Holiday Wishes!

 

The best wishes and greetings of this holiday season! 

All of my holiday cheers to you now and for all of our approaching new year, 2024!

Author's Note: I will resume publishing here on New Year's Day, 2024!'

Peace!

Nekkid Furry Boi

Merry Christmas!

Remember the reason for the season, it is a time for peace on earth and goodwill to ALL mankind.

Enjoy and be safe! 

National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS

Today begins the National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS. This was originally known as Black Church Week for the Healing of HIV/AIDS. Since it began back in 1990, it has expanded beyond the Black church community and is now observed across all faith boundaries; Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and others. The campaign is sponsored by The Balm In Gilead, Inc.

This community and spiritual collaboration focuses not just on the healing through prayer. It also encourages compassion and tolerance for people living with HIV and their inclusion within the faith community. It urges testing as the means of knowing individual status, promotes prevention education and early treatment for those infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

For additional information, click here: http://www.nationalweekofprayerforthehealingofaids.org .

St. Nicholas Day And Sharing

December 6 every year is the feast day of St. Nicholas in the Greek Orthodox litugical calendar. Many of you who have followed my blog from the beginning know that St. Nicholas is one of my favorite saints. He is also the model for the current legend of Santa Claus.


It isn't the presents that make St. Nicholas one of my favorites. It is his legacy of sharing, of charity, of caring for and service to those less fortunate. I admire and respect this habit, practice and trait in all men. I am a firm believer in the wisdom that it takes an entire village to raise a child and that we are all collectively responsible for the well-being of others. I try to do whatever possible to help those less fortunate whenever I can in my personal life. It's the act of practicing what you preach. It's just a part of the man that I am. Fortunately, my boyfriend is the same. No surprise there, it's probably one of the attractions that brought us together in the first place.

 

 

Our first Christmas season together as a couple, in 2009, we hosted a nude social in my apartment the Sunday closest to St. Nicholas Day and asked that each of our guests bring a new toy to be given to a charity for a needy child. Twelve men attended (including us) and we collected twelve gifts. In 2010, our first year in our new townhome, we had nineteen friends and the same number of presents. Last year, 2011, we had 26 men and 26 donations. This weekend will be our fourth year of our St. Nicholas tradition.  

 

Our custom now extends beyond just St. Nicholas Day. Last year, we added another worthy cause and held another nude party to encourage our naked buddies to assist us. We hold this second social during the summer. It's a way of combining our committment to helping with our nudist lives and having fun in the process. Our small part to make this big world a better place. It's best to give than to receive.

 

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Easter: The Greek Way!

In Greek, the greeting is Kala Pascha, but the meaning is the same, Happy Easter! This year, as frequently happens, the dates for this holiday are different on the Eastern Orthodox and Western liturgical (church) calendars. In 2012, Easter is celebrated on Sunday, April 15, in the Greek Orthodox Church. For the more than a one-hundred million faithful of the worldwide Eastern Orthodox Communion, this feast is the holiest day of the year.

In addition to being a major religious holiday, Easter is also observed as an occasion to welcome the return of the Spring season and a time of hope. As is the case in most cultures, following the observance of our faith traditions and rituals, we Greeks always find the time to party with family and friends. My extended family is no different.

Church is at midnight as we honor and welcome the day of the Resurrection from mortal death. We believe both earth and heaven are united in the celebration of the divine. Because this is the most important day in the religious cycle, churches are crowded and overflowing as we gather to commemorate this joyous event.

As this religious service brings an end to the strict period of fasting known as Lent, my immediate family, like many others, gets together right after the Divine Liturgy for a sinfully huge Easter breakfast despite the fact that it is the early predawn hours. It's important to nourish the body for all the festivities of the coming day. It's not called a feast for nothing! There's plenty of food and drink to last the entire day and well into the night ahead. After all, Greek civilization has had thousands of years to perfect this epicurean festival. Centrally placed in every home is the icon (holy image) of the Resurrection, shown here to the right. It represents the church triumphant over the darkness of hell.  

Sunday afternoon is when my extended family joins together for the Easter Dinner. Typically, not only are all the families included, but there's always more than a couple of family friends who join this tribal revelry. This is the part of the celebration where serious partying is involved, as my Greek uncles pull out their instruments and we begin dancing to traditional songs that extol life in the homeland. Our family fun is unique as two of my Nigerian uncles bring their traditional Yoruba (my Nigerian tribe) drums that  add an African flavor to the festivities.

One of my favorite Easter treats is the tasty tzoureki, Easter bread. Rolls of yeast dough are intertwined and hardboiled eggs dyed red are used to decorate the loaf. Now, my Nigerian mother for years was schooled by her Greek sisters-in-law and trust, her tzoureki is by far the best in either Africa, Greece and the USA! Opa`! Kala Pascha!

