Chesterton and Christmas Talk--A Reader Sends a Report

I was made aware of Chesterton and Christmas: A Serious Affair thanks to your Chesterton blog. Last night I traveled from Philadelphia to New York City to attend this event. In gratitude, I offer you this report.
The event was a collaboration among The Crossroads Cultural Center, the G.K. Chesterton Institute For Faith and Culture at Seton Hall University, and Fordham University's Campus Ministry. Attendance was about two hundred.
Tony Hendra read Chesterton's The House of Christmas, The Nativity, and The Wise Men.
The Choir Of Communion And Liberation, under the direction of Christopher Vath, sang carols from around the world.
Father Ian Boyd and Dr. Dermot Quinn were luminous in Chesterton's Love For Christmas; A Conversation. What stays with me about their presentation is this: that the Incarnation was the foundation of Chesterton's wonder, gratitude, and joy. That God became a man to share in our humanity should be the basis of a lifelong celebration. 
Some GKC zingers:
"Dickens rescued Christmas from the Puritans."
On Shaw's criticism that Christmas is just an excuse for shopkeepers to sell their wares: "That's like saying the purpose of sex is for jewelers to sell rings."
Each Christmas GKC "celebrated the realization that he was not God."
This was a great event and well worth the trip.
John H

Thank you so much for this wonderful report, John. I felt like I got to share a little bit in the joy of this conversation.

And Father Boyd is going to be speaking at ChesterTen in August, 2010.