If you were expecting a post on the secularization/commercialization of Christmas, then you are in luck because that is exactly what you are going to get. You will also get the bonus of a history lesson!
Let me start of by first saying, Merry XMAS everyone!
Did that offend you? Are you mad because I crossed Christ out of Christmas? If you are, then our friendship is sad. Do you get mad when people say Happy B-Day to you? Because they took the birth out of birthday? Well then you should not good mad when you hear or see the word XMAS. X comes from the Greek letter Chi which is the first letter of the Greek word that means Christ (Remember the NT was written in Greek). That crazy symbol to the right it Chi-Rho and is a Christian symbol that represents Christ. The term XMAS has Christian roots not secular roots. It is no one crossing out or leaving out Christ. It is the abbreviation for Christ. It shouldn't be offended terms like Xpian and Xtian were terms that were also used in the past. "Santa= Satan if you just move the 'n'"
Please, stop saying this. I am not going to get too deep into this history because there are actually quite a few people that Santa could come from. I believe he is a mixture of all, but he does have some Christian roots too. St Nicholas, a man that brought presents to poor children. How horrible of that man to give kids presents, right? Now, believing in Santa Claus is a magical moment for kids, and just because they believe in him doesn't mean they don't believe in Christ nor that they don't remember Christ. I have five nephews (three of whom are at the ripe age of Santa/Elf believing), and the other day the oldest slept at my parents' house. My mom asked me to read him a story before he went to bed. I asked him what he wanted me to read, and he picked out a book called, "The Christmas Story" because it was close to Christmas. The book starts out saying there is more to Christmas then presents and Santa, and right after I read that part, my nephew looks at me, and says, "I prayed that I would remember to wish Jesus a happy birthday." This 6 year old boy believes in Jolly Old St Nick, but still understands that this is a day that represents so much more. Giving isn't a bad thing, allowing kids to have an imagination isn't a bad thing, and every child no matter what economic class or race feels hope, and the magic of Christmas when they sit on Santa's lap. The reason I think so many adults say that Santa is really Satan is they have forgotten that Santa isn't creating super greedy kids, he is making them all feel special, and eventually the kid will not believe, so if this is really a Satan impostor then he should come up with a much better disguise because by the age of 10 he doesn't even exist anymore.
"Happy Holidays" and where Christmas comes from...
Happy Holidays is what you will see more in department stores now a days, and this seems to really piss people off. I cannot understand why because these stores are not just marketing for Christmas. They are marketing for Hanukah, Kwanzaa, New Years, Thanksgiving, Christmas... and so have you. In other words the "HOLIDAYS." It is not horrible that United States is accepting all holidays no matter the religious belief, and saying, "Happy Holidays" is not going to ruin Christmas.
In other news, everyone needs to calm down. Christmas is never going to lose the Christ, and the religious tag that comes with it. Christmas was first started because of Constantine (the pagan who converted, but refused to be baptized till he was on his death bed, so that he could continue sinning) wanted to incorporate the winter celebration into Christianity. This way the Pagans would be much easier to convert, and they wouldn't have to give up all their celebrations. Such as trees that got decorated. Now, you can read up more on the history of all this, but it was a political move by the church to get involved with this, and it did result in a lot of pagans converting. It also resulted in a lot of Jew killing, and you can also read about that. The point of this post was to show you how Christmas came about, and that is survived the fall of Rome. It will survive everything believe me. The birth of Christ will never be out of Christmas.
This Christmas season and every one after that don't look for ways to be offended, but enjoy the time with your family and friends. Enjoy decorating the Christmas tree, put out cookies and milk for Santa Claus, happily give presents, and receive them, and remember that this is the time when we reflect on Christ's birth and life. Taking offense in little things like shopping starting earlier doesn't allow you to enjoy the Christmas spirit either. If shopping starts earlier bust out your Christmas music earlier, and reflect on what the lyrics mean (I am talking about the Christian stuff, not "Up on the House Top," but enjoy that too. Christmas is a great time for all people, so don't be a Christmas Curmudgeon love the season for all it is, and remember "It's Christmas! Let's be Glad!"
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
To my loyal blog readers-
I am sorry for the blogger challenge. I know some of you enjoyed constant blogs from me, and I will try and continue to post a lot. 2010 was the year of the blog, and my goal is to write even more in 2011, but I am going to try and make them on Alexis' conveniently true opinion instead of whatever I wrote about during the challenge.
Thanks for reading,
Alexis
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