The History and True Meaning of Christmas

As we are on the eve of Christmas 2024 I wanted to write about what I consider to be what Christmas really is and why is it celebrated?

December 25 this arguably the most popular dates in the world. And Christmas is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world. People might forget important dates in the history of their country, sometimes even find it hard to remember the birthdays of loved ones.

People might forget important dates in the history of their country, sometimes even find it hard to remember the birthdays of loved ones. But December 25 has somehow been able to

But December 25 has somehow been able to ingrain itself in the heart or people. The date has so gotten a center stage that even people and in countries where it is not officially a holiday, there is however, an official recognition of the place of December 25 in the history of man.

Usually when Christmas comes knocking, different discuss springs up from different areas of the globe on the justification of celebrating Christmas on December 25.

Many argue that the date should be changed because it doesn’t fit the reason for the festival and some others insist it is just a representation of the reason. The argument does not come as a surprise because of the importance a lot of people attach to the celebration and the circumstances surrounding its advent. Additionally, some churches due to their adoption of the Julian calendar, celebrate Christmas on January 7 of the Gregorian calendar even though it still fell on December 25 of the Julian calendar.


WHAT is CHRISTMAS?

What Christmas is should be easy to define, after all it is Christmas. My two year old niece knows what Christmas is and it is expected that you can relate to kids around you telling you all about Christmas. But we would come to find that what many of us know Christmas means and represents is very superficial.

So for the sake of everyone, we are going to define what is christmas?

There is no single perspective to the meaning of Christmas. The truth is that it means different things to different people. At the beginning, Christmas was created to celebrate the birth of Christ and it was largely celebrated by Christians. Hence, the name, Christmas, which was gotten from Christ and mass.

Christ according to Christians is the Messiah, the savior of the world who was sent by God to save the world from sins. And mass is a service rendered in worship to God. So we could say Christmas in Christendom is a service rendered in worship to God in appreciation for the birth of Jesus.

However, the celebration has evolved over the years and therefore being given diverse meanings. For some, it is a celebration of love for family and loved ones and a season to show love to the special people in one’s life. Whereas for others, who are non-Christians, it is just a happy season where people remember happy things and are thankful for such happiness.


WHY IS CHRISTMAS OBSERVED?

From the above explanation, it is clear that people celebrate Christmas for different reasons. Initially, Christmas was observed mainly to celebrate Christ. Christians believe that Christ is God Himself and He came to earth in the likeness of man so as to relate with man and take man’s sins upon Himself.

Now, for such an act that is considered noble and extraordinary, it was felt that it deserved to be celebrated. And since then, Christians all over the world observe Christmas to show appreciation to God and Christ for what they consider a great gift.

Christians have seen it as a duty and a form of worship that must be rendered and even some see as the little they could do to pay back for such amazing sacrifice.

Now, for Christendom, there is also Easter when the crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ is celebrated, and so Christmas is essentially for his birth. But many Christians reason that if there was no birth, there wouldn’t have been a death. Hence, for them, it is because He came that He was able to die.

As mentioned earlier, years later when the meaning and what Christmas represented started undergoing dynamism, the reason for its observance also gradually evolved. One of the major historical events that altered the original purpose of Christmas is secularism and the separation of religion from the state.

Therefore, many who are non-Christians still celebrate and observe Christmas culturally but more as a season of love and happiness. Christmas is celebrated now by sharing of gifts to loved ones and showing love to people, it is a time to send cards and talk to people you wouldn’t normally see due to distance in time and space.

It is also a time to show love to someone out there who has nobody is probably lonely. Many people use that time to do good deeds and charity.

But more, in both cases, there is a lot of merriment and ecstasy in the air, a lot of feasting and joyfulness. Suffice it to say there is usually a lot of food and drink to go around and even leave over. Hunger is hardly ever an issue on Christmas days.


HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS

The foregoing has provided a hint of what started Christmas, which was finding a day to celebrate Jesus Christ. Now many people mistaken the facts believe that Jesus Christ was actually born on December 25 but scholars of history have been able to determine that this was not the case and he was in fact born around spring.

Around the world, even before the birth of Jesus, mid-December served as a time for different festivals. In Rome, the Saturnalia, a celebration in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture was celebrated. The birthday of Mithra, god of the sun was also celebrated on December 25thexactly.

Originally, the main festival of Christians was Easter but Pope Julius 1 chose December 25 as Christmas to celebrate Jesus’s birth. It is believed that he chose it in order to obliterate the pagan worship and celebration. The church was believed to have chosen the date to discourage the people from worshipping gods but also made it possible for them to celebrate.

This explains why most of the mode of celebration has pagan roots and not trace in the Bible. Some of the mode of celebrations includes church services, Christmas music and caroling, lighting a Christingle, gift giving, an exchange of Christmas cards, a special meal, completing an Advent calendar or Advent wreath, and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe, and holly.

The celebration moved to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia and soon to other parts of the world. It was all rosy spreading the customs.

