Ten days to Christmas

The Christmas season has arrived in full force and all the world with one accord rejoices that God gave to men, a Saviour to save us from sin. The celebration of Christmas is people's way of making up for missing Jesus's birth. I personally think that you can't trully celebrate Christ's birth until you have invited him into your heart and a proper celebration has got nothing to do with presents, going to holiday resorts or eating lots of good food, it is about how you feel connected to Jesus in your heart as you celebrate his birth.


There are so many Christmas traditions that we follow without full knowledge of where they originated and their significance in relation to the birth of Christ. Wanting to find answers for everything in life is what I am known for and so I delved around for information that provides answers about some Christmas traditions.
I want to share that information with you.

1. Why do we have Christmas trees?
Legend has it that in ages past when miracles were the order of the day, a child seeking shelter on a bitter winter's night knocked at a forest hut. A woodcutter and his wife took in the child and fed him. Overnight, the boy turned into an angel- the Christ child- dressed in gold. As a reward for the couple's kindness, the child broke a twig from a fir tree and told them to plant it, promising that each Christmas it would bear fruit. And so it did, a crop of golden apples & silver nuts, the first Christmas tree. This legend originated in Germany and before long the now familiar sight of giant Christmas trees in public places and more modest ones in shops and homes was widespread. Nothing expresses the magic of Christmas more fully than a fir tree ablaze with light, shimmering with frost, real or artificial and crowned with a star. Christmas trees are beautiful but as we celebrate Christmas let us not let ourselves or our kids get lost in their beauty to the extend that they forget to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas, which is the birth of Jesus Christ.





2.Who is Santa Claus?
Santa Claus was a certain Bishop Nicholas of the Roman-ruled city of Myra in Asia Minor. He was renowned for his piety and gentleness, his gifts to the poor and his love of children. When he died in the year 326 he was declared a saint. St. Nicholas became known as Santa Claus from the Latin, Sanctus Nicholas which the dutch called Sinterklaas. Santa Claus became the jolly, red-robbed, "ho-ho-ho!" character of current tradition due to the image of St Nicholas wearing red and breeches and smoking a pipe that the early Dutch settlers in New York had on their ship. This image of Santa Claus was enhanced by an American writer and publisher, Washington Irving and later by Clement Clarke Moore who published a popular poem entitled, "Twas the night before Christmas." This poem depicted a chubby St Nicholas wearing a red costume and breeches and riding with his eight flying reindeer, squeezing down chimneys and filling children's stockings with toys. Finally in 1863, Harper's Illustrated Weekly published a cartoon in which Santa appeared as we know him today, complete with long white beard and a fur-trimmed coat.
Santa Claus was indeed a man of great benevolence and generosity but let us not forget or let our children forget that Christmas is not about him, it is about the birth of Jesus Christ.





3. What is Boxing day all about?

The name Boxing Day originated from the medieval times when it was the day when priests emptied church alms, boxes of money given by parishioners at Christmas and distributed it to the poor. In prosperous homes, servants opened boxes that held tips saved during the year. In later years and up until now Boxing Day became the day when presents are given as some sort of tip for good behaviour or good work done throughout the year.
It feels good opening boxes of presents on Boxing day but we shouldn't look forward to that day more than we look forward to the day Jesus Christ was born and let us teach our children that the opening of presents on Boxing day is far less important than the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth.




Let me conclude this article by giving Charles Dickens the credit due to him for the gusto, merry-making and the awakening of loving and kind thoughts in people during the Christmas season, as families are united in a spirit of charity and love, that is the modern day Christmas. Charles Dickens caused the current jollity and spirit of goodwill during the Christmas season through his series of annual Christmas books entitled, "Christmas Carol."

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL.