Christmas Thoughts

While preparing for a talk, I read several articles about whether Christ was really born in December and why Christmas is celebrated then. I found it very interesting, but not really important. I once heard someone comment that they had stopped celebrating Christmas when they learned it was originally a pagan festival*. That struck me as very sad. Why stop celebrating the birth of Christ simply because the origin of the celebration day is a debated point? I find that irrelevant. The important part is that we celebrate the birth of Christ. We can and should celebrate the birth and life of Christ all year long. There is no reason to limit our celebration to the generally accepted “birth day” of the Savior. Christmas is a wonderful reminder of the spirit we should carry all year round. Christmas time is often associated with service opportunities and unusual acts of kindness. Why are these acts of kindness unusual? Why not be kind all year? Why don't we watch for service opportunities, be kind and helpful without limiting such behavior to the holiday season? Let's act this way all year long. Remember that we represent Christ in all we do and always try to act as He would.

*For those who are unfamiliar with the pagan traditions, here is the general idea: the pagans celebrated during the darkest time of the year to appease the gods so the sun would return. When the Christians decided to celebrate the birth of Christ during this season, it is generally believed they were trying to replace the pagan festival with a proper celebration to help convert and retain the pagans to Christianity. Since nobody knew the exact day of the Savior's birth, the leaders of the Christian church felt they could name any day to celebrate.