In England, with the rise of the puritans — who negated most things England and by extension, the Catholic Church stood for, opposed the celebration. Their argument was that Christmas was not mentioned in the Bible and as a matter of fact, the date of Christ’s birth was not given in the Bible as well and they also argued the fact that the celebration had pagan roots and pagan customs.

In America too, the migrants stopped the festival completely till around 1870 when it was finally declared a federal holiday.


A LITTLE ABOUT CHRISTMAS EVE

In many countries, Christmas Eve which is December 24 is given more acknowledgment than the actual Christmas. Christmas Eve is a whole day or the evening preceding the day of the celebration of Christmas. It is believed that the reason why the celebration of Christmas starts on the evening of the eve is because of the Christian liturgical day starting at sunset, a practice inherited from Jewish tradition and based on the story of Creation in the Book of Genesis: “And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.”

Many churches hold services or mass on the eve of Christmas. And for the non-Christians, the Christmas eve is seen as a lead up to Christmas and thus, filled with many social events and parties to lead up to the main day.


TEN CHRISTMAS SONGS WE LOVE

There are a lot of Christmas songs, both religiously and culturally.

1.The Little Drummer Boy

Little Drummer Boy was composed by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone in 1958 and has been remixed by many different artists today. It is one of the songs we never get tired of at Christmas

2. Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells was composed by Minister called James Pierpoint in 1857. The song was originally composed by Pierpoint for thanksgiving but the sleigh bells in the lyrics made it popular for Christmas.

3.The Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas is very popular among kids. The song was published in England in 1780 and each of the days is said to symbolic of the specific symbols of the Christian faith.

4. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

The song was written by Ralph Blane and composed by Hugh Martin. It is regarded as the saddest Christmas song in history.

5.Noel

Noel is a traditional classical English Christmas carol. It has experience evolvement since it was first published in 1823 and the present arrangement we sing is by Davies Gilbert, who arranged, edited and also added more lyrics.

6. Silent Night

Silent Night is a very popular carol song that was written by Joseph Mohr and composed by Franz Xaver Gruber in 1818.

7. Go tell it to the Mountains

The lyricist of the song was John W. Work who wrote Folk Songs of the American Negro.

8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

The song was written by Charles Wesley and his original couplet had been “Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings.”

9. Oh Come, All Ye Faithful

It is unknown who the actual writer of the song — which was originally written in Latin — is. And it has been translated to many languages since then. The English translation by Frederick Oakeley was done in 1841.

10.White Christmas

White Christmas is also a very popular Christmas song written in 1942 by Irving Berlin. The song was featured in the movie, Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby.


Christmas is a very beautiful feeling that leaves us happy and hopeful and there you have it. Everything you need to know about Christmas.

So what is Christmas and what does it mean to you.

Popular posts from this blog

YOUR TRUTH IS ALREADY INSIDE YOU

You already have the answers you need inside you. I call this being FULLY RESOURCED. It starts from within. Imagine you have a flower inside you—it’s always been there, just waiting for you to help it grow and let it shine. Start by recognizing all the knowledge and experiences you already have. You can always learn more as you go. You have an amazing mind that helps you live your life to the fullest. Trust yourself: you can figure out any problem if you look for the answer. Some things take time to understand. Sometimes, you have to go back to the basics when learning something new, but don’t worry—you can learn what you need. Learning anything takes three steps: 1. First, you have to know what you want. 2. Then, you need to believe you can do it, if you really want to. 3. Last, learn the steps or rules for how to do it. Learning takes courage. It’s easy to doubt yourself, but try to remember everything you’ve already learned and overcome. You might have to try a fe...
Read more

TODAY IS A GIFT

I am very grateful for today. I appreciate every second of my life. I choose every day to live fully. Each morning, I wake up feeling powerful and refreshed. The sun shines brightly through the window, It gives me energy and makes me realize how beautiful everything is. I walk through my community. I watch birds fly. I smell the air. I breathe deeply. Life is incredible! My eyes open wide. I see that I have had the chance to wake up and start a brand-new day. I watch as my transition progresses. I transition to a new, better spirit every moment of every day, in which I allow the beauty of my surroundings to be absorbed in, through and as me. My beautiful flower is blooming. She's been germinating for close to 65 years and sometimes the most fantastical flowers bloom the most radiant when they take their time to bloom. Funny how that happens. And I'm happy. I am excited for all the possibilities. I consider each day a fantastic opportunity. In li...
Read more

TRANS POWER

Do you know you have more power than you realize? As a transgender person, the possibilities that you possess are as yet untold. Begin to learn how to handle situations in a way that brings you success. YOUR SUPER-POWER I'd like you to begin to understand the concept of your personal power in this piece today. Recognize that you are mighty. When you decide on a course of action, it creates an effect in the universe and causes a ripple effect so the universe an conspire in your favor. Yes, you are that mighty. I prefer to see myself as having become enhanced. I have a super-power to see beyond gender stereotypes. This allows me to see multi-layered aspects of the human experience. I appreciate more because I have a better understanding of what it's like from the point of view of others. In business, I now have a much broader viewpoint with which to make decisions. BELIEFS CREATE REALITY The power you have comes through the conscious manifestation of your desires. Y...
Read more