The Twelve Months of Covid

In my previous blog, I referred to different versions of favorite Christmas carols and hymns, modified due to the current pandemic. While not belittling the people who are suffering from this disease or the shut-downs, it does help to be able to laugh adversity in the face (even if that face is masked).  Here is my version of The Twelve Days of Christmas:

The Twelve Months of Covid

• On the first month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Stay home and you’ll be virus-free!
• On the second month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Two hands keep washing!
• On the third month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Three diff’rent masks!
• On the fourth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Four sterile wipes!
• On the fifth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Five quar-an-tines!
• On the sixth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Six feet apart!
• On the seventh month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Seven meals delivered!
• On the eighth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Eight grades home schooling!
• On the ninth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Nine Zoomers meeting!
• On the tenth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Ten months and counting!
• On the eleventh month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Eleven sports not playing!
• On the twelfth month of Covid, my gov’nor said to me: Twelve recalls coming!

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Of course, I actually prefer a different version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, one in which the numbered gifts serve as a memory device for Christian beliefs. In this other version, the verses represent:

“My true love” = God; “sent to me” = by God’s grace

1. The Partridge = Jesus Christ
2. Two Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
3. Three French Hens = Faith, hope and love, the theological virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13)
4. Four Calling Birds = the four Evangelist and/or their four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
5. Five Golden Rings = The first five books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch” (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
6. Six Geese A-laying = the six days of creation (Genesis 1)
7. Seven Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, understanding, piety, and fear of the Lord; all but piety listed in Isaiah 11:2)*
8. Eight Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes (Matthew 5:2-11)
9. Nine Ladies Dancing = the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
10. Ten Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21)
11. Eleven Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles (Acts 1:13)
12. Twelve Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed, the twelve tribes of Israel

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In keeping with the “laugh at Covid” theme, our Christmas decorations this year have changed. Since nobody is visiting, Karen decided to put just one ornament, a red cardinal, on our main tree. When she sent a picture to one of her friends, the friend replied that the bird was “in isolation.”

And then, there is the nurse ornament from my late sister, which we modified slightly before hanging it on our smaller, “retro” tree:

If only we could get her to keep her nose inside the mask!

That’s all for now. Until we communicate again, may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Job 8:21; Job 39:22; Psalm 2:4; plus all the verses cited in The Twelve Days of Christmas listed above.

*But see also 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, which lists 9 gifts: “For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” (Emphasis added)