While it is very true that The OFFICIAL Christmas Season- Marketing and Commercially-Wise- stretches from the First second of November to the last second of the First of January, Most of us do not actually LIVE this way. While the shopping entities do try to tell us to act NOW, Most of us act prudently and decide that our priorities and actions are not going to be dominated by and controlled by those who solely are interested in getting us to part with our money.
As I type this, it is now 3:25 EDT on Friday, November 26th,2010, one day less than a calendar month BEFORE Christmas.I know, while I am excited about the time of the year, I also know that there are somethings that I do today that I would STILL do if today were the 26th of April!
It would be very proper and fitting if the time between November 26th to and through each second of November 30th as POST -THANKSGIVING! I know I will profit if I ask myself this one simple question: Why do I want to celebrate and fully enter into THIS Christmas, Saturday, December 25th, 2010! You may be prompted to ask, " Johnny, Every year has a December 25th! We call EVERY December 25th Christmas- that simply is reality- The Way It Is- so why is it significant to consider whether or not you should celebrate T!-H!-I!- S! Christmas.". I know I ask similar questions when I feel that someone is throwing me a curve or challenging me to think wayyyyyyyyyyy outside the box!
Let's start with a basic ---- Calendar wise there have been more than 2,000 25ths of December since that FIRST ONE transpired. MANY Christian scholars acknowledge that it is not likely that a baby named Jesus/ Yeshua- in Hebrew- was born on the 25th of December. The actual holiday started as a morphing of a Roman Holiday - Sol Invictus - into a Christian Special Day or HOLY DAY (Holiday). Holy means set apart or recognized as specially dedicated to! So, In the Strictest sense, Christmas is not truly a Birthday- not in the usual sense that you and I think of Birthdays. It is something more- it is a way of stating - something radically special that makes a special and on-going difference happened that we wish to remember and still currently mark as highly significant TODAY! Those who set this day up as a HOLY DAY also did so to declare that it was their desire/ most ardent wish that people many years in this future would also see this day as a HOLY DAY that they would wish to enter into!
Now if I stop here, I must admit that my prime motivation is to do something similar to what many people did in the years 1908, 1672, 1154 or even in 629. This is , indeed, a valid reason to celebrate Christmas but if this is MY reason for celebrating then it is most likely that I am saying that, "I celebrate this day because it is a part of history, this does not necessarily mean that I am really invested in this day." I am a November birthday boy and for reasons important to me I celebrate Novembers as my Birth month, just because I've done so this year and in past years and just because I am likely to do so, all things being equal , a YEAR from now does not at all mean that November is seen the same way by anyone else!
I do find it most interesting that many Born -Again Christians, Nominal Christians, People who follow other Faiths and those who call themselves agnostics and atheists consider December 25th and this TIME of the year to be different and MORE noteworthy than other portions of the year.While other Faiths have special times of the year such as Ramadan and The Jewish Day of Atonement and The Jewish New Year, This long focus and season around one day is unique in The Western/ Christian Oriented world.
If you think about this further, we do honor special days and even vacation but not for a calendar month or more but we do not TRULY begin to celebrate Dr. King Day in Mid- December. We do not focus intently on the Fourth of July in early June. Nor are most of us 98% ready to begin to greet Trick or Treaters on the last day of September!
Now, I do think it is valid that a number of people see December 25th as as commemoration of a special birth, The birth of the one who came to save us from our sins and allow us to be in a positive and growing relationship with God. These people also believe in the Trinity- a belief that states that The Father, The Son born as a human and still fully God and The Holy Spirit as being Three- in One- distinct but no less God than the other part of the Trinity! The Baby born in Bethlehem Epathra grew up, they believe, taught about what people need to do to live rightly and healed and performed other miracles. They also believe in the Events connected To Good Friday and Easter Sunday- that He died on the Cross for the Sins of The World and that He rose from the Dead on Easter Sunday- never more again to die and, thus, is very much alive and reigning
today!
Yet, I still ask myself , " Why choose to celebrate and plunge into THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON and Day 2010?" I think it is useless to do so simply because of tradition. I know that there are things that I did passionately and committedly and joyfully/happily in 1995 that I would not spend 6 minutes thinking about today!, I believe this to true for all of us.
So, This late November and December , I will look at what I do to practice my Christian Faith on a continual basis. I will also ask " Why do I do what I do?", "Why is it valuable and vital to me?" I will also ask myself " who do I care about? Who am I willingly committed to and why am I committed to them?" I also want to spend time asking myself, " What do I believe about Jesus?" I am a history teacher by background and I really enjoy delving into apologetics, this is a good time of the year to do so again!
So, I do expect that I will plunge willingly and enthusiastically into THIS 2010 Christmas Season! I do know I will work toward making this a time that I gain sustenance and empowerment from! I do not know how this will fully spin out and what I will think about This Christmas Season once it is a historical memory, yet, I know what I desire NOW and what I yearn to challenge myself to do in the immediate days now before me!
For most of us, We need to think, intended, decide, commit and promise before a wish and a desire metamorphs into a fact and a demonstrated to all reality! I know I have friends reading this Feel Free to ask me how I'm living out what I've typed today I do have a feeling that this is going to be a dynamic and positively challenging and invigorating end of 2010!
- Johnny -
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