Christmas is the most mysterious holiday! Christians celebrate it worldwide. A very special holiday as all the traditions are held from our grandparents and our parents.
Since November no one forgets that Christmas is coming. Colorful lights adorn many city centers and shops as well as artificial snow painted in store, cafe windows. On the streets and in the shops, ‘Christmas trees’, real or plastic evergreen conifer trees, are also decorated with Christmas lights and decorations.
Shopping centers are getting busier. The speakers' programs feature the 'songs' of Christmas, a typical Christian song. Often groups of people sing these songs to raise money to help the community. In mid-December, many people decorate their homes with Christmas trees, colorful lanterns, and various ornaments around the rooms. Some people decorate their trees with apples, nuts, and candles as in ancient times.
In many lands, many people send Christmas greetings to their friends and family, and these cards are hung on the walls of their home at that time. Traditional Christmas cards depict religious images - Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus, or other parts of the Christmas story. Today pictures are often winter images, jokes, Father Christmas, or scenes of love life in the past.
‘Father Christmas’ (or ‘Santa Claus’) has become a human face for Christmas. In the pictures we see an old man with a long white beard, a red coat, and a sack of toys. Children are taught that you bring presents on Christmas Eve (or in other countries on December 6 - St. Nicholas' Day), and many children as young as 7 or 8 believe that this is true. The story of Santa Clause begins with a man named Saint Nicholas. He was the Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor (now Turkey) in the 4th century AD. He was very shy, and he wanted to give money to poor people without knowing it. One day he climbed onto the roof of his house and dropped his wallet into a chimney. The girl who had set it on fire sat in the stocks! This may explain the belief that Father Christmas came down with a chimney and placed gifts in children's socks.
To many people it is very interesting to know: how did Christmas get started?
Since about 400 AD Christians have celebrated the birth of Jesus. ‘Christ’ means ‘Messiah’, the title given to Jesus. Unfortunately the true meaning of Christmas is often forgotten. It is a non-religious holiday! More and more children are believing in Father Christmas, not in Jesus. Christmas Day is a holiday that is accompanied by food, heavy drinking and TV watching and other activities. But the real Christmas story is found in the Christian Bible. After Jesus' birth there were scholars who came in search of him, from what is now Iran or Saudi Arabia. Granted, there were three scholars (or three Kings). The story goes that they saw a strange star in the sky that told them about the birth of a special king. Jehovah provided rich gifts to honor the child: gold, frankincense, myrrh, frankincense, and myrrh. These gifts tell us three important things about Jesus: Gold - a proper gift from the Lord, Incense - burning in worship of God, Myrrh - a symbol of mortal man, which is used to bury the dead. Jesus lived a very difficult life. ‘He was and is everyone’ to all of us as he associated himself with all racial groups. Christmas cards from different countries often feature Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in the landscape, as well as the ethnic background of the country. No one else has ever been as influential as Jesus. He came back to life, and millions claim to know him today as a friend and helper in their lives. You owe it to yourself to find out more about Him. Is This Who He Says He Is? Can he help us in our lives today? You have nothing to lose! Christmas is a time to stop and think about these important questions ”.
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