I was sitting at a restaurant enjoying my chicken and mashed potatoes, when an attractive woman with three children strolled in. She approached me said, “You’re Carol Kornacki, I remember, you spoke at the Christian Athletes Bible study in Tampa.” I smiled and moved over in the large booth to give her room to join me. As we sat and chatted, I looked at all of the wonderful displays for the holiday. There were lovely decorated wreaths and garlands and there was a mechanical talking Santa at the door promising gifts to all the children that have been good all year.
“So Carol," Amy asked, "how do you feel about the traditions attached to the Christmas holiday, should they be celebrated? I understand it is a pagan celebration of the sun god, do you know anything about the celebration?”
Do you want to know what my first reaction to her was? Okay, I’ll tell you, my very first reaction was, “Here we go, another Christian over reacting to Santa.”
When I left the restaurant I thought about her. She was kind, loving and sincere, but was she sincerely wrong? I went on home and didn’t give it another thought.
The next day I walked into Borders bookstore. I love that place, it has the best hot chocolate. On my way to get my scrumptious drink, I passed a magazine rack. There it was in Life Magazine, the feature was, “History of Christmas.” “Well, (I thought) this is perfect I got to check this out.” And so I did.
Please keep in mind I am not here to “dis Santa.” I just want to share with you what I researched and discovered. REMEMBER, I READ THIS IN LIFE MAGAZINE, SO DON’T GET MAD AT ME………
The Babylonians, Persians and Macedonians celebrated the end of the year solstice; it took place at the end of December. The druids, (a pagan priesthood) would decorate an oak tree with mistletoe at the top. By the way, mistletoe and the kissing beneath it has pagan written all over it. The people of Norway believed that it had mystical powers from the gods, Baldur being one of them. When you walked under the mistletoe you would kiss the one you were with to celebrate the resurrection of Baldur. Imagine that, the resurrection of Baldur. Also in December, the Roman’s celebrated the god, Saturn. The celebration is called Saturnalia; it is a time of overeating, drinking and making merry. It was celebrated on December 25th.
I was interested in learning more so I continued to read about the tradition of Santa Claus. Who was this ancient character? This is what I learned. Santa Claus is an elf. A jolly old elf that has magical power and is omnipresent. Remember, “He knows when you are sleeping he knows when your awake, he knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” He knows everything. He lives in the North at the tip of the earth. The Bible teaches us that heaven is in the north.
Santa Claus can fly through the air with magical animals that take him everywhere giving gifts. Cute, right…so that makes it okay?
He puts his finger beside his nose and whoosh, up the chimney he goes. Just good old ancient fun for our children. Hmmmm...I wonder! Santa Claus is a product of the great American melting pot, a blend of many different cultures and customs. His earlier ancestors date back to the pre-Christian days, when sky-riding gods ruled the earth. The mythological characters Odin, Thor and Saturn gave us the many of Santa’s distinctive characteristics.
Part of the tradition springs from a man called St. Nick. There are many stories associated with him. It is legend; he helped three daughters that had no dowry to get married. St Nick threw bags of gold down the chimney and the next morning the gold was found in their socks that had been hung by the fireplace to dry. Thus, the girls were no longer poor and were able to get married. St Nick’s day is December 6th. A celebration of a saint? Odd!
Now, it is a historical fact that April is the month in which the Christ Child was born. Celebrating it in December is fine. We have celebrated “His birth” on the twenty fifth for over a hundred years. Luke, (chapter one) tells the beautiful story of the birth of Christ!
What about the Christmas tree? Let me tell you the wonderful story that is told concerning Martin Luther and how he taught his children. One cold starlit winter night in the woods, he spotted an evergreen tree. This godly man cut it down and carried it home As they decorated it; he taught them that the evergreen can be used to illustrate eternal life, because even during the winter months it remains green. Luther told them that the candles represented Jesus,” the light of the world”. He used the three points of the tree to illustrate the Trinity, And he said, “the top of the tree points to heaven from whence Jesus the Son of God came.” How beautiful does it all become when we train our precious children this way. What an illustration for our children to see when they gather around the tree. And the wonderful exchanging of gifts as we celebrate, “Behold a Child is born," God’s gift!
HERE IS WHAT I TOOK AWAY FROM ALL THAT I LEARNED THAT DAY,
THEY HAVE FORBIDDEN JESUS IN THE SCHOOLS;
THEY HAVE THROWN HIM OUT OF THE COURTHOUSES.
NATIVITY SCENES ARE NOW CONSIDERED “POLITICALLY INCORRECT!”
So, I have decided that in my home Christmas will be a celebration of the “Birth of the Savoir of the world.” Not a jolly old elf with magical powers visiting my home… that is my decision.
MAY THE LIVING GOD, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, THAT GAVE US HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON REIGN IN YOUR HOME THIS SEASON AND "TAKE FULL PRESIDENCE" OVER ANY THING ELSE.
I LOVE YOU AND WISH YOU VERY GLORIOUS CHRIST-MAS.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!
5 comments:
Carol, I believe this is a wonderful post. I appreciate all that you do and how much you have gone through for the cause of Jesus Christ. Be Blessed
Hi Carol,
Great post. Here is another thought on the birth of Jesus- not born in April:
Most serious Bible students realize that Jesus was probably not born on December 25th. One of the clues is found in the Bible where we read that the shepherds had their flocks in open fields, which implies a date prior to December. Travel 2,000 years ago was a little more difficult than it is today and most likely a competent Roman administrator would have chosen another date, most likely closer to the beginning of the Jewish New Year which is in September in most years.
I have just returned from Israel and this is the rainy season and cold with possible snow in the hills of Judea. This would not have been a good time to be traveling 2,000 years ago. One of the things that Ruby and I feel blessed by is being able to understand the culture and demographics of the Holy land. It truly is fascinating to know that we have been living in the place where God chose to begin His creation here on the earth. Yes, the cradle of civilization.
Another approach in determining the date of the birth of our King is to look at the birth of His cousin, John the Baptist. Zacharias, the father of John, was of the “course” of Abijah. Priests were divided into 24 courses and each course officiated in the Temple for one week. When Titus had the temple destroyed on August 5, 70 AD, the first course of priest had just taken office. Since the course of Abijah was the 8th course, we can track backwards and determine that Zacharias would have ended his duties on July 13, 3 BC. If the birth of John took place 280 day later, it would have been on April 19-20, precisely on Passover of that year.
John was five months older than Jesus which gives us the autumn birth date for Jesus. Elizabeth hid herself for five months and then the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary both Elizabeth’s condition and that Mary would bear a son who would be called Jesus. When Mary visited Elizabeth it was in the first week of her sixth month, or the fourth week of December, 3 BC. If Jesus was born 280 days later it would place the date of His birth on September 29, 2 BC. This was the First of Tishri, the day of the Feast of Trumpets. Glory!
One last thought along these lines. The Seed of God was placed in the womb of Mary during the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah that year. Wow! The Light of the World is conceived during the Festival of Lights. Two weeks ago while in Israel the main street of Ariel was blocked one evening as they began this Festival of Lights. It looked very similar to our Festival of Lights that we call Christmas lights. So we can say that the coming forth of the King of Glory from heaven began during this time of the year when He was placed in the womb of Mary. May He truly continue to light up the world with His presence.
I always have folks write me and correct me about my even mentioning Christmas or the birth of Jesus during this time of the year. I answered one dear concerned saint out of Philippians 2:15-18. Paul rejoiced in the fact that Jesus was being preached. Some out of rivalry, but others out of goodwill. May you be blessed knowing that in fact our King was born and is alive for ever more. Let us purpose to worship Him all year long. Glory
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