Love the reason, not the season

Love the reason, not the season
By Ken Owen

I heard a friend of mine utter the words in the headline to this story the other day and they struck me as something that may possibly represent a sentiment shared by many people in today's society. Whether people understand, appreciate, or celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, it is certain that as a nation we have always related to this season as a very special and meaningful time of the year.

Of concern to many, however, is the way this beautiful season has been altered in recent years – even to the point that an increasing number of people have lost the joy and merriment that Christmas was created to bring to our lives. The more we lose sight of the reason, the greater the tendency for some to dislike the season. At the very least, all of the changes over the years have caused Christmas to lose its original sense of purpose and the joy that accompanies it, thereby minimizing the meaningful excitement this season once generated.

Crowded stores, a lack of parking, and shortened tempers all contribute to this metamorphosis of meaning during this time of the year. And while I am far from falling into the category with those who dislike the season, I can understand the frustration so many people are experiencing in this regard. From the revocation of Nativity scenes to the recent restrictions against Christmas carols in public schools, this season is quickly becoming nothing more than a national holiday for gift-giving without a sense of purpose.

The reality is, however, that those who have no Christmas in their heart will never find Christmas under a tree. It's the spirit of the season that makes it the beautiful occasion that it is. And it's the reason for the season that engenders that spirit of giving in the first place.

There is an old adage that tells us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. But this is true only when we truly understand the pure nature of giving. Most people exchanged gifts with family and friends this week. But consider those times when you expressed a giving attitude with no expectations in return.

We all celebrate this season of the year for our own personal reasons, and it is certainly my prayer that regardless of the reasons to which you relate, this will be a very meaningful and fulfilling time for you and your family.

But regardless of the passion and energy you emote towards this sport, I would admonish you to not lose sight of the importance of this special day.

Perhaps this would be an appropriate time for you to pause and contemplate what this season means to you. And regardless of what you view as the reason behind the season, the more personal meaning you can attribute to this occasion, the less likely you will be tempted to hate the season.

I certainly wish you and yours a very special and blessed day, as you reflect on the reason for the season and on the special place that this wonderful day has in your heart.

Good post nitro. One suggestion, this type of post is best put in the Lounge part of the Forum rather than Shop Talk.

Here's one of my favorites for trying to maintain perspective on why this is a significant time.

"A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. He has no formal education. He owns no property of any kind. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside. Walking from place to place preaching all the while even though he is in no way an ordained minister he never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, propertyless young man who preached on street corners for only three years who left no written word has for 2000 years had a greater effect on the entire world than all the rulers, kings and emperors, all the conquerors, the generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who ever lived -- all put together. How do we explain that? ...Unless he really was what he said he was." --Ronald Reagan

Merry Christmas!

I'll say no more than.

here, here,
my feelings exactly....

Outback

Christmas vs Xmas vs No Mas

I thought that it may be fun to discover the politically correct origins of what the majority of today’s society would consider a most holy festive season.

The holy day December 25, is several millenniums old. It's beginnings go back to before the bible story, the Tower of Babel. It is a multi-faceted story about Babylon and its King. Parts of the story can be found in the Book of Jasher which the Old Testament refers to in Joshua and Second Samuel.

Nimrod (the son of Cush, the son of Ham, the son of Noah) was King of the known world approximately 5000 years ago. He was a wicked man and when he was killed, his wife Semiramis was pregnant. It would appear that the Phoenicians called Semiramis, “Ishtar”, and the Hebrews recorded her name as “Asherah”. At his death, she consoled the people of Sumer by saying she carried Nimrods child, and named him Tammuz. Nimrod, she explained, had gone into the heavens and was now the sun and that Tammuz was in fact the re-born 'sun/son' Nimrod.

In ancient Babylon, the Pagans began to worship a trinity of father Sun, mother Earth, and the re-born 'son', who was interpreted to also be the father, come back to life at each winter solstice, called Saturnalia...the beginning a 'new year'. The Sun was thought to be 'dying' as it rose lower and lower on the horizon, until it 'stopped' ( sol-stice means sun-stop). By December 25th, it was evident that it had reached it’s stopping point, and in the ancient world this was the solstice. December 25th was celebrated by Pagans from all over the world, and has been the 'birthday' of Nimrod, Baal, Moloch, Dagan, Hercules, Atlas, Mithras, Krishna, Zeus, Osiris, Tammuz, Horus, Apollo, Amon, Ra, Bacchus, Jupiter ( Zeus-father), Hermas, Indra, and Buddha ( Guatama Sidhartha was born on a different date, but as Buddha, his birth is celebrated on Dec 25). The principle deity was the sun, worshiped for its life-giving warmth. The ancients pictured the Earth Mother Ishtar ( Easter) being impregnated in the spring near the Vernal (Venus) equinox. Then 9 months later, the gestation period, the Sun was said to be “re-born” at the winter Solstice, also called Paganalia.

In 274 C.E., Emperor Aurelian sought to unite the Roman Empire around the cult of the “Unconquered Sun” ( the Persian god of light, Mithras) and fixed December 25 as the sun's birthday. Some sixty years later, the Christian Church borrowed this date to commemorate the birth of Christ as the new prince of light.

