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” title=”Smile” />I think it’s too bad that Christmas has taken on its own meaning in the secular world as well as Easter.
Christmas started out as a Catholic celebration of Jesus coming into the world as the true light. How this was invented was through the pagan holiday that celebrated the Winter Solstice and the increase in daylight for the next six months. Well, the early church wanted to spread the gospel so they made up Christmas to celebrate the coming of Jesus on earth as the true light of the world instead of a mythological sun god.
Of course now Christmas is still celebrated as a religious holiday, but it certainly has taken on its own secular meaning.
For many people Christmas is a time to get stressed out about buying gifts and spending time with family and feeling happy, but with little substance behind it other than what I just said. There is no reminder that without Jesus this holiday would not exist and the [i:3few2fba]focus[/i:3few2fba] on Jesus seems totally lost. He has been replaced with Santa Claus for some.
I even have a friend that is not in any religion, Christian or otherwise and her family still celebrates Advent – but in their own way. For her it is not a time of preparation for the coming of Christ, but it is just another time to receive gifts from her parents. Their tradition is opening a gift each day for 4 weeks before Christmas. There is absolutely no mention of Jesus in their celebration, yet without Jesus they would not be doing what they do.
As for Easter, that is a separate discussion.
I just don’t understand why some people celebrate Christmas, but without the substance behind it. It’s like people hijack these holidays for their own good.
” title=”Sad” />I too, like it much better when the focus is on Christ’s coming. I really like things like the Advent wreath and the Advent calendar because, for me, they remind me of the Reason for the Season and give me hope since on every passing day we are closer to the coming of Jesus than we were the previous day. By “closer” I don’t just mean closer to Christmas, but I also mean closer to his Second Coming.
I do enjoy the other things like cookie baking, decorating, and gift giving, but I know that they are not what makes Christmas; like I said: Jesus is the Reason for the Season, and I agree that our actions and mindset should reflect that.
I keep praying that the focus of others and myself does not get lost in the hustle and bustle of the commercialization.
” title=”Very Happy” />Well, I suppose it’s all in how one person is raised and how you attach these symbols and activities. If one person grew up with Christmas completely devoid of Jesus then that person will not associate all these things with Jesus, But if someone grows up with all of these traditions associated with Jesus then the true meaning of Christmas is not lost with that person.
I can see how that could be true. I would hope that once that person knows that Jesus is the whole reason, he would learn to associate these various Christmas preparations (spiritual preparations and otherwise) with Christ, while keeping the true meaning of Christmas in mind.
I like to say a prayer for people in general that they don’t lose their focus on Christ, especially during his birthday season.
” title=”Very Happy” />[quote:2d95jmjb]I can see how that could be true. I would hope that once that person knows that Jesus is the whole reason, he would learn to associate these various Christmas preparations (spiritual preparations and otherwise) with Christ….[/quote:2d95jmjb]
One would hope…but of course there are those “Christians” out there that reject Christmas and various other things that the Catholic Church made-up because it is not explicitly in the Bible so I guess it depends on what branch of Christianity someone learns about Christmas from.
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