Today, the boys found that Kringle had had fun with Mommy's dry erase markers. He "decorated" our pictures, had a fun time, & put a big star on our calendar on the 25th.
The boys & I talked about Christmas Day. We did not get anywhere near as detailed as I did below. We stuck to what we've been saying pretty much all month. The basic fact that Christmas is the time we use to celebrate Jesus' birth.
I've had people tell me more before that Jesus' birthday wasn't REALLY December 25th, & that the celebration of Christmas was really about the worship of pagan gods. My response-not for me. Since before I could talk, I was raised to know that Christmas was the time we celebrated the birth of Jesus.
Long ago, December 25th (or Saturnalia, worship of the sun) was a time of idol worship for the Romans. Boy, did they know how to celebrate! They would feast, celebrate, & worship their false gods all week long & then end on the 25th with the biggest & wildest party of all.
But all of that changed A.D. 313. "The seven evil days of parties and idol worship would disappear from the Roman calendar...December 25th would move out of the dark shadows of pagan worship into the light of God's truth & love."
This happened because in A.D. 313, the Roman Emperor Constantine became a follower of Jesus Christ. Constantine was disturbed by his people's idol worship, so he changed this week of darkness & declared it The Feast of the Nativity instead. In the years that followed, it would turn into Christ-mass & now it is what we know as Christmas.
"It shouldn't surprise us that something dark and evil has been transformed into a day that is characterized by radiant light, selfless giving, & sacrificial love." Romans 12:21 says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
"More than likely Jesus was not actually born on December 25th. But given the fact that it is around this date that darkness prevails with the year's longest night & the sun begins a new cycle, it's a grand time to celebrate the birthday of the Son. Proclaiming & reclaiming December 25th gives an opportunity for God's light of truth to chase away the blackest of shadows, revealing the true "Son of Righteousness."
*Quotes from Truth in the Tinsel by Lisa Welchel
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