| Crosswords: Just Another Day |
By Richard Prow ~ rpcrosswords@gmail.com
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Every year, at this time of year, there are a number of activities certain to take place. Trees of all sizes and shapes will be ushered into our homes for a brief respite from the cold only to be returned to their natural environment a few days or weeks later. People who feel more fortunate will make their way to soup kitchens and homeless shelters to help meet the needs of those less fortunate. New brightly colored outfits will be donned for one time before being relegated to the closet for another year or possibly forever. Tons of cardboard will be recycled. Diets will begin. And Christians will complain about Christmas being to commercialized.
We have a right to complain. Christmas is too commercialized. The trees are bigger. The lights are more numerous. The gifts have become more expensive. The true meaning of Christmas has been overshadowed by age old traditions and hyped up pageantry. But we’ve only ourselves to blame.
Along with Easter, we in the Christian community have made Christmas one of our “high holy days.” We mark the birth and death of Jesus with grand celebrations on these two super-charged holidays. The expectations of mass conversions and peace on earth are once again renewed. We bake birthday cakes and orchestrate stunning contatas. We want everyone and everything to stand up and take notice of our Savior. We want Christmas as well as Easter to be about Jesus.
Strangely, Christmas didn’t find it’s place in Christianity until somewhere around the 4th or 5th century. There was no excessive baking or tree trimming or wreath hanging to mark the birth of Christ until 400 or so years after His actual birth. No presents were exchanged. No carolers were dispatched. No candy canes were made. December the 25th was simply just another day.
It’s not that the early Christians didn’t celebrate the birth, death and resurrection of Christ before then. It was an ongoing exercise in the everyday life of the church. “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus One or even two days a year is not enough time to adequately tell others what God means to us. Feeding and caring for the poor needn’t be a bi-annual event. There shouldn’t have to be highlighted days on our calendars in order to find a sense of peace. Jesus, and His promise of grace and salvation to all who would accept it, should be celebrated every day. December 25th included.
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