Our culture today has lost its roots with understanding the symbolisms of the past. Many symbols and ideals are carry-overs from by-gone generations.. Lets consider some of the other Christmas Traditions that we have inherited.

The 12 Days of Xmas
Saturnalia is the birthday of the “unconquerable sun” and is also, the passage from chaos to cosmos, the suspension of time. The dead return during the 12 nights of the duration of Saturnalia. It is also the time of the sacrifice of the old King, or his scapegoat, as waning fertility and instigating, the enthronement of the new king as virility. The 12 days of chaos symbolize the pattern of the coming months of the year. Transvestism is a feature of the time of chaos in Saturnalia, orgies, carnivals etc and signifies a form of return to chaos. Babylon held the 12 days of duel between Chaos and Cosmo; in Christianity these are the 12 days of Xmas.

Yule Log
The Celtic and Germanic centerpiece of the 12-day mid-winter festival which influenced Christmas and New Year customs. The ritual burning of a sacred oak log symbolized the dying of light at the December Solstice and celebrating the warmth of it's return.

Another meaning has been assigned to the Yule-log.....you judge for yourselves if there is a ring of truth here. Life for a Pagan under the Druids was a nightmare. Parents had to endure risking their children's lives because the Druids demanded sacrifices. After a child was appointed to be the sacrificial victim, this child was tied up and burned alive as an offering to the sun. One of my resources suggest that one meaning to the term ‘yule log’ is ‘child log’.

Mistletoe
The life essence; divine substance; the all-healing. As neither tree nor shrub it symbolizes that which is neither one nor the other, which, by extension, is the realm of freedom from limitations, so that anyone under the mistletoe is free from restrictions, but also free from protection, and re-enters the world of chaos. Mistletoe is the Golden Bough of the Druids and Aeneas, and represents the sacred feminine principal with the oak as the male. It symbolizes new life and rebirth at the winter solstice. It was believed to be the result of lightning striking the branch of the oak tree and thus imbued with special spiritual qualities. The mistletoe is just a parasite to a tree, but the custom of hanging it up and collecting kisses comes from Druidism. A Pagan spell surrounds its ritual use too.

The Pine Cone
Uprightness, straightness, vitality, fertility, strength of character, phallic (phallic/phallus: an image of the male reproductive organ, symbolising in certain religious systems the generative power of nature). The pine cone is both flame-shaped and phallic, and represents the masculine creative force, fecundity...the producing or capable of producing offspring, and good luck. It is the emblem of Confucius, Zeus, Jupiter, Venus, Diana, Mithras, Attis and Cybele

The Gingerbread Man
It is the representative of the victim, a prisoner or an unliked person, who was burned alive in wicker cages, hanging from trees. This too was ultimately to pay homage to the Sun.

Santa Claus
Our mythology of Santa Claus comes from England, Holland, and Germany. It is interesting to note that he wears a wizard cap and that his costume is red in color, the ancient color of fire, our cultural color of danger. His history is quite colorful, but as to him coming down the chimney, it too has its Nimrod connection.

The Turkey
A traditional thanksgiving food in Mexico long before it acquired the same symbolism in Massachuetts. Native North Americans linked it with female fertility as well as male potency (suggested by its neck swelling). The jeweled food (turkey, peacock and pheasants) are the food for ritual occasions. They are also associated with thunder and rain.

Elves
Mischievous and often feared spirits of the woods, hills, and streams. Elves could be helpful or detrimental to the individual. The original elves, said to be of Norse origin, are called Alfar.

Holly
Good will, joy, and attribute of sun gods. In Rome the holly was sacred to Saturn and used in the Saturnalia as a symbol of health and happiness. In Christianity it transposed to be depicted as the tree of the cross, its spiked leaves signifing the crown of thorns and the passion and its red berries being the blood of Christ.

con't

The Christmas Tree
A re-birth, more practicularly the re-birth of light, was a solar symbolism dating back at least to the Roman festival of Saturnalia, when evergreen decorations celebrated the death of the old year and birth of the New. In the Christian era, the lights and candles came to symbolize souls.

The evergreen tree is the Winter Solstice, the New Year and fresh beginning. It is also the tree of immortality, the Tree of Paradise of lights and gifts, shining by night. Each light is a soul, and the lights also represent the sun, moon, and stars shining in the branches of the Cosmic Tree. The Pine tree, sacred to Attis, Atargatis, and Cybele, was hung with gold and silver ornaments, bells, etc. with the sacred bird in the branches and sacrifical gifts underneath. The Yule tree was fir, sacred to Woden/Odin.

In the eighth century, a man named Boniface met the Druids. Boniface witnessed the Druids bringing oak trees into their homes at the winter solstice, decorating them with gold balls. When Boniface saw the people bringing oak trees into their homes, he diverted them to consider the evergreen tree instead, and used it to teach them about eternal life.

The Gold represents the sun, the quality of sacredness, incorruptibility. Showers of gold symbolize the sun's rays.

The Silver represents the moon; virginity, the femine aspect with the gold as the masculine.

