get older, they don't lose the ability to believe in the true angels and heavenly creatures and the things that are invisible, that they can make that imagine their imagination can make that transition. And uh, I just I so I see it as a benefit more than I see it as a hindrance.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_05I I just I think that you know I think kids recognize like when they mean really, really young, maybe not like five, six, they know that Mickey Mouse is for real. It's just a character. Sure. I just I just not comfortable lying to my kids about that. I because I just but is it really though? It is a lie.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so explain to me how how you see that as being a lie.
SPEAKER_05Tell me because he doesn't exist, because he doesn't exist. So Santa Claus don't exist, right? Okay, so but he doesn't come in your chair, and he doesn't give you a gift. You buy the gift, you provide the gifts. So you telling that this imaginary person gives a gift, that's a straight flat out lie.
SPEAKER_01But isn't there a spirit of giving and doing these things that's prompting you to go and get why don't you go and get the gifts and all that stuff? You know, I mean, of course we give our kids stuff throughout the year, but why not? What with the festivities and everything that Christmas brings and all of that? What isn't it a spirit that's coming on you to give in this time and to do the things you're doing for your children? Isn't it?
Favorite Songs And Albums
SPEAKER_05But it's not prompting me to lie though. I let you let or just put it like this. Just just say you had Christmas and you kept all the traditions except for the gift giving. Like, what what okay wouldn't that be sad? I think at the end of the day, you want the gift giving is what it's about. The kids waking up opening gifts is what it's all about. That's the culmination, absolutely, and so I figure like at the end of the day, the gifts are the more the important thing, giving and and the gifts opening. So all I just shift where the gifts come from and tell them where they actually come from. You see, I work Monday through Friday, I work Monday through Friday, sometimes 12 hours. I'm getting that credit, bro. So you need the glory. I'm gonna get the glory because I am real and I provide and Santa Claus does nothing, he's not anything. Oh man, dude, what dude? It don't fly in the air on a on a on the sleigh. And then like how and then like how do he get around all over the world, bro?
SPEAKER_01He's magic, bro.
SPEAKER_05He's magic. I tell you what he is, he's whack. He's mad whack.
SPEAKER_04Okay, man. He's a studio gangster, dog. That's what he is.
SPEAKER_01I get it, I get it, I get it. But it but it but it's like you just said, okay, studio gangster, man. Are these dudes that's in here making these records and movies, bro? We go and see movies and stuff all the time that we know it's not real. Yeah, so but we nevertheless we enjoy it, man. So I just see Christmas in this season like a time to suspend your unbelief and stuff, and just allow yourself to take in the presence of all of the joy, all of the wonder, the splendor. Dare I use the word magic that comes with this season, man. And and just suspend your unbelief. We know that look, we know this person is gonna cuss you out next week. But but they overwhelmed with the spirit of Christmas right now, and they're gonna suspend cussing you out. So let's just enjoy it. Let's just enjoy it, you know, for for what it is.
SPEAKER_05I hear that. I just think that they still can enjoy it without without the lie. That's uh without the lie, man. You know, I'm just out the line, man.
SPEAKER_01You just gotta ask the crime with St. Nick.
SPEAKER_05No, I'm just saying, just it's I'm just saying, but at the end of the day, it's a lie. That's all I'm just like, and then I'm gonna go perpetuate it.
SPEAKER_01I'm not gonna give myself the lie. I'm not gonna participate with the lie. Bro, I I don't tell people if Santa Claus is real, and and I don't tell if somebody asks me is Santa Claus real, I'm gonna tell no, he's not. But it but I don't I don't go with uh with an axe to grind against it.
SPEAKER_05Okay. But but I tell my kids, I tell my kids, I was like, they they know my stance on it. I was like, so if y'all did if y'all if y'all say if y'all decide to say he's real, then okay.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_05But no, I'm gonna try to avoid the question. If they ask me, I don't lie to the kids, man.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_05I don't lie to the kids. Like I tell them, I I didn't lie to y'all.
