Here’s a repost from last Christmas from Dad’s (Don Tschirhart’s) book. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday no matter what our ‘dear leader’ does to mess up our peace of mind. Don’t let him . . . We are better than that . . .
Merry Christmas. Happy Kwanza, Happy Holiday, Happy belated Hanukkah, Happy Birthday George Washington, (I’m sure I missed some celebration for the coming week) to all my friends and family,
This story shows dad’s deep convictions and his awesome grasp of History. This is a wonderful time of year and I hope everyone is celebrating as they see fit. And don’t worry about what you call it. Bombastic proclamations don’t change the way we think of or celebrate the season.
With love, to all of my family and friends,
MerryHappy KwanzaChristmasHanukkahBirthdayHolidayEtc,
Love to all,
David T
p.s. Comments are very much appreciated.You can write comments and like or dislike below each story.
“Christmas Has Long Tradition”
By Don Tschirhart
Excerpted from the unpublished book “It’s a Wonderful World II: A Retired Reporter Looks At Life“
Christmas Has Long Tradition
An acquaintance stopped me the other day and I wished him a Merry Christmas. He frowned and said, “Hell! I wish Christmas were over with. All you hear is Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.”
I said, “How sad you aren’t enjoying this wondrous season. Didn’t you know Christmas is the reward for all the good deeds we do during the year.”
His comment got me to thinking. I wonder how many people don’t have any idea what Christmas is all about. I’ve been told that 55 percent of Lapeer County residents are “un-churched.” Whether that means they don’t attend church or don’t believe in the reason why there are churches, is anyone’s guess.
Well, for those ‘churched’ and ‘un-churched’, those atheists, those who are depressed,. For those who don’t know. And all good people. May I give you a little history lesson?
While many people think that all Nazarenes, as early Christians were called, celebrated the birth of Jesus the Christ on December 25 from the time of Resurrection, they are wrong.
The most reliable source — the New Testament — doesn’t give a date for the event, according to Sacred Origins of Profound Things by Charles Panati, but it probably occurred in the Spring, not winter.
Saint Luke tells us in his Gospel that shepherds were “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” But shepherds guarded their flocks day and night only at lambing time, in the spring. In winter, the sheep were kept in corrals, unwatched.
For two centuries after Jesus’ birth, no one knew, and few people cared, exactly when he was born. Birthdays were unimportant then; death days counted. Besides, Jesus was divine and his natural birth was deliberately played down.
It was in the early fourth century that the Nativity became important and the date set. It was a smart move by Church fathers, who wished to eclipse the December 25 celebration of a popular and rival Roman pagan religion, Mithraism.
Author Panati says that on December 25, pagan Romans, still in the majority in the early fourth century, celebrated Natalis Solis Invicti, “Birthday of the Invincible Sun God” — Mithras. The cult originated in Persia and moved to Rome in the first century B.C. In the year 274 A.D. it was so popular that Emperor Aurelian proclaimed it the official state religion and it threatened Christianity.
Now what do we do,Church fathers asked. Everyone liked the pagan-celebrated festivals — wine, women and song, not necessarily in that order — and Church fathers racked their brains for something that might soft-pedal the pagan feast.
Finally someone came up with the idea to offer Christians, especially converts, a church celebration recognizing Jesus’ birth. To offer head-on competition to the sun worshipers’ popular feast, the Church located the Nativity on December 25.
The Nativity feast would be observed characteristically prayerful: a Mass, in fact, Christ’s Mass. Today, of course, Christians put these words together to call the day Christmas.
A theologian in 320 A.D. wrote: “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.”
The Christmas celebration took hold in the Western world in 337 when the Roman Emperor Constantine, who had been converted to Christianity, united the Crown and the Church.
St. Francis of Assisi popularized the Christmas crib or crèche in his celebration of the Nativity in Greccio, Italy, in 1223. Francis used wooden figures of Mary, Joseph and the infant, sheep and shepherds, to build a stable scene starting a tradition popular today.
So you can see, my unhappy friend and you Lapeer ‘un-churched’, the feast of Christmas has a long and beautiful history, and deserves to be honored by everyone.
And isn’t it wonderful that the nation’s radio and television stations and all the merchandise stores whether owned by Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and yes, even atheists, play seasonal music heralding and giving free advertising to the Christ Child’s birth and a hoped for peace on earth.
To my friend who poo-poohed Christmas and to all those ‘un-churched’ people out there in Lapeer-land I invite you to attend one of the county’s many churches this Christmas Eve or Day.
May the spirit of the Nativity rub off on you and uplift your life during the coming year, 2004.
Don Tschirhart
