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| Photo: AP: Rockefeller Center Tree 2020 |
Christmas without our families and friends will be very quiet this year ... much like the very first Christmas. The holiday is now celebrated on December 25th all over the world regardless of whether people follow Christianity, or not. The name Christmas is shortened from "Christ Mass," i.e., the Mass of Christ (or Jesus), a service where Christians believe Jesus, the Son of God, became man and died for humankind then rose from the dead so that people could become more like God. It is believed that Christ in dying on the Cross and overcoming death, absolved humankind of original sin (defined as a fall from Grace or God) and returned to God (or Grace). So everyone starts with a clean slate.
Nobody knows the actual day Christ was born. It's unlikely he was born on December 25th. Shepherds would not have been out in fields keeping their sheep in winter. Early Christians did not celebrate the birth of Jesus on any particular day.
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| A block away from Rockefeller Center sits Saks. Watch the Saks Christmas Lights 2020 Show by clicking here. |
The 1st recorded time Christmas was celebrated on December 25th was in the year 336, during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine. Many theories try to explain how the date was chosen. One theory notes that traditionally in late December pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice (on the Western Hemisphere) when days start getting lighter and longer and nights become shorter. So the early Church simply took over the holiday!
At its core, Christmas remains a time of hope ... of merriment ... of appreciating what we have.
Let's play all our Christmas albums. Listen and sing along! I'll get us started below, (and if you wish, search the blog for songs I selected on past Christmas blogs). 🎵♩♪
I cut my usual 6 - 7 different batches of cookies down to 3: Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, Scottish Shortbread and Pecan Tassies. Not a savvy move, since without visitors, I'll end up eating all these cookies ... but will also give some to our building's security guards. I'm drinking my sugar-free, low-fat eggnog too.🙂
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Those cookies look delicious! Maybe something to melt away all the pain of the last 10 months. Have a great Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barry! Happy Holidays to you as well! I linked you up to the very easy recipe. Sometimes the best tasting cookies are the simplest ones.:)
DeleteWhat a lovely post Debra, and an excellent explanation of the origins of Christmas. The Christmas story seems to be getting lost in Australia and Nativity scenes rarely seen. I think that is sad because it is a beautiful message of hope and goodwill. Your cookies look so good, and how sad you must celebrate alone because of the pandemic. I wish you and the whole USA a blessed, peaceful and more hopeful New Year with the inauguration next month. As always, thank you for your kind friendship over all these years. Merry Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteI wish you a Merry Christmas too, Trish! Yes, I like all the traditional Christmas symbols and decorations as well, and I don't think it's pushing religion on others. I love the messages of love, peace and hope. IMO, a leap is faith is separate and a private matter. In trying to be non-religious, sometimes stores here play the same secular Christmas songs over and over. I get sick of hearing the same secular songs, so I skip over them at home to play all the religious carols.:) Many European countries don't have this same heightened sensitivity, nor its reactionary response of forced Christ-mas. Healthier to be respectful, yet relaxed.
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