because all you need is a little more school in your lives...

I've survived three Sundays of Advent, a bio exam, a technical research paper on how an MRI works (of all things, why did I choose this topic?), the Aztecs, and half of Martin Luther....

....and *today* begins my Christmas break.

la la la la la la! sing a happy song!!!

In celebration I have a little clip from my literature class (ok, maybe it's not quite a celebratory clip. It's a little sad.).

It's from Henry V by William Shakespeare--starting Act III, scene 8. (*Note: this *is* a war; there *will* be blood.)
Henry, King of England, has led the English into a war agains the French. They're outnumbered five to one, but they don't surrender: King Henry presses them on.

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; / For he today that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother [...]." (4. 3. 63-65.)

In the end, England defeats France, with only 29 men who have died.
The English, though, have lost ten thousand men. And so King Henry praises God, giving Him all the glory gained from this war.

Disturbing? yes. How can war glorify God?

However, this clip shows King Henry not as a bloodthirsty tyrant, but as a compassionate king who loves his people and thanks God that no more than 29 men were killed (even though Shakespeare wasn't exactly the holiest guy).

Perhaps he knew that murder never glorifies God, but war almost always glorifies men.
Perhaps he meant that none of this temporal glory should go to men, but that every man's eyes turned to God so that he can marvel at what God did with this small English army.
However, both England and France were mainly Christian nations, so I'm not sure what was going through Shakespeare's head then.

This scene takes place right after the battle has ended when the King learns the number of men who died on both sides. He carries that one poor boy through the battlefield--the whole way.
Don't ask me why a 16-yr.-old girl suddenly got so interested in war and stuff; this scene just gave me goosebumps. :P

Non nobis, non nobis Domine,

sed nomini tuo da gloriam.

Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord,

but only unto Thy name give glory.

Who knew that soldiers could *sing*?