The Nativity Feast

The Feast of the Nativity is December 25!

Happy Christmas!

St. Nicholas Feast Day, December 6



I was raised and consider myself a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. I also have a mind that I use and am able to see the difference between the words of mortal men and the Words of God. That being said, one of the favorite of all the Saints in the Orthodox Church is St. Nicholas of Myra, who lived from 270 A.D. to 343 A.D. He was the Bishop of Myra, in what is now Turkey. Because there were many miracles credited to his intervention, he is also known as St. Nicholas the WonderWorker. St. Nicholas had a reputation for anonymous gift-giving, such as leaving coins in the shoes of children. For this reason, he became the historical model for what is now the Santa Claus legend. His feast day is December 6, annually.

My parents taught my older sisters and myself of the responsibility of sharing with others and of helping those not quite as fortunate as ourselves. Today, I celebrate St. Nicholas Day by making a donation to a charity of my choice. I give to various charities throughout the year; however, I set aside a certain amount every payday for my St. Nicholas Stash. My partner does the same and each year on December 6, we make our contribution to a service organization that we've agreed to support for that particular year. It may or may not be a religious charity.

After making our gift, we generally treat ourselves to a special dinner out as a couple or with friends. This is followed by a luxurious bath together and then our own private celebration. Happy St. Nicholas Feast!

 

Easter Greetings!

"Indeed, Christ Is Risen" is the Easter message on this holiday card. I wish to everyone of you all the best of joy, hope and happiness during this very special time of the year. In the Greek Orthodox faith, this is the holiest of holidays on the liturgical calendar and this feast always has a very important place within my heart. For me, this time is much more than an assortment of chocolates and other candies (not that I dislike any of them). It's more about rebirth and renewal, putting the past mistakes and wrongs behind and beginning with a clean slate, starting off fresh, one more time. It's also about family and all those we love and hold dear to us. Lastly, but most importantly, it's about faith, our values and our beliefs. I'm on my way to spend this greatest of holidays with my BF and my family, immediate and extended. Happy Easter to all! God bless!

The Resurrection Icon

St. Nicholas Day

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, today is the Feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. St. Nicholas lived during the reign of St. Constantine the Great and died in 330 A.D. He was the Bishop Of Myra in Asia Minor and was known throughout the Byzantine Empire for his generosity and abundant mercy. He was always giving to the poor and needy. From his practice of charity is where our exchange of gifts during the holiday season began.

He is the patron saint of all travellers, especially sea-farers. He is one of the best known and popular of saints.

Today, my students and I are delivering boxes of toys to our local Toys-For-Tots collection warehouse. This date was decided months ago by our school administration. I'm certain they weren't aware of the significance of this day. Or, were they? Divine intervention, perhaps? Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Desperate Lies!

The November, 2010, mid-term elections are barely two months from now. The radical, extremist, right-wing fanatics are frantically spewing forth lies and innuendos in an attempt to discredit President Obama in particular and the Democrats in general. Exactly how far they'll go with this smear campaign is any one's guess. Given their propensity for hatred and exclusion, I expect they'll soon scrap the bottom of the barrel. After all, they seem to be able to produce enough lunatics who are more than willing to open their mouths and talk trash before and to anyone willing to listen.

Last night, while waiting patiently in the checkout line in the supermarket, I glanced over the headlines of the tabloids on display. "President Obama Is Muslim," "Obama's Muslim Secret," and "Obama Converts To Islam" are a sampling of the titles. WTF? Is there no decency in journalism anymore? Who in the hell do they think they're fooling? Do they really expect people to pay for this shit? I could only shake my head in disgust and resist the urge to grab all the copies polluting my vision and rip them to shreds.

First, did they completely forget that President Obama took the Oath of Office as president not once but twice, both times swearing on the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln?  If he were indeed a Muslim, he would have performed this duty using the Qu'ran, not the Bible. As our President, he has been publically seen actively worshipping in various Christian churches. How do they explain that fact? What about all the uproar and controversy surrounding the Reverend Wright and his membership in that church during the election campaign? Back then they criticized him for having Reverend Wright as his spiritual advisor. Why would a Muslim need a Christian pastor as a religious counselor? How stupid do they think we all are?

Second, if President Obama is a Muslim, so what? The Constitution separates church from state and there is no law requiring the president to be a Christian. They want us all to think that Islamic extremists represent all the Muslim peoples when in fact, they are a small minority. The overwhelming majority of the followers of Islam are peaceful, law-abiding and tolerant. Islamic extremists are more like the right-wing Christian extremists than either group want to admit.

Stupid is as stupid does. There apparently is no shortage of stupid in either extremist group.