Christmas, To True!

[Tom Earp]

http://www.illwillpress.com/xmas.html


Make sure You are Adults only Group!


To damn true and funny!

[Tom Earp]

Interesting!





The History of The 12 Days Of Christmas





There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world
do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge
who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?



From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to
practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a
catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the
surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.
Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the
children could remember.







The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.





Two turtle doves were the Old and NewTestaments.



Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.



The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.






The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of
>the Old Testament.





The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.





Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy
Spirit-Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership,
>and Mercy.





The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.



Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit - Love, Joy,
>Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self
>Control.



The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.



The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.



The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the
Apostles' Creed.



So that's your history for today. May God grant you peace and happiness
throughout this Christmas Season.

[Tom Earp]

SAY, CHRISTMAS!..


It is a Christmas tree. It is NOT a Holiday hedge.
It is a Christmas tree!
Say it...Christmas, Christmas, Christmas


THIS "CAN'T SAY CHRISTMAS" IS GETTING A LITTLE ANNOYING!..WE SHOULD ALL PUT MERRY CHRISTMAS SIGNS ON OUR LAWNS AND ON OUR BUMPERSTICKERS...


DON'T YA THINK?????????????



WHAT THE HECK'S THE MATTER WITH THE COURTS????? ARE THEY GOING TO CHANGE THE SONGS TOO??? I"M DREAMING OF A WHITE...HOLIDAY? WE WISH YOU A MERRY....HOLIDAY??? I"LL HAVE A BLUE...HOLIDAY WITHOUT YOU????

THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS... WE ARE LOOSING OUR RIGHTS....THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A FREE SPEECH COUNTRY!.......


"MERRY CHRISTMAS" TO All of YOU.....


Say it everywhere you go!

[Alpha Sig Scott]

Merry CHRISTmas

[RedRoseSAI]

Originally posted by Tom Earp
Interesting!

And yet, untrue:

12 Days of Christmas myth

[docetboy]

Happy Hanukah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Christians: Celebrate their saviors birthday on December 25th, though biblical and scholarly evidence points out that it was not during the winter and most likely around the year 4BCE, around the 15th of Tishri (falling around mid-september, the first day of the harvest festival Sukkot!). "Christ Mass" on December 25th was made popular by Pope Liberius in 354 and made official by Pope Sixtus III in 435. This coincided with the date of a celebration by the Romans to their primary god, the Sun, and to Mithras, a popular Persian sun god supposedly born on the same day. The Roman Catholic writer Mario Righetti candidly admits that, "to facilitate the acceptance of the faith by the pagan masses, the Church of Rome found it convenient to institute the 25th of December as the feast of the birth of Christ to divert them from the pagan feast, celebrated on the same day in honor of the 'Invincible Sun' Mithras, the conqueror of darkness" (Manual of Liturgical History, 1955, Vol. 2, p. 67).


Jews: Celebrate a true miracle, as a small number of Maccabee Warriors defeated the entire Syrian army and moved them out of Jerusalem, cleaned the holy temple, and relit the eternal flame, where one days worth of oil lasted eight, long enough for new oil to be brought in to keep the lamp always burning.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by RedRoseSAI
And yet, untrue:

12 Days of Christmas myth

You beat me to it.

And Docetboy, it is quite true there (1) there is no biblical evidence for what time of year Jesus was born (except that it was probably late spring, summer or early fall, since "there were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night," and it would have been too cold for that in the winter) and (2) the monks who estimated the birth of Jesus were off by a few years.

But it probably isn't that accurate to suggest it was just a matter of instituting the celebration of the birthday of Jesus to replace a pagan festival. While what Mario Righetti "candidly admits" has some truth to it, it really doesn't reflect the full history.

It is commonly put forth that Christmas (remember, that is just the English name -- other languages use words related to birth, incarnation, pagan-rooted names like "Yule" or something like the German "Holy Night") is the birthday of Christ, but as far as the Church has historically been concerned, that is something of a surface understanding. What Christmas really is, again as far as the teaching of the Church has gone, is the festival of the Incarnation -- that is, the celebration of the doctrine that God became human through the birth of Jesus. Christians would say this is a true miracle, one of the 2 biggest ever. With Easter, Christmas on the surface celebrates a historical event, but on a deeper level these two holidays celebrate the two cornerstone beliefs of Christianity: the Incarnation and the Resurrection.

In early centuries, the Church in various places chose various times of year to specifically celebrate the doctrine of the Incarnation. In some parts of the East, a January observation became popular. The Church in Rome did indeed adopt and adapt the pagan celebration of the Invincible Sun, partly because of the belief that it would be an easy transition for pagans to make, but also because the winter solstice themes of the Festival of the Invisible Sun -- light coming into and defeating the darkness -- were quite apt for celebration of the Incarnation and resonated with some of the biblical passages concerning the Incarnation, especially from the Gospel of John.

