09.21.06
What is Christmas After All? 12.2004 Article
“Good timings to you, wheriber yu gu”, “May your days be weary and dry”, are the carols I hear in front of our gate before children or adults demand five-peso coins. They even dream of white Christmases, and one-horse open sleighs, just like the ones they never used to know. Do these people know what Christmas is all about? Do we? Christmas bears Christ’s name. Does it still have anything to do with him nowadays? Did it ever?
Scholars are positive that the origins of Christmas can be traced back to the fourth century. Pagans praised Saturn in a festival called Saturnalia; a festival that included the winter solstice, another celebration for Mithra the ancient god of light, occurring around December 25. Yet, it was only labeled “Christmas” when the Roman Catholic Church tried to draw pagans into its religion by allowing them to continue in their revelry while simultaneously honoring the birth of Jesus. The Bible describes details of Christ’s birth, but left the date unmentioned. It could not have happened on such a cold month as December, and historians cannot claim that it took place on December. So, for some hidden or careless motive, somebody ridiculously chose December 25 as our savior’s birth date.
Over the years, the celebration of Christmas expanded throughout the whole world. Christian beliefs were combined with pagan feasts and rituals to create Christmas traditions. Originally, the Christmas tree represented the pagan symbol of fertility, and the mistletoe was said to hold magical powers to bestow life and fertility, to bring peace and protection against disease. The mistletoe is associated with Freya, the Norse goddess of love. Christians incorporated this custom in their celebrations.
But alas! It is a season known for flamboyant public behavior, and overindulgence in food and drink. It characterizes huge feasts, leading to revelry and drunkenness. There is not much difference between the pagans and Christians for that matter. In non-Christian places, Christmas is still observed. In Hong Kong, for example, a majority of Buddhists reside there. Buddhists do not acknowledge Christ as their savior. Then why celebrate Christmas? Other religions outside Christianity also revel in Christmas, being equally absurd as Christian employees here in Mindanao who rejoice over Muslim holidays. That is not surprising. The gift-giving custom of Christmas allowed the marketplace and advertisers to exert an unprecedented influence on people, regardless of religion and nationality. Advertisers and merchants have become the season’s most vehement promoters. Christmas has simply become commercialism to some people.
Christ is supposed to be the celebrant on Christmas. Yet Christ shares the spotlight with another character of comparable fame – Santa Claus. Most Christian parents spend more effort and time in making their children believe in Santa Claus rather than in Jesus. Children are told to be good, not for Jesus who died for them, but for Santa Claus, a fictitious character. “The Three Kings” also play a role during the season. They are presumed to be non-fictional, so-called biblical characters. The amazing thing is that the Bible never specified that there were three, and they were not kings, but only wise men.
Some argue about the meaning of Christmas. These people cannot be blamed. People have no solid foundation to base their beliefs upon. To give the good-hearted people some credit, let us just say that Christmas is a season of joy. Isn’t it taught in the Bible that as Christians, the joy of the Lord should always be with us? Not just on Christmastime but throughout the year. Some say it is the season of peace. Is peace among the drunk on Christmas? Does peace come with those booming and harmful firecrackers? Does peace dwell on revelers? Oh, ok, maybe it is not the season of peace and joy after all. Therefore, it is probably the season of giving. Yes! It is the season of giving! It really is. People give gifts during Christmas all the time. So, what happens to the needy and the hungry at the early part of the year? I suppose they will just have to starve and wait until December. Perhaps it is the season of hope. Hope of what, exactly? Like joy, hope, and peace, giving should not be given a specific date or time. Those four should not be limited to one season alone; they should be present all year round. So, is it the season of love? God is love. I wonder how God felt when people fabricated the date of His Son’s birth and merged it with pagan rituals, or when they made it an excuse for commercialism.
The Bible establishes no guidelines that explain how Christmas should be observed, nor does it suggest that it should be considered a religious holiday. Christmas lacks biblical support. Christ never asked us to celebrate His birth, but remember His death instead. It is questionable that Christ is the center of Christmas. So, is it just a license for revelry? Is it simply a celebration and a mere distraction in attempt to draw one’s focus away from the softly decaying world? What is Christmas after all?
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