[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Saturday, December 15 2012

[Paul]

Well, I can't believe it, but it must be true.  Saturday night already here and time to prepare my heart, mind and soul for tomorrow when I, along with others across this great land, will worship our Lord and Savior in our respective churches.  For those of you living elsewhere, you already have done that.  Hope you received good words from the Lord as imparted to you by your pastors and/or Sunday school teachers and, more importantly, that you and your fellow congregants will apply what you have heard and learned to your individual lives as the gracious Holy Spirit enables.

Tonight we will learn, if we don't know already, about the poinsettia and how it became associated with Christmas in Terra Hangen's article entitled "Red Stars of Christmas," rendered as follows:

The most popular Christmas plant in the United States is the poinsettia, and like many people you may feel like your holiday decorating is not complete until you add poinsettias to your home's display.  The flowers remind us of the star of Bethlehem, and this plant's nickname is "red star of Christmas." In addition to the traditional red fire engine poinsettia, you can add white, salmon or red splashed with white varieties.  Its botanical name, _euphorbia _pulcherima, means "very beautiful."

A Mexican legend tells how poinsettias became associated with Christmas.  The story varies a bit in details, with the main character being either a little boy named Pablo, or Pablo and his sister, Maria.  The stories all agree that a child living in poverty in Mexico was sad on Christmas Eve, because he wanted to give a gift to the baby Jesus to put near His manger in the church Nativity scene.

The child prayed to find a gift to give the baby Jesus, and when he was done praying he looked up and saw some dusty weeds, and picked a sparse-looking bouquet to add to the manger scene.  As he entered the church, the tops of the weeds blossomed into the color of red flames, thus explaining its common name of Mexican flame leaf, or its name of "flores de noche buena" or "flowers of the holy night."

The bright poinsettia flowers are technically bracts, or modified leaves, and the flower is the tiny yellow center of the bracts.  The poinsettia received its name to honor Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, from 1825 to 1829.  Dr. Poinsett held many different roles during his life, including that of a trained physician, elected member of Congress, and dedicated botanist.  He was so taken with the beauty of the humble weed that he had poinsettias sent back home to his greenhouses in South Carolina.

Poinsettias became associated with Christmas in the United States as Dr. Poinsett gave the plants to friends and neighbors in the Charleston area and to Charleston churches at Christmas.  William Prescott, a horticulturalist and friend of Poinsett's, wrote about these plants and called them poinsettias.  Today 65 million poinsettias are sold each year in the United States.  A vibrant red plant or a group of crimson, cream and peach poinsettias will lift the spirits of each person who sees them.

And that is Terra's article for today.  One bad thing about the poinsettia, and that its leaves are deadly poisonous to cats, so don't, under any circumstances, let them have them.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul