Christmas Wishes

Love; Love; and Love – this is the backbone of Christianity. True Christians celebrate Christmas as a Festival of Joy; Co-operation; Co-ordination; Getting Together; and Rejoice as a crowd to express their love and affection towards one and all.

The ideal ways of celebrating Christmas are –

* Christmas Trees: Beautifully decorated Christmas Trees placed in front of your house, spread the joy of Christmas to passers-by. Unlike the olden days, when real Christmas Trees caused allergies to your pets and children, you can buy ready-made artificial Christmas Trees with full decoration of lighting. Place it till the New Year eve – your Christmas will be memorable.

* Observation of Religious Traditions: Most families attend Church and participate in the mass for all the 40 Advent Days leading upto Christmas. If not possible, don’t miss the Midnight Mass at your Church. A divine atmosphere with music and songs will go a long way in getting back your mental peace.

* Christmas Cards: Sending Christmas Cards is the best way of expressing your love to one and all. Some families send a group photo of all the family members, sign it and send across. You have excellent Christmas Cards freely available online. Make best use of them. The cards can be sent using the Season between Christmas and New Year.

* Gifts: During the entire festive season exchange of Gifts is most prevalent in the entire world. Select a Gift for each one of your family members and friends and enjoy the glee in their eyes when receiving. It is not the worth of the Gift that matter, but the Love and Affection behind it. Your children may be encouraged to prepare a Gift List – colorful, imaginative and writing why they want or how they deserve these Gifts – and let them send it to Santa Claus. You know when to give them when they are sleeping.

* Yankee Swaps: This is sharing Gifts among larger families and friends. Gathering at a place all the Gifts are put together, each member takes out a number from a hat and takes that numbered Gift. It will be great fun for two things – one you mingle with others happily and two you get a Gift.

* Food: Christmas celebration will never be complete without choice Dinner at home or a Restaurant. Better invite your friends for a happy dinner and relish the recipes joyfully in their company.

* Forgive and Forget: Christmas is an ideal occasion to regain friendship with estranged friends. Repent your action, if you have offended others in any way and you will become great by accepting your mistakes and asking for pardon. Similarly, forgive those who have offended you and extend your hand of amity again.

* Charity: When you are rejoicing with every one on the occasion of Christmas – remember your fellow human beings who can’t afford and give what you can for Charity. There is no other noble way of getting the Blessings of the Almighty.

Christmas on 25th December - why?

Christmas – the grand festival of millions of Christians the world over, on 25^th December every year. This year it falls coming Friday. But why 25^th December? Why not some other date? If you want answer for this question, you have to travel back in history.

Romans were the earliest race of Christianity. They were worshipping the Sun God. There were two festivals on 25^th December – natalis solis invicti – “birth of the unconquered sun”; the birthday of Mithras – “Sun of Righteousness” worshipped by Roman soldiers.

You will be interested to know that way back in the first three centuries of Christianity, there was no Christmas – what the world today celebrates as the Birth Day of Jesus Christ. Birth days were for Pagan Gods as noted by Origen – one of the Church leaders – who opposed celebrating the birthday of Jesus Christ. Celebrations related to the baptism of Christ Jesus on 6^th January. Even today old churches of North America celebrate Christmas on 6^th January only.

So the Roman Emperor Constantine declared Christianity as the favorite religion of Romans and Christmas is celebrated on 25^th December – in 336 A.D. In the 16^th century Pope Gregory devised a new Gregorian Calendar, as opposed to the Julian Calendar, all along been followed by the world. According to this Gregorian calendar, December 25^th is accepted to be the Birth Day of Jesus Christ.

Some argue – according to Bible Mother Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem amidst snow ( December being the Winter month) where Jesus Christ was born. On 25^th March (a special day for Christians called Annunciation Day) Mary was told that she will have a special baby – the Jesus. Exactly 9 months later on 25^th of December, there is every possibility of the child Jesus to have been born.

Whatever the reason, today’s generation celebrates Christmas on 25^th December, when at the midnight there is a Mass of Christ conducted in all the Churches. Christ Mass has become Christmas.

Snow storm hit US last week end

Christmas and Snow are inseparable, because it falls in December. This year however the Christmas in US is going to be abnormally white with snow. During last week end, many parts of the country encountered fierce snow storm. From Virginia down to New England, the storm was fierce to drop record snowfall – but thanks to week closing, commuters to work escaped the hassle.

Throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region, somewhere around two feet of snow got stuck, while the sky was mostly clear. Travelers in many cities, including Washington and Boston were stranded midway, making it hard to do Christmas shopping. At the US capital, it is going to be a holiday on Monday for federal government agencies due to snow.

US Senate convened as usual and dealt with US health care reform bill amidst this entire snow storm though.

Flight cancellations were rampant – delayed departures and arrivals were the order of the day at Washington area and the 3 Metropolitan airports of New York.

Statistically this snow storm has left some high marks on record: Reagan National Airport outside Washington – 16 inches of snow on Saturday, most ever recorded for a single December day; Baltimore-Washington area – largest snowstorm since February 2003; Medford, New Jersey 24 inches – a new record; Philadelphia 23.2 inches – second largest since 1884; and at T.F. Green Airport, Warwick the 13.4 inches on Sunday, eclipsed its previous record of 6.3 inches in 1995. At Upton, Long Island, it was 26.3 inches, an all time record since 1949.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was enthusiastic in encouraging holiday visitors and residents to enjoy the Broadway show while roads, subways and train services had a tough time submerged in the snow. A Merry Christmas but a Snowy Christmas, the US ever had.

Thinking of it Christmas is a universal festival of joy.  Irrespective of language barriers in the East and West, this is celebrated with the same enthusiasm, which no other festival can match. Japanese, Chinese, Indian, African or the Arabian countries do have their own festivities in innumerable numbers and varieties, but none of them have this much of world fame as Christmas has.  Though Christmas was started religiously to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, 25th of December has become known with latest traditions of Santa Clause, or “Santa” in short for the Americans, as a day of love, friendship, and affection to be showered among people and rejoicing together.

More precisely, every Christmas is remembered till the next year, by this smiling old man with a white beard, clad in red and white cloth, carrying a sack on his shoulders, full of gifts – Santa Clause.  Tracing the legend of Santa, you will come across a lot of stories, with no authentic proof, other than the common belief of people for generations, that the Lord give us presents on this happy occasion and we should be thankful to Him.

Most popular among them is – the Dutch tradition in New Amsterdam (New York) gave birth to the origin of Santa Clause, otherwise known as St. Nicholas – the Dutch version of the name being Sint Klass. The myths go to describe Santa elaborately – he is from a home located in North Pole; he uses a vehicle pulled by eight winged and flying reindeers including Rudolph, the reindeer, which has red-nose; he travels the world and enters every home through the chimney (one wonders what he will do in the latest model houses where there is no chimney!) and he has the habit to fill socks or stockings with lot of presents exactly on the night of 24th December.

Behind these descriptions, there is the picture of Santa Clause by the world-famous painter of Thomas Nast, who took the basics of the popular Christmas Poem by Clement C. Moore – “A visit from St. Nicholas” – written as a family poem for his kids in 1823. That is how the present world comes to know of this great old man Santa and recognized instantly by the kids the world over, the latest decorations in dress and designs notwithstanding.

Interestingly, all the different cults of St. Nicholas or Santa bringing gifts to kids on the night of 24th , centers around love and affection and expression of warmth in Old Catholics; Christian and Pagan; Dutch; Scandinavian; English and German, though with minor variations.  This mythical character is vividly remembered by one and all as a friend of the children to give away presents during the festive season.

In Greek Santa is known as Hagios Nikolos (Bishop of Myra); in China Santa is known as Shengdan Laoren; in England he is Father Christmas (of course with a longer coat and beard); in France popular as Pere Noel; in Germany he is Christindl, the Christmas Child; in Spanish countries, Costa Rica, Columbia and some parts of Mexico, kids recognize him as el Nino Jesus “the infant Jesus”, in Brazil and Peru the Christmas Santa is known as Papa Noel.

Father Christmas Santa is fondly called in Italy, Spain, Portugal and majority Latin American nations as – Babbo Natale; Morocco people call him Black Peter; for Japanese elders he is just Santa, but for the kids he is “Santa no Ojisan” meaning “Uncle Santa”. Sweden greets Santa on the evening before Christmas as “Jultomten” and the bag of gifts he carries is “julklappar”; Father Christmas namely “Pa Norsk” visits on the eve of Christmas in the name “Julenissen” in Norway; Netherland people call him Kerstman and in Finland he is “Joulupukki”.

Dutch people still call him with latest changes – Sinter Klass; for the Russians he is the Grandfather Frost known as “ded moroz” and he is also famous as “Kris Kringle”, originating from the German term Christ Kind or Christ Child.

The so popular Christmas Santa is taking innumerable “avatars” in the media for advertising their products, on the eve of Christmas, and in the Internet he is very useful for the creativity of artists and animations to show him just as the right symbol of Merry Christmas.  The message Santa propagates is very clear -“Love Thy Neighbor” and this is most ideal for netizens – the word population has been brought by the Internet as your next door neighbor.  So why not send a Christmas Gift to your “net neighbor” with a picture of Santa?