Christmas and Winter Tags 2015 Part 6

What Is The True Meaning of Christmas?

As we all know (or least should already know), Christmas is "loosely"  based on the ancient Roman pagan Festival of Saturnalia.  While there are some arguments as to it's true origin, Christmas holds many of the customs of this particular festival.  For instance, the tradition of gift giving, eating, drinking and making merry, the hanging of boughs of holly, the mistletoe and the Christmas tree are all pagan in origin.

We know that Jesus, the Christian savior,  was not born on Christmas day; and the legend of St. Nicholas came much, much  later.  By the same token we know that reindeer are really caribou and that all of Santa's reindeer had to be female because male "reindeer" lose their antlers around this time of year.  Not to mention there have been claims that reindeer can't even fly.  (That's a sarcastic remark by the way folks!)

Setting all that aside, you have to wonder ... what is the true meaning of Christmas?  Why was it even created?

While many of us will agree that Christmas has become overly commercialized; and the naysayers just scoff and say it was all a lie to begin with and it should be done away with altogether; have  you ever really sit and wondered why Christmas was even created?  Why the coupling of both the Christian beliefs and the Pagan traditions?

What if ... just what if ... Christmas was created for one particular purpose?

Can't See the (Christmas) Trees for the Forest

Have you ever really taken in the messages of the many stories and movies that have been relayed to the masses?  What the one common thread was?  Now I want you think about this one for a long hard minute.  What is the one common thing all these stories about Christmas have?

A Christmas Carol, It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle On 34th Street ... even How The Grinch Stole Christmas (to name just a few) ... all have one thing in common.

Besides being a Christmas story, they all invite us to see things from another's point of view. To literally and metaphorically walk in the other person's foot steps.  In some cases, that other person's point of view was the person you had once been.

Part of the celebration of Saturnalia was role reversal.  It was the one day out of the year where the slaves and their masters would change places.  Imagine that!

Now think back to all your favorite Christmas stories/movies.  How did they receive the Christmas spirit?  By changing places (metaphorically speaking) and seeing the world from a totally different point of view.    It was in that moment when they could see through another's "eyes" that the meaning of Christmas  truly came into being.  They begin to understand that person and their beliefs.  Their tiny hearts, hardened by life, began to fill up with all the joy and love that other person exuded and experienced.

The true gift of Christmas isn't anything you can buy.  The best gift you can ever give someone is the two things all we humans desire the most ... understanding and acceptance.

But how can you truly understand someone ... if you never bothered to really see them, hear them and get to know them?  And if you do not understand anything they are about ... how can you truly accept them?

I believe that Christmas was created for the soul purpose of assisting us in coming into this understanding.  That it was brought about through mutual agreement on some level to set aside one day a year where each person can have an opportunity to walk a mile in another's shoes.

It is my belief that in the custom of the ancient Romans, somewhere along the way, both Christians and Pagans alike, came to an agreement.  In their infinite wisdom, they knew that if we were ever to learn how to  live in harmony with one another, we would first need to come into an understanding with one another.  And what better way to do this than combine all beliefs and traditions into one?

Sharing the Spirit of Christmas Through The Eyes Of Others

As a Christian, have you bothered to see through the eyes of your Pagan brothers & sisters?  Have you given thanks for their collective contributions in creating a colorful and splendid holiday?  And you Pagans ... have you stopped to consider the teachings of Jesus?  Are his teachings so different from your own?

All you naysayers and politically correct police out there ... are you so miserable that you cannot allow others to enjoy one day out of the entire year to eat, drink and be merry?  To openly and without threat of being chastised express good will towards all people?  Would it kill you to not only see, but truly comprehend, the other person's point of view for a change?  If only for that one day?

Are the words Merry Christmas so abhorrent to you that you would prevent another from expressing their joy?  How would you feel if someone shamed you or go out their way to stop you into never expressing your joy on an occasion that maybe they view as frivolous and outrageous?  How would you feel about that?  You wouldn't like it very much ... would you?

This Christmas, take a step back and look at it from the other person's point of view.  You will be surprised by what you see and what you learn! Hell! You might even find yourself enjoying the holidays!

Bottom line, the true meaning of Christmas isn't about the birth of Jesus, it isn't about who gets the best gifts or if reindeer are really female caribou, it's not even about whose right or whose wrong.  It's about taking a little time out of your year to get to know someone, to come into an understanding and acceptance.  To see the world through your neighbor's eyes.

We have 364 days to fight and argue, to berate and misunderstand, and all that other stuff.  Let's allow some time off to just enjoy one another.  It's just one day out of the year folks.  What do you have to lose?  Really?

From My Family To You and Yours ....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Source for Festival of Saturnalia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia