I had to wait until after Christmas before blogging about this because I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s party, lest someone else (other than me) lived his/her whole life not knowing this little trivia about Christmas.
It became known to me the pagan origins of Christmas during Pastor Dave’s preaching last Sunday. Having heard it for the first time (yes, at 30 years old I had been blissfully oblivious), I was challenged to Google it and do some further reading. And just like Pastor Dave warned we would feel if we dared read up on it, I was truly disappointed.
For a moment there it felt like everything I believed about December 25 as a child was ruined. (Just for a moment.) How would I be able to teach Dawn & Rain to sing “happy birthday Jesus” on Christmas day now? That the birthday of Jesus is not exactly December 25 was easier to accept and something I’ve heard of before. But that Christmas day historically involved traditions of ungodliness, lawlessness, and occultism is something I was never used to hearing.
There was a fleeting moment of disbelief, and maybe even doubt. Why have we been celebrating the birth of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, on this day then? How could it be that this sacred celebration be in the same category as all of these age-old pagan activities?
The disappointment lasted only for a moment, and was quickly followed by an epiphany: What a wise and brilliant God we have! Nothing is an accident to Him.
Jesus Christ was born to redeem mankind, and, in retrospect, He also redeemed Christmas day. What used to be a God-less tradition became a celebration of everything beautiful—love, joy, peace, goodwill, humble beginnings. Come to think of it, that is exactly why Jesus was born in the first place.
Suddenly, it’s nice to know the real story behind December 25. Suddenly, the real meaning of Christmas is even deeper than I grew up believing.
