Dear Editor,
The festive season is here again. It keeps coming back, no matter what. And the time in between seems to be getting shorter every year. At least for us adults.
Christmas started out as a Christian holiday; however, it has long ago become a secular day. Christians and non-Christians alike celebrate and look forward to it every year.
The beautiful well-known carols that really lift our spirit, the real Christmas tree – if you can afford to pay for one – with its unique smell, the decorations, the colourful lights, the Christmas shopping, the giving and receiving of gifts, and the turkey, ham, pies, seasonal drinks, and all the other delicacies that come along this time of year, all add to the excitement of the season.
I remember as a child in Aruba, we were told that if we behaved well, Santa would bring gifts for us and put them under the Christmas tree. You can bet that we were the best-behaved children every December. However, not a single mention about Jesus except Him being a baby in a manger.
We would also hang our socks somewhere close to the front door and put some grass in them for Santa’s reindeer; the next morning, as expected, the grass would be gone and we would find candy or some small inexpensive gift in them.
My siblings and I would, before going to bed, make sure that the front door remained unlocked on Christmas eve to enable Santa to enter the house to put the gifts under the tree. After all, there was no chimney in our house. As we gradually got older, we would learn that our suspicions were true, namely that there was no such thing as Santa Claus. We would then begin to save our coins throughout the year to buy ourselves and each other a Christmas gift.
However, there are things we do not know about the date of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, what are some things we do not know?
First of all, have you noticed that people no longer wish each other a Merry Christmas, but Happy Holidays? That is an attempt by unbelievers everywhere to kick Jesus out of our lives.
Secondly, our Lord and Saviour was not born on December 25th. No one knows the exact date. The date of His birth is mentioned nowhere in the gospels nor in any historical sources. Most biblical scholars assume His year of birth to be between 6 and 4 BC. The same holds true about the date of His death. Nobody knows!
The date of December 25th was chosen by the Vatican in Rome; by Pope Julius 1, to be exact. It is believed that Christianity chose this date in an attempt to discourage people from celebrating the Pagan Saturnalia festival, which was a two-week festival honouring Saturn, their god of agriculture. On December 25th. they also celebrated the birth of Mithra, their sun god. So, in order to counteract these Pagan celebrations, Christianity decided to celebrate Jesus’s birthday on December 25th. The fact that we celebrate the greatest event of the history of mankind on an assumed date, takes away from the solemnness of the event. The sad part is that young children know more about Santa than they do about the Son of God, who is Himself God. The Creator of heaven and earth has to share His “birthday” with a myth.
Nonetheless, two questions come to my mind. Should we stop celebrating Christmas as some religions do because the date of His birth is an assumed date and is associated with Paganism? Definitely not! The date of His birth does not matter. God sent His Son into this world to bring salvation to those who believe in Him. Should we stop lying to our children about the old man dressed in a red costume and his non-existent reindeer? Yes! Why not just tell them the truth that Dad and Mom are the real Mr. and Ms. Claus?
Merry CHRISTmas to all.
Clive Hodge
