My wife, Leesa, is directing staff at New Bellevue House in the elaborate process of de-Christmasing - removing baubles, gee-gaws and trappings that festoon the place during the holidays. She’s doing this with such fervor, I’ve taken to calling her “Anti-Claus”. This is not to suggest she doesn’t enjoy Christmas, far from it. It’s just that she’s focused at the task at hand, but to a degree I’m put in mind of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, began in 1536 by order of King Henry VIII. He was newly the Defender of the Faith, the Church of England. Henry invented it and was the supreme head, no longer taking guff from that pointy-hatted guy in Rome. Shockingly, his motivation was money and power. The King’s PR people painted the monasteries as places of Earthly sin, excessive wealth and debauchery which was easy because many monks lived in such conditions. The problem, in Henry’s mind, was how they got funded.
© 2024 John Oliver
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