SPEAKER_01So uh you don't take it away from the from the kids.
Movies We Rewatch Every Year
SPEAKER_05And don't ask me, if they ask me, man, keep your kids from me. All right, if you don't want I told them like if you don't want them, I don't have them ask me about Santa Claus because I can't ask me no questions, I will tell you no lie.
SPEAKER_01No, no, I I feel you dog.
SPEAKER_05I feel I'm I'm having fun with it, but at the end of the day, I I'm not gonna lie to them. I hear you. I hear you because I told him I used to tell my kids, look, there's so many people that's out there in the world that's gonna lie to you. Right. But no, when you come to the crib, then I will not, even if you don't like it.
SPEAKER_01None of the raw truth here.
SPEAKER_05You're just gonna say with raw truth here, and I've done it, and and and some people disagree with that, but I think my kids now are better for it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Hey man, I yeah, I can say, hey bro, look, lit live according to the benefit of your convictions, bro. That's real, so yes.
SPEAKER_05But having said that, I love Rudolph.
SPEAKER_01Because reindeers are real, right? Yes, right, yep, and and who's to say one of them don't got a glowy nose, right? You can't say he don't got one, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Hey, but you know who's uh who's who seemed to be um evaporating with the Christmas with with global warming is is frosty, man. Like oh man, I haven't seen frost in the last couple of snows.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05I remember in Easter, man. Uh when that's the first snowfall, man, we'll be outside building the snow, man. Angels and all type of stuff, yeah, for sure. Uh, but yeah, I just I missed that. I do miss that. I do miss having uh a lot of snow on Christmas. I really do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for real, man. I love it, dude. Love it, man. It's just bro. I still I I concur with the song, man. It's the most wonderful time of the year, bro.
SPEAKER_05It is, it is.
SPEAKER_01I mean, yeah, I mean, it could still be that without Santa Claus.
SPEAKER_05Oh, it is. I'm having fun, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and I don't even get into people like Jesus is the reason for the season. I'm like, bro, look, Jesus the reason for every season. So, you know, you you you don't have to miss me with that, but you ain't got to go out your way and try and sell it to me either. Yeah, you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_05Hey, so what are your favorite Christmas songs, man?
SPEAKER_01Favorite Christmas songs? Oh man. Uh This Christmas. Um, of course, the the uh song Not King Cold, the Christmas song, uh Jingle Bells, uh you know, the traditional stuff, man. You know, oh and whispers, man. I just I love their Christmas album, but that's because my mom used to play it so much, so it's just embedded in me, man.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_05Um about you I like you know, the Jackson 5 Santa Claus coming to time.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05They yeah, the Christmas song, you know, uh King Cole. Yeah, yeah. Man, you can't have Christmas without Donnie Hathaway, man.
SPEAKER_01I mean, like, oh man, that's probably that's probably my favorite, man. Is it really? Really? Is that one that your mom played a lot when you was young?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but also we used to listen to the radio, it just you know, WJOB used to play it a lot. Um, I like the temptations, Rudolph the Red Nose Rain.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you know what, man, I had to, you know, on the commercial level too, man. Uh I I mean, I love your girl Mariah Carey's joint, man. You know, all I want for Christmas is you.
SPEAKER_05Man, come on, man.
SPEAKER_01I love that joint, dude. I love it, man. I get clowned for it around the house, though. Yeah, oh yeah. My wife don't, she does not like LC, bro. Okay, she don't like her, but uh yeah. I love the song though. I love the song.
SPEAKER_05That's the newest one that came in. That's become tradition, you know. Because when did that song come out? Because all the songs that we name are songs that have been out for years back in the day, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01She dropped a banger. Man, she did. It is, man. And you're gonna see you're gonna hear that everywhere. You're gonna hear that. And you relate Christmas to every Christmas. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we relate Christmas to Mariah Carey, man. She called her Mariah Christmas.
SPEAKER_01Is this do they really call her that?
