I know my blogs are supposed to be about my journey with Myasthenia Gravis, but today I want to take the time to reflect on Christmas. As we inch or race towards Christmas, depending on your perspective, let’s make sure we don’t lose sight of what Christmas is really all about.
I remember a push back in the 1960’s to change the name “Christmas” to “Xmas”. It was shorter and easier to write, but I believe the real intent was to remove and disassociate Christ from Christmas. Granted, not everyone celebrates Christmas from a religious perspective, and I’m not trying to take away anyone’s right to celebrate in any form they choose; I’m just saying that changing the name from Christmas to Xmas, along with the push at the time to declare “God is dead”, was the beginning push to remove religion from our society and probably the beginning of the “cancel culture”.
Although the word “Christmas” comes from the Old English words “Cristes Maesse”, meaning Christ’s mass celebrating the birth of Christ, the celebration actually started with a pagan festival. It was the pagan festival marking the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the promise of longer days to come. It wasn’t until the 4th century that it was established as a Christian holiday to celebrate Christ’s birth. So, I guess there may be reasons to debate leaving the word “Christ” in Christmas due to its pagan origins, but pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice on December 23 whereas Christmas is celebrated on December 25. In my mind, December 25 should always be Christmas.
That brings us to the discussion of whether Christmas should be more about Santa or the birth of our Savior. When my grandson was born, I wrote him a book that he could have and read long after I was gone. The book is called “A Christmas Eve Tradition” and discusses all the traditions we have around Christmas. The book is intended to be read on Christmas Eve and was written to share some of the traditions our family observes around Christmas. It was also to make sure my grandson never loses sight of what Christmas is truly all about. Forgetting about the true meaning of Christmas is pretty easy to do with all the commercialization and hoopla surrounding it.
In the book, I discuss traditions like hanging decorations, baking cookies and Santa coming. Those are important parts of Christmas. But I also discuss Christ’s birth and I attempt to do so in a way that makes it possible to celebrate both Santa and Christ’s birth at Christmas. I don’t want my grandson to miss out on all the fun around Christmas, including Santa and all the presents, but I also don’t want him to ever forget our Savior’s birth. On one of the last illustrations in the book, you find a drawing of Santa kneeling at the manger celebrating the newborn Baby Jesus. Just like the illustration, you can celebrate both Christ and Santa at Christmas. I’m hoping that reading this book will become a tradition for my grandson on Christmas Eve and he will someday pass this story down to his children and grandchildren.
So, then we get to the question of belief. Do I believe in Santa? You bet I do! Santa puts the fun in Christmas. He inspires us to put up our tree, decorate with colored bulbs, put up the big displays on our front lawns and hang our stockings on the fireplace. His giving spirit helps us be more generous and kinder to others. I believe in Santa, but I don’t rely on him. I rely on God. My faith in God is unwavering and I am grateful He sent His son to come down to our world, be born of a virgin, suffer and die for us on the cross and be raised again. He atoned for us. That’s a greater gift than Santa could ever bring.
Christmas is for everyone, regardless of whether you are religious or not, but for those of us who are Christian, it holds a very special meaning. For us, we can deck the halls, sing Christmas carols and wait for Santa, but Christ will always remain in Christmas.
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