Saturday, December 24, 2005

Merry Xmas?

Kyle was asking me where the term "Xmas" came from in reference to Christmas.

At first, I was at a loss to explain the origin of a seeming harmless phrase. Later as I was looking at it, it dawned on me. "Xmas" is Christmas, without Christ.

I know that everyone doesn't celebrate the birth of Christ as Christians celebrate it, but the season is still Christmas. The very origin of Christmas is not as most would suspect. Jesus was not born on December 25th. He was most likely born in June or July. The shepherds were watching their sheep in the fields. That doesn't happen in December, even in the middle east. So, you can rule out a winter birth.

The day we currently use to commemorate the birth of Christ was a Roman holiday. When the Christians were in captivity to Rome, they were not allowed to have their own holidays. They were required to celebrate the Roman holidays for pagan gods. This was not acceptable to them, as they considered it heresy to worship another god. So, they celebrated their God on pagan holidays. Easter, Christmas, and other religious holidays were created by this tradition.

To me, it isn't the day that matters. It is the presence of Christ in our celebration. His presence is needed every day. His will is to be our guidance in every season. His love is to be the beacon we shine to the world in every hour of every day.

It is a pity that there are those that try to celebrate Christmas without Christ. The season, the day, is empty without Him. Even more empty, is the life that is devoid of His grace, of His love, of His will, and of His purpose.

Tomorrow is Christmas. Celebrate the love that created a day of hope and a way of hope. Celebrate the love that brought a God to a manger and much farther. Celebrate the love that took a man to the cross and brought him out of the tomb.

Celebrate Christ.

Celebrate Christmas.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just wondering...is the X in Xmas supposed to represent the cross? If so, it would still represent Christ in Christmas. Yes?

Ron Simpson said...

To be more accurate .. wouldnt that be "t-mas" ?