The Many Signs of Christmas
Christmas, one of the holiest days of the year, is almost here. Between Christmas and Easter, it has always been a toss-up over the centuries as to which day is the most important. I tend to think they are equally as important as the other. Both are important to the faith of Christians. You can’t have one without the other.
Considering that Christmas is a holy day, many are anxious about how commercialized Christmas has become over the last century. Many think that we have taken Christ out of Christmas.
In some ways, this is true, but in many ways, it is not true. Many of the things we see and experience during Christmas-time have roots, either in a historical or legendary way.
To decipher history from legend requires a little work on our part. It requires reading about the many sights, sounds, and practices during Christmas-time.
Christmas trees, poinsettias, lights, evergreens, mistletoe, holly, gifting, stockings, angels, stars and Santa Claus have the ability to point persons toward Christ and Christianity. It only requires that someone take a step forward and share the connections. I would, but I’d rather you research and read it for yourself. There is nothing quite as rewarding as discovering something on your own.
One of my favorite Christmas songs is “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Of course, if you try to hear it on the radio, you probably will be out of luck. They simply don’t play it. Maybe it is because they know the story behind the twelve days of Christmas. I recently heard a version of this song to the tune of “Africa” by Toto. For those of my generation who listened to the songs of Toto, you would enjoy the Christmas song to this tune.
However you celebrate Christmas, if you are a Christian, I pray that you will share with each other, and especially the little ones, about the connections of the holiday sights, sounds and practices of your faith. In doing this, I think you will be surprised at how your experience of Christmas can and will be richer in the future. It will show you that a lot of what we have traditionally done at Christmas points to our faith and our Savior.
Finally, there are words that remind us of Christmas —Scrooge and Grinch. Recently, I saw and experienced someone who I felt deserved the title of Scrinch. I was proud of this word, until I researched it. Someone else had come up with this name to mean the same thing I thought it should mean. All to say don’t be a Scrinch this Christmas.
Christmas is a time of giving, loving, and sharing. Christmas is not so much about what we receive, but what we give at this time of year; Christmas should set the tone for us for the other 364 days of the year.
As we prepare to close out one year and begin a new year, I pray that each of you will be blessed by God and will in turn bless others, as well.
Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.