Santa Claus Is Coming To Town December 5, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Home & Garden.trackback
In recent years, I’ve noted a divergence of opinion about how Christians should celebrate Christmas.
Some enjoy all the varied traditions of this festive holiday season: Christmas trees, twinkling lights, ornaments, presents, mistletoe, hymns, carols, nutcrackers, wreaths, and flying reindeer.
Others lament the commercialism and feel the focus on Santa Claus is misplaced.
So, who’s right?
For Christians around the globe, Christ is the “reason for the season.”
Christmas celebrates the advent of Christ’s birth (despite the fact that He was not born on Christmas Day, or even in December).
But does Christ resent sharing the spotlight with Santa Claus, Father Christmas, and Saint Nicholas?
Or would Christ applaud Santa’s kind spirit, loving nature, good-hearted generosity, and efforts to share magical moments with children around the globe?
And what about our other Christmas traditions? Would Christ want us to ban Jingle Bells, Christmas Trees, and Gift Giving from our holiday celebrations?
* Jingle bells fill the world with MUSIC and our hearts with JOY.
* Christmas trees instill PEACE on a winter’s evening.
* Twinkling lights remind us of the LIGHT emanating from within us all.
* Ornaments connect us with Christmases past.
* Angels help us remember loved ones who are no longer with us.
* Stars remind us of Three Wise Men who followed a star to Bethlehem.
* Gifts symbolize the enduring gifts of Peace, Hope, Love, and JOY.
Father Christmas
Perhaps the best way for devout Christians to celebrate the birth of Christ is to emulate the messages He came to impart . . . Peace, Love, Joy, Charity, Forgiveness, Hope, Acceptance, Benevolence, and Gratitude.
Santa, of course, embodies all of these attributes, not just at Yuletide, but throughout the year. As such, Jolly Old St. Nick seems like a fine addition to the Holiday Season, especially for families with young children.
Christians who wish to put Christ back in Christmas need not launch a full-fledged frontal assault on Santa Claus, Jingle Bells, Christmas Trees, and Gift Giving. Instead, they can use these seasonal symbols and shared traditions to spread (simply, clearly, and truthfully) the positive messages that Christ came to share:
Peace on Earth.
Goodwill towards Man.
May we all delight in the Peace, Hope, Love, and Joy of this Festive Season, whether (and however) we celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or the Winter Solstice!
Related posts: Joy To The World * Ho~Ho~Ho! Merry Christmas! * 10 Holiday Classics + 2 Year Round Faves * Experiential Gifts * Gifts of Hope * Christmas Diamante * Join the Advent Conspiracy (Reflections) * Enter Into The Joy (Reflections) * Weekend Theme: Religious Holidays (View from the Side)
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry
Spirit Lights The Way 
Great, Nancy! Good links, too! 😀 I’ve sent you a long personal e-mail, for reasons you will understand when you read it! Have a wonderful day! It is now snowing at our house (and other places, I think!) much faster and heavier than it is on our screens! Beautiful! (I know – better my house than yours!) 😀
While I see a benefit in most of our Christmas traditions . . . it would be nice if the presents were not quite so “overdone.”
Enough is enough. 🙂
What a lovely post. indeed it is to put back the spirit of giving, while removing the worst of the excesses that would be a good thing, in my opinion.
So true. Gifts from the heart . . . rather than overextending our credit at the mall. 🙂
Beautiful post, Nancy. I have an extra-soft spot for that kitty in a Xmas hat 🙂
We’ve tried to get Tigger to pose for us . . . nothing doing!
Santa Claus is part of our traditions.
He’s been around as far back as Dicken’s penning of A Christmas Carol in the early 1800’s.
Hi I’ve stumbled onto your blog…
I found this really interesting. My family are hindus, and a number of the more ‘traditional’ members of the family get very angry when they see the younger generations putting up Chistmas trees and decorations.
I believe if it makes you happy and it’s not causing anyone harm, then there’s no reason not to.
I pretty sure the big guy or gal in the sky wouldn’t have wanted us to have black or white opinions about these things. If not for any other reason than the things you mention – joy, peace, love, hope, light and music – they’re all pretty colourful and warm.
Thanks for sharing
Dhiresh
Thanks, Dhiresh
You might enjoy this post:
https://nrhatch.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/god-is-not-a-christian-jew-or-moslem/
I think Christ would be fine with all of our silliness. Afterall it’s done in the spirit of happyiness and showing love. He came into the world not to judge it but to bring salvation through love. He wants us to be happy and filled with joy. He isn’t looking at tattoos, piercings, what kind of clothes we wear or how expensive our gifts are. How many lights we put up or don’t put up. Nor how big or little our tree is. He is only looking to see what is in our hearts. So go ahead and go all out, have a very Merry Christmas! In a large or little way.
I agree. It is our heart that matters.
Thanks, Linda
Have a blessed Christmas however you choose to celebrate. I go with “Jesus is the reason for the season”, but I don’t worry when I see Santa or the commercialism that is impossible not to have if we gift one another. I personally love to see all the lights that people put on their houses. The Angels lit up the sky when they sang praises to God announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds. Just a thought…
Good thoughts, Carol Ann.
Angels We Have Heard On High . . .
A Holiday Thought…
Aren’t humans amazing? They kill wildlife – birds, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice and foxes by the million in order to protect their domestic animals and their feed.
Then they kill domestic animals by the billion and eat them. This in turn kills people by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative – and fatal – health conditions like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and cancer.
So then humans spend billions of dollars torturing and killing millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases.
Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals.
Meanwhile, few people recognize the absurdity of humans, who kill so easily and violently, and once a year send out cards praying for “Peace on Earth.”
~Revised Preface to Old MacDonald’s Factory Farm by C. David Coates~
_____________
Anyone can break this cycle of violence! Everyone has the power to choose compassion! Please visit these websites to align your core values with life affirming choices: veganvideo.org & tryveg.com
“Any great change must expect opposition because it shakes the very foundation of privilege.”
Lucretia Coffin Mott, 1793-1880, minister, women’s rights leader, abolitionist, peace activist, humanitarian
We are a bunch of hypocrites, aren’t we? 😉
We’ve been vegetarians for at least 13 years. I wouldn’t go back to carnivorous consumption.
Happy Holly Daze!
Took me a while to think about what I thought- thanks for sparking the train of thought. (That’s a lot of thinking!)
I wonder if it’s a little like this: if on Mother’s Day I appreciate the virtues of motherhood (caring, kindness, compassion, etc.)and try to embody these, that’s good. When I go to my mother on Mother’s Day and really appreciate her for who she is as my own unique mother, that’s better. Maybe that’s how it is with Christmas: appreciating love, joy and peace and trying to embody these is good; going to the Birthday Boy and appreciating him for who he is is better.
Interesting thoughts, Zoe.
I guess whether trees and angels and lights “get in the way” would depend on the specific individual and how easily distracted they might become from their efforts to “appreciate the Birthday Boy.”