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, yeah. She killed.
SPEAKER_05You ever see the meme? That it's a meme like after the after Halloween, like she's like in a glass case, and then she breaks her, and then she comes out.
SPEAKER_01No, no, so it's like because it's her it's her season now. It's her time. Oh, yeah. That's crazy, man. I I do, I mean, I love the stories that I hear, man, because she's she uh I forget where she was at when she was talking about it, but she was like, yeah, she's like, I love it because the royalties that kick up around this time of the year for man, what she's like, I bring in so she's like it. Christmas is wonderful for her every year since she dropped back. Of course, she said it tongue in cheek, but she ain't lying though.
SPEAKER_05No, hey, what about uh what about Christmas in Hollis?
Gratitude, Loss, And Keeping Joy
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, come on, man. It was the 24th. Come on, dude. Yeah, that dropped, man. I'm gonna tell you, bro, when when that dropped in the movie theater when we were watching Die Hard, the crowd went crazy. You know, when he was like, Do you got some Christmas music in here? He's like, yo, yeah, the button, and man, they dropped the Christmas and Holland Bowie. It erupted, dog, it erupted it there, man. I love it. I love that song.
SPEAKER_05Hey man, so since we talked about that, what about your favorite Christmas movies? Do you have any?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, oh that's you caught me off guard on that one, man. That's probably a show by itself, bro.
SPEAKER_05Okay. So so do you set out, do you set out to watch Chris set out Christmas?
SPEAKER_01Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I man, I'm I'm absolutely gonna watch uh specific movies during this season. Um, I mean, I love that movie, man. What is it is it called Jingle Bells with uh Arnold Schwarzenegger and I believe so and Sinbad. Oh I love that movie. Um man, it's it's so many that they slip my mind right now. You name some, man, and I'll jump on some of your.
SPEAKER_05You can't really ask me, man, because I'm I'm unconventional, you know.
SPEAKER_01So don't give me some Die Hard as you've seen.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right, yes. And in this other gremlins, bro.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes, absolutely. Those are ones I watch in uh what's that uh Adam Sandler movie, Adam Sandler uh animation.
SPEAKER_05Is it eight crazy eight crazy nights? Oh my gosh. Oh man, I haven't seen that, dude. You I know you know I know your humor. You will be cracking uh eight crazy nights, eight crazy nights, Adam Sandler, man. It's an animation, bro. I'm gonna have to check it out. I'm gonna have to check it out. Yeah, it's it is so funny, man. But other than that, man, um just uh, you know, if I catch them like the Charlie Brown Chris.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, I'm absolutely gonna look them up. If I if I'll stream them if I can't find them coming on, Rudolph, Abominable Snow. Yeah, all that. Yeah, bro. I'm absolutely taking them in. Happy New Year and all that. When I mean baby new year, yeah, baby, the big years. One of my favorites, dude. One of my favorites.
SPEAKER_05Um we talked about Christmas Carol early. I like the Disney version, I like the Mickey Mouse and Scrooge McDuck.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so yeah, but I don't sort them out, but you know, because this Christmas season. Oh, yeah, and um the Chevy Chase one, um, Christmas Vacation.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, okay, yes, sir.
SPEAKER_05Yep, absolutely. Those are the ones. Yeah, home alone is another one.
SPEAKER_01Yes, for sure. Already saying it. Already, yeah, already caught that one for this season.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so yeah. But I meant I forgot to mention, man, we talked about songs. I have a song that's not a Christmas song per se, but it was it was uh this scene. I was I was uh driving to uh South Lion, and I was on this road, it had snow. I love the snow. So the snow is covered everything, and I'm like in the country, and it has it's this song called uh A Soul for Every Cowboy by Big Head Todd and the Monsters. This is a rock movie.
SPEAKER_01I ain't never heard that, bro.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's called Soul for Every Cowboy, and uh and um it says uh you know it's about the song is about a cowboy hurting, but he gets lost, and then it starts pouring rain down on him, and it says uh it said the stars, the stars will guide him home, and and angels will bring him songs to sing when he's alone, man.
