The pro- Christmas Thread (sort of)

I've posted this before and I can say that it has always put Christmas in perspective for me. I grew up in the very fundamentalist Church of Christ where we didn't even allow instrumental music in church. Anything not clearly put forth in Bible wasn't practiced (that includes celebrating the birth of Christ). Christmas is considered a purely secular holiday.

Keep this in mind when reading this piece written by my Dad, were he still alive he would be 98.

We Celebrate Christmas

BY J. Henry Erwin

Christmas is undoubtedly the premier holiday in the United States and in other parts of the world. In the Roman Catholic world, it is first in the list of holy days of obligation, and a Catholic who through his own fault misses Mass on a holiday of obligation commits a mortal sin.

The name Christmas is derived from the medieval Christes Masse, the Mass of Christ, commemorating the birth of Jesus and observed annually on December 25. The celebration was not observed in the first centuries of the church, since the Christian usage was to celebrate the death of the Lord in the Lord's Supper on the first day of each week. The original position to the doctrine of the Manichaeans, who looked upon Jesus Christ as dual in nature; Jesus impatibilis, a sort of phantom or immaterial personage who did not or could not suffer, and Jesus patibilis, who suffered death upon the cross. Then in the fifth century, the Western Church, rapidly heading toward full apostasy, ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the birth of Mithras the sun-god, December 25.

Thus we see that Christmas is really a relic of ancient paganism. The Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and the close of the Saturnalia marked the date of the winter solstice. As the sun returned from its long journey south of the equator and the days began to lengthen, the pagans regarded it as the triumphant in arch of Light conquering the forces of Darkness. It was celebrated by the lighting of candles, the chanting of sacred music,the tonsuring of the priest's heads, leaving the spot shaven surrounded by hair in imitation of the sun's rays.

As missionaries began to reach the German and Celtic tribes of the North, many Teutonic customs of celebrating the winter solstice were added to Christmas, such as the use of holly and mistletoe, the wassail bowl, and the yule log. The Christmas tree probably can be traced to ancient Druid ceremonies of decorating the sacred trees with ornaments of silver and gold and other gifts. For those who like to find parallels in the Bible, I refer them to Jeremiah 10:3-4—"for one cutting a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

The cynical ones among us refer to Christmas as the 'Great Splurge" and the "Annual Swap." Little children, they say, are taught the value of bribery by instilling in their minds that they had better be good of "Santa Claus will not come to see you." Others complain about commercialization and deplore the enormous sums of money wasted on gaudy trash each Yuletide season. Many automobile bumpers stickers bear the slogan, "Put Christ Back in Christmas." Of course, Christ never was in Christmas, but in spite of all the cynicism, commercialism, and obvious excesses, the beautiful story of the birth of Christ manages to come shining through; and for some, it is the only time they ever think of it, and the spirit of altruism affects all of us.

Somehow, when we see the brightly colored lights in the windows of homes and stores, and the scenes of the manger and the mother and the holy Child, we are really seeing all of the children of the world who are fortunate enough to participate in this festival, for this is their day. Christmas is popular among us all, including the sceptics and non-religious, for it is a holiday. It is a welcome time of vacation from schoolroom classes and homework. It is a day of rest and recreation for the overworked toiler, allowing them to meet their friends and families. It is a time when we remember some almost forgotten relative or friend removed from us by distance and time. We send a greeting card or a gift as a token of remembrance and love; we are glad of days of receiving and giving, of hearthside, home, and aging parents.

Why does Christmas enjoy almost worId-wide popularity? Because it is a festival of humanity, really, and because it is interwoven with national traditions, habits, literature and religion. I intend to enjoy it. How about you?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!