By Dr. Harold Pease, Ph.D.
It was in the eighth grade when I moved from Santa to Christ as my main focus of Christmas. I remember well the star saturated night when the heavens overwhelmingly testified to me of God’s awesomeness. I could almost feel the words of my favorite Christmas carol “Silent Night” go deep into my soul as never before as I both sang and pondered its words. Perhaps it was the scenic nativity-like setting where I found myself hand milking my neighbors cow while he was away for a week. The three-sided shed allowed my gaze into the dark but star-lite, cold, cloudless night enabling my peak into the heavens. It was Christmas Eve and I was alone with Christ. It could not have been more impressive and it was the same every night for the week of Christmas.
I never had that experience again in the same way but I always had an intense love for the carols that spoke of His birth: “Oh Holy Night,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Joy to the World,” and “The First Noel.” They were just different somehow—far more powerful than regular jingles. My background was not particularly unique for the time period. Santa was there for the children but he never competed with Christ for the spotlight. The transition to Christ just followed with maturity. Years followed years, I had children and now they have children and, because of home and church the songs have passed on as they had for hundreds of years before. But, unfortunately, this does not happen for everyone.
Today the earth is still bathed with happy songs but radio stations ever more infrequently play the ageless Christ-birth songs: “Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains,” “With Wondering Awe,” “Away in the Manger,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Outdoor nativity decorations are virtually non-existent unless you make your own. Even indoor nativity scenes are hard to find. Stores have almost nothing to purchase that speaks to this Holy Night. We have removed Christ—the source of all light and truth—from Christmas.
There are no television shows or movies that address Nativity themes but Hollywood never really did much in this direction anyway, the “Waltons” or “Little House on the Prairie” were the exceptions, but then again that was in an earlier generation. There is no Nativity symbolism on television programs today. Everything is “feel good,” like, I found a new love on Christmas, or Santa related. Even the Grinch is given more attention than Christ.
Almost all references to Christ have been removed from our schools and teachers dare not encourage the singing of traditional Christmas carols, although any tune without the mention of Jesus Christ is encouraged. A culture that did not know the words of “Silent Night,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “Joy to the World,” or, “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful” would have been unheard of in my day, but is the norm today. Only the churches and homes give any exposure to Christ in Christmas, as was so for me and generations before me. Sadly some churches may give more emphasis to Santa than Christ. Neither churches nor communities have Nativity plays as once they did.
The reason for the season is Jesus Christ, that is why the event is called Christ-mas but few homes show any evidence that He is center placed. Someone once said that we are all “Inn Keepers” to the extent we allow Christ in our lives. Unfortunately there is no room in the Inn for too many. Most Americans consider themselves unchurched (a term for those without religious affiliation) so the incentive to read, tell or act out the “Old Story” is mostly gone. Seemingly each generation transfers to the next less of Christ in Christmas.
Today some few want to turn Christmas into Winter Break and Easter into Spring Break, undermining both. It is not the break they object to but the name. No one seems to object to the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, or any other holiday—only the holiday with Christ’s name associated with it. We were founded as a Christian nation; so what if some object, everyone gets the same break!! The undermining of Christ’s special day is endless and seemingly intentional. The result is an increasingly darkened world ethically and morally.
Why not change to a traditional Christmas this Christmas season, like generations before. In your home play mostly the traditional Christ centered songs. Instead of a Santa or reindeer in your front yard, make a nativity scene. Take yourself or family to a church service. Find a service that will speak of that special night and rehearse the events of that most special day. Go caroling to shut-ins or to a nursing home. Read to your friends and loved ones on Christmas Eve the story of the birth of Jesus Christ—the one believed by all Christians to be the Savior of the world. If you have children let them act it out. Give Christ a few hours of your month. Greet everyone with Merry Christmas. You will never be sorry that you took this challenge. Then you will not be an accomplice in removing Christ from Christmas and will join those who wonder why anyone would want to.
Most will never have a special moment in a shed milking a cow on a cold starry night as I did as a 14 year-old boy but this same special feeling will find a way of filling every soul that will allow “room in the Inn” for Christ, just as intensely in its own way. Those with a relationship with Jesus Christ recognize it more easily than those without. The days before Christmas are the most special days in the year as though the planet had been dusted by angels. It has. There is noticeably more giving, sharing, kindness and sacrifice for others. Thoughts of others and gratitude fill the air. Non-Christians too benefit from these attributes.
Merry Christmas to my appreciative readers around the world.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org Column # 693.
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