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Celebrating the Traditions This fall, everywhere I turned it seemed like I ran smack into the debate about Halloween. It got me thinking–but of course, I can’t just think about that one holiday. I also got to thinking about the traditions we indulge in at Christmas. The world has succeeded in making it a commercial holiday. And I readily admit I enjoy all the trappings, the presents, the decorations. But having grown up in church, the meaning of the season was always present in my mind. Now, though, I have to wonder: do we really know the meaning of our celebrations? Last year I read a book for review called Celebrate Simply. It discusses many major holidays and events, everything from Christmas to graduation, from birthdays to Easter. I enjoyed paging through it, not only because it offered practical gift solutions for these occasions, but because it took the time to explain them. One section in the Christmas part talked about the extension of the holiday, specifically the tradition of Epiphany that’s so popular in Europe. That inspired me to do some research into these original Twelve Days of Christmas. My gifts for my family last year were Epiphany Bags–gift bags that had a small something in them for each day leading up to the Epiphany, starting on Christmas. Along with each gift, I included an explanation of the significance of the present. For instance, on Christmas everyone got an ornament in the shape of a star, and then I wrote up something about the debate around the Star of Bethlehem in the Christmas story. Which brings me to my point. As I looked up everything for these presents last year, I began to realize how little we as a modern society actually know about the traditions we hold so dear. Did you know that one of the reasons we celebrate Christmas on December 25 is because that was the date of the winter solstice at the time of Christ, and ancient historians thought the sun–one of the only stars that moves–must have been the start that led the Wise Men to Jesus? I didn’t. But the more I read about each element I was featuring, the more my eyes were opened. It’s easy to look at a secular holiday like Halloween and condemn everything that’s associated with it–it’s easy to say those elements themselves are evil. But when it comes to Christmas, we’re all eager to accept the Christianization of secular symbols–who among us doesn’t like the Christmas tree or advent wreath, even if they did start out as pagan traditions? We’ve sanctified them. We’ve taken objects that in themselves have no great significance and applied a significance of our own. The result? We now have traditions that are fun and meaningful, but which began as something else altogether. I’m all for this. Why? Because objects themselves are neither good nor bad. It’s what we make of them. I think the early Church understood this when they took pagan traditions and rewrote them. I think Jesus himself understood this when he challenged the traditions of his day, insisting they needed to begin in the heart. And I think it’s important that we all understand, too, why we do the things we do around this wonderful time of year. So take a few minutes, this year, to delve into the meaning–not of the season itself, but of the trappings your family holds dear. If you’re anything like me, you’ll learn something that’ll enrich the whole season for you. If anyone’s interested in seeing what I did for the Epiphany last year (and possibly getting some ideas for a similar celebration of your own), just visit my website at www.RoseannaMWhite.com Wanna give me your take? Questions, comments, silly statements? Email me at BtL@ChristianReviewofBooks.com View Other Columns: Celebrating the Tradition |
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