Christmas

Are you a Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday type person? Do you remember when the Merry Christmas phrase was all that you heard? Now as we have updated our sayings we have people who are offended by the Christian Merry Christmas. Our schools and businesses don’t want to purport the idea that they are embracing the Christian ways and want to stand out as not being bias. I don’t know if they realize that if we as Christians did not celebrate the birth of Jesus that they would not have anything to celebrate this time of the year. Let’s look at Christmas and its many traditions and why we celebrate it.

The word Christmas comes from the word Cristes maesse, or “Christ’s Mass.” Most historians date the first Christmas to Rome in 336 AD. In America, it’s the biggest event of the year. The federal government, all state governments, schools/colleges/universities and the vast majority of businesses give employees two days off at Christmas. 85% of the American population has claimed Christianity. Because it is important to them, merchants welcome their 70% annual revenue that it brings and totally hype the event.

The tradition of gifts seems to have started with the wise men (the Magi) brought to Jesus. No one was in the habit of exchanging gifts until the 1800’s. The Santa Claus story combined with an amazing phenomenon that has grown since has made gift giving a central focus of Christmas. In Germany, the tradition of a Christmas tree moved to England and America thru Pennsylvanian German Immigrants. In 1880 Woolworths first sold manufactured Christmas ornaments, and they caught on very quickly. The first electrically lighted tree appeared in 1882. Calvin Coolidge in 1923 lit the first tree at the White House.

What about mistletoe and holly? Well the Scandinavians had a goddess of love (Frigga) who is strongly associated with mistletoe. This link lends to kissing under the mistletoe. The church banned mistletoe because it was associated with many pagan rituals and replaced it with the holly. The sharply pointed leaves were to symbolize the thorns in Christ’s crown and the red berries drops of His blood.

Poinsettias were attached to Christmas in 1828. Robert Poinsett the first Mexican ambassador to the U.S. imported the plant from Mexico. The Christmas stocking- tradition states that the original St Nicholas left his first gifts of gold coins in the stockings of three poor girls who needed money for their wedding dowries. Christmas cards started in London in 1843 and in America in 1846. The most popular Christmas carols are heard approximately 700 times during the Christmas season.

There are so many reasons to say Merry Christmas. The season brings about much love that is not experienced at any other time of the year, not even Valentine’s Day. There’s so much more as to the why we celebrate Christmas as we try to usher in Peace on Earth and Good Will Towards all men. Don’t let the world keep you from acknowledging the birth of Jesus. Celebrate with your family and friends with all the passion granted to you as a believer, remembering that Jesus is the reason for the season.

If you want more information about the traditions of Christmas and how and where they started, go to www.howstuffworks.com/christmas.htm

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

SPW
12-20-08