The Stars represents the divinity, supremacy; the eternal, the undying, the highest attainment, the eyes of the night. Stars are attributes of all Queens of Heaven.

Legend has it, that at the death of Nimrod, Semiramis taught the young Tammuz to go into the groves and place a gift on a tree at the winter solstice. This was an offering to his father, Nimrod, who was now the sun.

Branches of trees came to symbolize Nimrod also, so decorating Pagan temples and homes with holly, boughs, and wreaths was the custom. The wreaths are branches twisted into circles, so the branches would be associated with the sun.

In the 18th and 19th century when there was wide spread famine in Eire Land, the only hope of escape from death was emigration. This is when the Irish came to the United States, and brought with them Catholicism. The earlier colonizers had fled to the United States because of the religious persecution of Catholic and Anglican intolerance. The Irish Catholics had the rich cultural background of Druidism, which they had blended together with Roman Catholicism. They also brought their 'Christmas tree' tradition, along with Christmas, which had been outlawed as pagan in many colonies. The Catholics in South America have assimilated the cultural background of the Aztecs. Other Catholics from around the world would not recognize many things they do--and so it is with them in many parts of the world.
But the sad fact remains, whatever Pagans were doing before they became inter-mixed with the Roman Catholic facade, this ends up forming a kind of 'crust', masking the paganism.

As mentioned above, there were civil laws enacted in the Americas which prohibited the celebration of “Christmas”, because they knew it to be a Pagan festival counterfeited as a holy-day. Here is a little irony of American history who prides itself as being a Christian Nation founded on Christian values. George Washington crossed the Delaware to attack the British on Christmas Day. George knew that because the British celebrated on Christmas , they would be drunken and unprepared to defend themselves. ( I am not a history buff, and have not verified this story. But then, how many people actually verify something that they have read. When history records something, it is often deemed as truth.) If one has eyes to see, one can see a steady progression from Paganism, to Roman Catholic practices and then to the Evangelical Church embracement of the same.

At this point some of the Readers may ask, “Knowing the true facts of Christmas and its' tinsel, how did December 25 ever become the Churches' Holy Day?” The answer is found in two concepts, namely Contextulization and Syncretism. Contextulization means, simply put, if one set of standards or rules don't work, change it, until something works. Syncretism is when a religious or philosophical behavior is united or combined with another behavior.

Let me give you another example how these concepts are used. In the western world when we see a picture of Jesus we have a handsome white man with blue/green eyes. In the Orient they have a Chinese Jesus, and in African countries we have a black Jesus. Is there a danger in this? Maybe not, however in my limited
reasonability it would tend to make this man Jesus a myth, instead of the real thing. I wonder if I made the image of Martin Luther King into a white man, or a Chinese man, and recorded it into history books, would the people find this acceptable?

Personally what contextulization and syncretism says to me is that it is a conscious attempt to disguise one thing in the camouflage of another by re-inventing a new meaning, and believing it.

As for myself and my family in our pursuit of being Politically Correct, we no longer celebrate the Messiahs birth on December 25. Pastors and Christian writers such as Grant Jeffries acknowledge that the Messiah was not born on December 25, but probably in the fall, around the time frame when the Feast of Tents is celebrated. This Feast is celebrated in September or October for 8 days.

Do I know exactly when HE was born? No, but if Politically Correctness is an issue, which I believe it is, I will celebrate His birth in the Jewishness of YaHVeH's established appointed holy day, namely on the Eighth Day of the Feast of Tabernacles and should I learn that the Messiah was born at a different time frame, such as during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, I will change my practice in order to be politically correct. I use the phrase 'politically correct' as if this is the authority, but what I hope to show you is that I will stop at nothing to walk uprightly regardless of my peers. I will go against the flow. I will not be a conformist.

In breaking the truth barrier, Christianity admits that many of its Christmas traditions were originally Pagan, but excuse them by saying that they are only in the background now. People also say, since we don't intend to be worshiping the sun now, everything is okay. However, when a person chooses to believe something, their heart follows after it. Even if it's a lie, or a fantasy, it matters not to them.

It is very important that we consider the impact that contextulization has had on our accepted customs, regardless of who is to blame, whether Constantine, The Roman Catholic Church, or the Evangelical Church, because through them all, they have acted as a ‘lens’ which filtered-out the (Jewish) roots of the faith.

Am I opposed to a winter celebration season with gift giving, etc? Not at all. I value the company of good friends and family. I enjoy the warmth of a crackling fire, dancing, playing cards, a fondu dinner with all its trimmings, sipping on warm wine......but in the case of my husband he would rather enjoy a few cervezas. There is nothing pagan about having a good old party, as long as that is all it is. However to teach people that December 25 is YaHVeH's Son’s birthday is in error.

It's time to wake up people. With today’s technology and the easy access of information via the internet, the camouflage is about to be exposed. In closing, I am reminded of a frightening message that I heard being taught by a local pastor approximately 7 years ago, saying: “If you have a truth, but if the truth causes division, you drop the truth for the sake of unity.”

Written by my wife a few years ago,
Linda
ps; it was too long for one post, sorry!