SPEAKER_01Oh wow.
SPEAKER_05So these lyrics are playing, and it's just I was serene, I was at peace, man. It was just a beautiful scene. And you know, I'm a uh I love birds, birds are prey. I'm driving, man. It was a big old red red tail hawk sitting, and I'm just like, oh, this it can't get any better than this right now. It's trying, and so now I relate that song to Christmas, but even though it's that's dope, man.
Anniversaries, Birthdays, And Packed Calendar
SPEAKER_01It's a country cowboy song, but yeah, but yeah, but it had meaning for you at this at this time of the year, bro. I've what uh another movie for sure. I'm gonna seek out and look at I'll do it every year, trading places. I always do that. Oh, classic, classic, man. Yeah, yes, yes, sir.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, Danny, uh Jamie Lee Curtis, yo man, yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01For sure.
SPEAKER_02That was funny, man. That was funny, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was, yeah, it was.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, man. You got anything else to add? I think man, I think we covered, I think we covered a lot.
SPEAKER_01Everything, and we did, man. And just man, just people of God, just enjoy yourself, you know. Um take in this time and and just enjoy the season. And don't don't allow dogma and traditions of men to keep you from enjoying what God has given you permission to have joy in your life, to experience it, and and just take it in. And it keep no matter how you do it, whether it be small, whether it be large, whatever you do, just just enjoy it. Thank God for it, and just man, re relax. Relax.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, make it what you want to be, you know, make it what you want to. Um I remember like I said, I used to get into all that, but man, it's like so much love and peace and joy, and that just yes, take that in, man. Take it in, it's just it's a beautiful time. Absolutely. You know, people are nice. Uh, I just I just love the season. I'm not really a things have changed because I remember you go to uh the mall just be so crowded, man.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah. The malls aren't crowded like they used to be, not like they used to be, no, no, okay. Get everything out of it. So the times have definitely changed and affected those things. But it's like you like we did here today, man. Even if it's just thinking back on some, even if you're like me, I'm gonna be smelling them without my parents. Um that I could I could take that opportunity and let that part depress me and go into the dark side of it, or I can just remember the wonderful and beautiful times that I had uh growing up with them and and and just thank the father for that, you know, and just in all that we do, man. Just you know, give something that we can think of to give thanks for. And uh that's what Thanksgiving launches this season. That's what I love about Thanksgiving. It's it's stay perfect and how they're aligned because it just launches you into that thankful, that spirit of Thanksgiving all the way through through Christmas and the end of the year. So just be thankful and have fun.
SPEAKER_05Man, it's just a busy time for me and my household because you got Thanksgiving and then my my daughter's birthday today. Oh man, happy birthday, happy birthday, Ariel. My cousin Mario's birthday on the 15th.
SPEAKER_01Oh man. Happy birthday. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05You got a Christmas. My wedding anniversary is on the 26th.
Commercialization, Black Friday, And Boundaries
SPEAKER_01Man, that's your birthday. Coming up, right? On the 30th. And then my wife's birthday on the 31st. And then January 1st is New Year's. My birthday on the 6th. Yeah, it's just a wonderful time of the game. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Thank God for me being born at this time.
SPEAKER_01Yes, for sure, man.
SPEAKER_05So whatever attracted my my mom and my dad to do what they did, man. And at the time, you know.
SPEAKER_01No doubt. And you know what?
SPEAKER_05I'm thankful for that.
SPEAKER_01Thankful for it. And for some reason, uh the Lord must just, you know, put that in my parents' heart to, you know, love a certain time of the year because we was all born around this time. I'm on the 30th, my sister's on the January 3rd, and my other sister on January 5th.
SPEAKER_02So oh snap.
SPEAKER_01So whenever they got the urge to get on, it was at the same time of the year. Wow. Man, that's a lot. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_05So, like, how the like so how do the birthday celebrations like that's what people used to say?
