Christmas is rapidly approaching and i am feeling completely underwhelmed by it all. There are a couple of things that I have real trouble trying to shake off. The first is that Christmas is a celebration of the winter solstice which is why we have fake fruit (Christmas decorations) on fruitless trees and all those snow images which feels quite disconcerting when it's approaching 40 degrees outside. The second things is that the Bible and I suspect the early church didn't talk much about Christmas. Paul never mentions Xmas and only two of the gospel writers even talk about Jesus birth. Finally, aside from these two things, there is what Xmas is today, an orgy of indulgent consumption. It's a chance for our society to buy ourselves all those things we don't really need and, for people we don't know well, a chance to buy them something they don't even want. next year I'm putting my foot down and only accept receipts from charities as a Xmas gift. My first recommendation for any gift giving friend will be to go to Tear's Really useful gift catalog.
2 comments:
Apparently the first mention of Christmas as Dec 25 was 336. Early Christians celebrated the day of saints' death as the day they were ushered into heaven, more than the day someone was born.
I guess it was quite an impressive act of incarnational mission (apart from Jesus himself) to take a pagan drinking festival and turn it into the celebration of Jesus' birth.
This site, if the link works explains all the different days that early Christians in different areas celebrated Christ's birth.
http://www.orthodoxworld.ru/english/feasts/4/index.htm
And this is a song sung at Christmas in the Orthodox church. I am quite impressed that it makes references to Jesus and the Sun, which would have meant a lot to those who were previously celebrating the solstice.
Your Nativity, O Christ our God, has shone to the world the light of wisdom! For by it, those who worshipped the stars, were taught by a star to adore you, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know you, the Orient from on high. O Lord, Glory to you!
Cool, thanks for the comment and link Sarah.
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