Rome's celebration eventually became the norm throughout the Christian world, although the Eastern January celebration survives in the celebration of Epiphany (the 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany being the 12 days of Christmas). The fact that most cultures have winter solstice festival of some sort (there's a reason Hanukkah -- the Festival of Lights -- comes at this time of year) supported the adoption of December 25, since it made transition from pagan to Christian easier. The Church in the first millenium was rarely hesitant to adapt the pagan customs it could and infuse them with different meaning.

So there is indeed no biblical directive to celebrate the birth of Jesus (or Easter for that matter, although there is biblical evidence for Christian observation of Sunday rather than the Sabbath). And clearly, pagan celebrations played into the choice of dates for Christmas. But (from a Christian perspective), there is ample basis for the Church designating a time to devote to specific celebration of the miracle of the Incarnation, and experience has shown that the date chosen has supported the meaning of the observance quite well.

Sorry for the long-windedness. My son and I had this very discussion last night, when he asked why we celebrate Christmas on December 25 when we don't know when Jesus was born.

If i have to say happy holidays one more time instead of what i want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS i am going to blow....its been this way for thouands of yrs and should continue to stay that way.....it is taking the merry out of my christmas my 6 yr old child just ask me last night why are you not so happy this yr like last yr,,,,,

[AOIIBrandi]

I don't even mess with Happy Holidays, I just say Merry Christmas, unless I know for sure the person is of a different faith. This whole PC thing is just a little much for my brain...

[AXO Alum]

Although I am a Christian, I really don't care what people say to me - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, even Happy Hanukah! I know that Christ was probably not born on 12/25, but that's okay too. I don't care that W sent "Happy Holidays" cards instead of "Merry Christmas" cards. I just enjoy the season for what it should be - sharing a little love & warmth with others.

The other day as I was going into Wal-Mart with my friend whom I help take care of (she has Downs Syndrome) - I gave her money to put in the Salvation Army bucket. A little boy had stepped in front of her & put his money in - the bell ringers said "Merry Christmas" -- he looked at them with this beautiful bright smile & these glowing eyes and laughed and said "You mean Happy Hanukah!!" and just smiled like it was the funniest thing ever said -- the bell ringers, me, another couple that had walked up all shouted joyfully "Happy Hanukah!!" When someone shows such love for their faith at that age, how can you not feel the love of the season? It will remain one of my favorite "holiday" memories.

[RedRoseSAI]

I saw Happy Holidays because I want to wish people not only a Happy Hanukkah/Merry Christmas, but also a Happy New Year.

[rhochi2002]

I say Merry Christmas and happy New Year. I know that Christmas isn't the day Jesus was born, but it doesn't really matter, it is still a celebration of his birth. To me Christmas has always been a time to celebrate being with family and friends regardless of their faith.
So Merry Christmas and Happy new Year!!!

[honeychile]

Originally posted by docetboy
Happy Hanukah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Christians: Celebrate their saviors birthday on December 25th, though biblical and scholarly evidence points out that it was not during the winter and most likely around the year 4BCE, around the 15th of Tishri (falling around mid-september, the first day of the harvest festival Sukkot!). "Christ Mass" on December 25th was made popular by Pope Liberius in 354 and made official by Pope Sixtus III in 435. This coincided with the date of a celebration by the Romans to their primary god, the Sun, and to Mithras, a popular Persian sun god supposedly born on the same day. The Roman Catholic writer Mario Righetti candidly admits that, "to facilitate the acceptance of the faith by the pagan masses, the Church of Rome found it convenient to institute the 25th of December as the feast of the birth of Christ to divert them from the pagan feast, celebrated on the same day in honor of the 'Invincible Sun' Mithras, the conqueror of darkness" (Manual of Liturgical History, 1955, Vol. 2, p. 67).


Jews: Celebrate a true miracle, as a small number of Maccabee Warriors defeated the entire Syrian army and moved them out of Jerusalem, cleaned the holy temple, and relit the eternal flame, where one days worth of oil lasted eight, long enough for new oil to be brought in to keep the lamp always burning.

Early Christian missionaries were taught to convert the pagan holidays into "Christian" ones - and diluted the message in the process.

I agree that Christ was more probably born around the Feast of the Tabernacles, as that would have been the logical time to conduct a census among the Jews. That's why my family always celebrates Sukkoth to this day - a more logical "Christmas" time.

[litlbear1072]

Originally posted by AOIIBrandi
I don't even mess with Happy Holidays, I just say Merry Christmas, unless I know for sure the person is of a different faith. This whole PC thing is just a little much for my brain...

THANK YOU! I also say Merry Christmas. I say Happy Hannukah to my Jewish friends and if someone says it to me because that's what they celebrate, GREAT!

[dzrose93]

I told the cashier at Belk's yesterday "Happy Holidays" in an attempt to be PC and keep from offending anyone. She smiled and said, "Merry Christmas!"

I was so happy to hear a retail person say those words! I thanked her for her greeting, and mentioned how thrilled I was to hear "Merry Christmas" being used. Every person who was behind me in line chimed in to say that they were happy to hear it, too. I walked away with about ten people calling out "Merry Christmas" behind me. It was nice.