SPEAKER_01Like, did that affect y'all's birthdays? Like, sure it did. Like, we would set we would get it set off on Christmas. A lot of times my parents would tell us, yeah, this is y'all Christmas and birthdays, because we would have a lot. Yeah, Christmas took everything. And then when our birthdays would come, man, we would, you know, get cake and ice cream or something, but not really no gifts, though. No.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's because by my wedding anniversary, I'm wore out, bro. Uh 24th, the 25th. And that's another another tradition I like. Man, another tradition I like about Christmas is is NBA basketball. But you know, but you notice that NFL got games on that day too.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's right. They all called it. That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_05They taking the NBA shine, bro. It's like, this is the only day we get.
SPEAKER_01And it's in the playoff seasons, too. Oh yes, sir. NBA gonna take an L on that one, bro. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yep. And um, but I would say one thing before we go, one thing I don't like about is the commercialization, the commercialization of it. And and it's how they just like target people's yeah, uh soon after Halloween, like bam, you go into the store and just stuff out.
SPEAKER_01Already up, already up, absolutely.
SPEAKER_05And come on, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't like the amalgamation of the way they're doing it now. Yeah, but like I say, you gotta ignore that, man, because so much stuff, man, that is trying to steal the joy out of it. Yeah, you know, so you just you really gotta fight to stay in and the joy of it and stuff. Because man, you used to I I remember so many times I would let the year, I would allow the joy of it to get sucked out. And then, man, then you gotta wait for it to come around the whole next year, man. And it ain't that you can't experience joy and stuff through the year, but this is a time we collectively do it, and it and that's what makes it so special, because we as a nation collectively do it, and uh yeah.
SPEAKER_05Were you uh a black Black Friday shopper? Did you like it?
SPEAKER_01I used to be.
SPEAKER_05Oh, you would you would stop eating and then go out and go out to the store?
SPEAKER_01Bruh, no, no, I was never that one when Black Friday would come into the like after Thanksgiving, like six o'clock and stuff. No, okay, no, I would but I would be out there, yeah. I ain't doing that, but I would be out there at three, four in the morning, depending on what I was going to get. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Okay, okay, I didn't partake, yeah.
SPEAKER_01At all, ever.
SPEAKER_04Heck no, man.
SPEAKER_05Because I like Thanksgiving, so I was like, I would get I was used to get it in, man.
SPEAKER_01So I was used to put it away.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I just had to sleep it off, man.
SPEAKER_01You were still you were still in that in that coma type state. Yeah, man. I feel that you know, because it's like coma.
SPEAKER_04I eat, sleep, eat, sleep.
SPEAKER_01Eat some all right, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Wake up three in the morning, eat a chitlin sandwich, you know.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god. The turd tunnel sandwich, bro.
Final Encouragement And Sign-Off
SPEAKER_05Hey, I remember way here. Uh we extending this, but I remember my grandmother, man, my my paternal grandmother. Her eyesight wasn't that well, man. It wasn't that good, man. She decided to make some chillings. I don't like hell. You were gonna mess with them. Nope. Man, oh my mom, man. When I told you she hit the tub, man, it was it was like three different phases.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, clean, empty, clean, empty, clean. And then rent the rent side.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, you're right. Grandma did it one time. I was like, heck, I was like, I know it's gonna be some grit and grime in that. That's a that's a that's a brown stains on people's teeth. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_04Oh my god.
SPEAKER_05Hey, I remember thinking like, oh, this smell is a little bit that's a little extra.
SPEAKER_01It was extra.
SPEAKER_04Like the pig was in the backyard. That's the dog, that was all right, all right, people. You're gonna let it go on that note, bro.
SPEAKER_05Hey, you can sweeten it up, man. If I can sweeten it up with this, there you go.
SPEAKER_04Merry Christmas!
SPEAKER_03Merry Christmas. Hey crazy, dog.