Why Do I Have to Buy You a Gift?

 Been researching Christmas.  The list of previous blogs on these topics is becoming too long to keep linking to each time, so feel free to browse through the several posts prior to this one.

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I used to suffer from gift shame.  Well, more than I do now, anyway.  You know...that feeling you get when someone gets you a gift and you didn't get them anything.  So then you feel the need to go do something about it, like buy a bigger and more expensive gift...

But that's not the point of this post.

I always used to think that giving gifts at Christmas time symbolized the wisemen giving their gifts to the Christ child.

Not totally untrue, if you take a Christian stance on the matter.

However, gifts were being given long before the arrival of baby Jesus.  Ancient Rome seems to have the longest-standing record.  In those times, officials were expected to bring gifts to the Emperor.  Eventually the practice spread amongst the commonfolk as well.

Good ol' Saint Nick seems to have had an influence on this practice as well.  After all, he was known for being quite the charitable guy.  (More on him next time...) 

In America, exchanging gifts began around the 1820 era.  Gifts were small and simple (fruit or pieces of candy).  Over the years, gifts evolved from small snacks to huge and massive commercial products, as I'm sure you've well noticed.

Not a whole lot to offer on this topic.  But stay tuned...more to come...

Next post:  Santa Who?

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Sources:

http://www.bsu.edu/web/01bkswartz/xmaspub.html

http://www.stcharleschristmas.com/christmaspresents.htm

What Does the Christmas Tree Have to do with Christ?

To read what I've learned thus far about other Christmas traditions, check out this post, this post, and this post.

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What does the Christmas tree have to do with Christ?

Well...nothing, really.

...or does it?

The Christmas tree is also a tradition that originates from cultures of centuries past.  Remember the winter solstice celebrations?  Greenery of all kinds was used throughout cultures for varying reasons.  Some people hung evergreen boughs over their doors to keep evil spirits away, while other people used them as a reminder that all green plants would soon begin to grow as the sun god recovered from his winter illness.

The use of an actual tree may or may not have Christian roots.  There are several legends...stories...whatever you want to call them...that offer explanations for the Christmas tree.  As to which one is true...Google literature is conflicted about this, so I'll let you come to your own conclusions.

It is generally agreed upon that the first use of trees can be credited to the German Christians.  Perhaps the earliest story is from the year 722.  Saint Boniface was a monk who happened upon some people gathered around an oak tree, preparing to sacrifice a child to a god.  Boniface knocked the tree down to stop the sacrifice, and up grew a small fir tree.  He used the triangular shape of the fir to symbolize the holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Spirit.  People then began to revere the fir as they had once revered the oak, and began hanging the trees upside-down from their ceilings.

Another story tells of Martin Luther, who was walking home one winter night and was rendered speechless by a brilliant night sky hanging behind the trees.  He was so inspired that he brought a tree into his home and decorated it with lit candles to recreate the starry image for his family.

Paradise Plays were done in the 11th century.  These plays told the story of Adam and Eve, their eating of the forbidden fruit, and their banishment from the Garden.  The only stage prop was a fir tree decorated with apples.  This was celebrated on December 24th.

There's also a cute story about Christmas trees, animals, and spiders.  Long ago, people used to invite their animals inside to view the tree.  After all, animals were first present in the stable when Jesus was born.  But the spiders were banned, because the housewives didn't want to have to clean up their webs.  Feeling left out, the spiders went to the Christ Child and complained of this.  Late at night, the Child let the spiders into the house to see the tree when no one else was around.  The spiders were so excited about the tree that they covered its branches in webs.  The Child turned their webs into sparkling tinsel, which thrilled the housewives when they saw it.  Thus, tinsel was born.

Fast-forward a few hundred years to America.  The Christmas tree was eventually adopted into our culture...but not without reservations.  The conservative Puritans didn't want to defile a holy celebration with pagan rituals.  But after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were pictured around a Christmas tree, the trend quickly became widely accepted in American homes.

And here we are today.  As I type, I am sitting only inches away from my own six-foot prelit tree.  This year I have it decked out in shiny red strings of beads, bright red glass balls, silver bows, and red candy canes.  Simple, but elegant, if I do say so myself.

Looking at a brightly-lit tree in my living room is one of my favorite parts of the season.  : )

Next post:  Why Do I Have to Buy You a Gift?

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Sources:

http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/origin-of-the-christmas-tree-faq.htm

http://www.christmasarchives.com/trees.html

http://www.history.com/content/christmas/christmas-trees

http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/trivia/trees.htm

http://www.theholidayspot.com/christmas/history/xmas_tree.htm

Where Did Our American Christmas Traditions Come From?

Welcome back!  If you're just now dropping by, you might want to visit the previous couple of posts to catch up to speed on my research of Christmas and its traditions: here and here.

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Where did our American Christmas traditions come from?
Our current American Christmas traditions are a far cry from those of the early Roman winter solstice celebrations.  In fact, early American celebrations mimicked the ancient chaos and noise.  But things gradually shifted to a more calm and serene picture, thanks to a few specific influences.

In 1819, Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent.  This was a story of a wealthy man who welcomed the poor into his home for Christmas.  These different social classes intermingled and celebrated many "traditions" together.  Irving's story perhaps helped recreate a warm, friendly, generous image of the holiday.  Many of the traditions he wrote about are thought to have been made up.

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol around this time as well.  It, of course, encouraged peace and sharing.

In 1828, New York City instituted its first police force because Christmas riots were getting out of hand.

