It is that time of year when our thoughts turn to the
planning of the festive activities at Christmas. It is one of my favourite
times for two reasons: firstly as a dad, I enjoy having the family around at
Christmas time spending time together and watching the joy on their faces as
they open Christmas presents. But I also enjoy the season because it is the
time we Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus.
You may be hard pushed to find any mention of Jesus in
Christmas television adverts, or Christmas cards we send to family and friends.
It seems that society, in the name of being ‘politically correct’ wish to
squeeze out the very mention of the ‘reason for the season’ so as not to offend
those that don’t believe in Jesus. However, they do not wish to do away with
the celebration as it would severely impact their annual profits!
Instead they have replaced Jesus with a rather ‘larger than
life’ character in a red suit with elves, or a jolly snowman in a snowy scene
flying, so some other substitute to distract us from the true meaning of
Christmas. They are quite happy to promote the image of Santa Claus, also known
as Father Christmas, to be the true meaning of the day, but even that created
character originated from the real Saint Nicholas, (shortened to Santa Claus)
the Bishop of Myra in Asia in the fourth century.
It is told that he liked to give money to the needy
anonymously, and so one day he climbed on the roof of a house and dropped a
purse of money down the chimney of a needy family. The purse landed in the
stockings of a young girl as they hung over the fireplace to dry. In memory of
him, it was customary to give gifts on the eve of St Nicholas Day, 6th
December. In some countries that tradition has continued; in others it was
moved to 25th December – a date chosen by the Romans as a Christian
takeover of the Roman festival celebrating the unconquerable Sun which
celebrated the days getting longer. Our word Yule-tide is derived from the
celebration an old Anglo Saxon god again concerning the rebirth of the winter
sun.
I hope that you will see through the commercialism of our
Christmas celebrations and perhaps pause for a moment to consider what
Christmas really is all about. Amongst all the hype and business, there are
some who celebrate the birth of the Son of God, the Saviour of the world who
brought the true meaning of love into our world.
Whatever your beliefs, I pray that you will have a joyful
time this Christmas
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