I believe the winter solstice has been celebrated for about as long as man has been around. Ancient man would see the days grow shorter, less food, more cold, they naturally were scared and worried. They thought it was the death of the year. They celebrated so that the spring would come, the rebirth. I think it’s the same with the story of Jesus, except taken to the limit. Death of a man and His rebirth. That idea would appeal to many people, and no other religion can trump having a man come back to life.
Bull hockey bro.
Dumb article
Don’t get his point.
Just an excuse to waste words.
The best Christmas wrapping paper I’ve seen in quite a long time depicted Jesus on a cross adorned with lights, tinsel, and presents underneath.
Pretty much sums up my opinion on the current state of Christmas. And most other American holidays in general.
I thought this was going to be an article about fruit cakes....
I liked the article, because sometimes Christians can get a little self-righteous and prissy about Christmas.
I think it’s up to the churches to make it more of a religious holiday. Don’t back down about putting up a creche in a public place, make sure your bells are playing Christmas carols, make sure your members go to Midnight Mass (or whatever its Protestant equivalent might be), etc.
But there’s still room for tinsel and feasting, and that reminds even people who aren’t Christians that something special is being commemorated and maybe (if we’re happy and joyful ourselves) makes them wonder if they could be part of it.
Last week I came across an article about why December 25 was chosen as the day to celebrate the birth of Christ, http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/christmas.asp#location1
It discussed the possible connection with Saturnalia, but also states that there is another, more likely possibility. Many in the early Church thought that Christ was conceived (referred to as the Annunciation) and died on the same day, March 25. December 25 is 9 months later.
So Merry Christmas to all! We are still in the Twelve Days of Christmas> My own Pharisaical hangup is that folks celebrate and then abandon Christmas too soon. We have until Epiphany/Theophany on Jan 6.
I believe Eric Idle had some useful insights on this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqfZUX5svCg
and The Lord has been successfully removed from there as well...
anyways, Happy Birthday Lord Jesus, each and everyday...and "Thank You for your service"...
by next year the stores will have their cheap crap blockin the isles before halloween...
HOWEVER . . . Nevertheless . . .
I still greatly enjoyed walking down Taipei streets . . .
and even attending events in Mainland China . . .
and hearing prcious carols glorifying THE PRINCE OF PEACE and His condescension of coming for me.