I found this statement from my source interesting:  The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s.  (I would say this practice has never stopped and can be seen on the extreme far opposite end of the spectrum today...but that's for another post that I will never write until I have children and can thus escape the criticism of writing something I know nothing about.)  Christmas became an excuse for parents to dump gifts on their kids that they normally wouldn't give otherwise.

Many traditions were resurrected from other cultures and customs as Christmas gained popularity in the States.  Americans fell back on these old traditions because they didn't know what Christmas celebrating was supposed to look like.  Over the course of the years, traditions have been adopted and adapted, and continue to grow and change today.

Next post:  What Does the Christmas Tree Have to do with Christ?
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Sources:
http://www.history.com/content/christmas/the-real-story-of-christmas

Why Christians Claim December 25th as Jesus' Birth

I'm in the middle of exploring our Christmas traditions - why we do what we do this time of year.  This is the first post of several based on what I've uncovered regarding our various practices.  Read my previous post for a complete explanation of my endeavors.

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Why December 25th?
The date isn't so significant as the season. Ancients celebrated the winter solstice (the half-way point of winter), and each culture had their own significance to this period of time.

Germans honored the god Oden, whom was believed to fly around during the night and decide which people would live or die.

Romans celebrated Saturn, the god of agriculture. Society was turned upside-down for a month, with slaves commanding their masters and peasants ruling the city. Businesses and schools shut down so everyone could get in on the action. They also celebrated the birth of Mithra, god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25th.

Europeans in general found the winter solstice a convenient time to celebrate. They slaughtered livestock because it was hard to feed entire herds during the winter, and thus they had a new supply of fresh meat. Beer and wine hit their fermented stage at this time as well and flowed aplenty. (Invite a few friends over, throw a steak on the grill, pop open a can of beer...)

It wasn't until the fourth century that church officials decided to declare Jesus' birthday a holiday. Since no one knew for sure when that was, Pope Julius I declared December 25 to be the lucky day. It's possible that this season was chosen in an attempt to either mix and mingle with pagan traditions, or to draw pagan society into embracing this new celebration.

Contrary to current practices, the Christmas season - or winter solstice, rather - was quite the riotous and chaotic time. The Roman society was not one of peace and order. Combine that with beer, wine, and people who love to party...get the picture?

Puritans actually tried to outlaw celebrating anything Christmas. In fact, when they immigrated to America from England in 1620, they did not bring tradition with them. For twenty-two years (1659-1681), it was illegal in Boston to celebrate. Guilty parties were fined five shillings. (However, just down the road in Jamestown, Christmas was well recognized.)

Finally, after the American Revolution, English customs were dismissed. Christmas celebrations were officially restored on December 25, 1789, and continue today.

Next post:  Where Did Our American Christmas Traditions Come From?
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Sources:
http://www.history.com/content/christmas/the-real-story-of-christmas

'Tis the Season

Every once in a while I stumble across new information that I wish I could have bypassed altogether. I prefer to know what's already in my head and not have it all messed up by a truth that somehow escaped me previously.

What tripped me up this time?

Christmas.

It all started when I was having a conversation with a friend about Jesus. She was throwing questions at me left and right, which was fine with me because I could answer most of them. But then she asked me one that started this whole mental fiasco.

Jesus was born on December 25th, right?

Well, no, not necessarily, I replied. No one really knows for sure when He was born. We just adopted that date as His birthday to celebrate.

This is the God Christians worship, and they don't even know when He was born???

My friend was borderline-outraged at this thought. You see, she grew up in a place where Hindu is the prominant religion. She knows much more than I do about some of the world religions, and she was quick to point out that, while other faiths may not be true, they at least know their gods' date of birth.

How can the one true religion not even know when Jesus was born??

It was a thought that's never bugged me, so I simply brushed aside her indignation and asked her why it really mattered at all. But after I thought about it some, her argument kind of made sense to me. While a single birthdate seemed like such an insignificant detail to me, it's also a basic piece of information into anyone's identity. Christians try to proclaim Jesus - how can we not know such an easy detail?

I digress.

As she and I were having our conversation via instant messenger, I was googling information about Christmas traditions that we practice.

And that is where I tripped up.

You see, I thought I already knew the importance behind the main traditions - the manger scene, the star, the wise men, angels, presents, the date. I figured the Christmas holiday descended from ancient Christian celebration.

I was dismayed to learn that many of the things we do each Christmas season evolved from pagan rituals, of all things. I also quickly learned that there were many other traditions that I know nothing about. Why do we have Christmas trees? Why exactly do we give gifts? Who decided Santa enters homes through the chimney?

I finally came to terms with this new realm of knowledge and decided that if I'm going to participate in holiday traditions and at the same time try to post Jesus' Name all over them, I should probably understand what it is I'm doing.

So...here we go. I'm going to post what I learn over the course of several days, as this would otherwise become an exceedingly and unnecessarily long post. I hope you stick with me through this - otherwise things may seem random and confusing.

Ultimately, exploring these things has led me to really question why I am celebrating this season in the ways that I do. I don't like the thought of having a Christmas season in which Christ is largely left out. But I'm also coming to terms with participating in a common and cultural practice simply for the sake of participation. Somewhere in between is a balance of fun human traditions and a celebration that revolves around the One I worship.


Next post: Why Christians Claim December 25th as Jesus' Birth.
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Sources:
http://www.history.com/content/christmas/the-real-story-of-christmas