Jesus is the reason for the season.
Christmas, year-end celebrations, winter solstice observances in the northern hemisphere, Saturnalia –this time of year has drawn human communities together from ancient times. Some think such gatherings go back to Neolithic communities gathering at places like Stonehenge. Both ancient and contemporary people find in this annual seasonal change a reason to celebrate life, light, kinship and community.
The longest night of the year marks the transition to longer days even though winter has a long time to reign. Ancient Christians appropriated this tradition of celebration, the transition of dark to light, to celebrate the birth of Christ, the coming of light into the world (as it says in the prologue to the Gospel of John).
Celebrations are native to this season, but we are responsible for the celebration we make. Christians sometimes complain about the “over commercialization” of this holiday season we consider our own. Yet it has always been this way. Christmas competes with alternative festivities.
The early Puritan settlers in the colonies solved the problem of competition by making the observance of Christmas illegal. It was not a national holiday in the United States until after the Civil War. Over the centuries even in the United States, Christmas has changed.
So the reason for the season is a choice we make.
This year amidst the tinsel and trees, presents and feasts, we can choose to pray for peace.
Grace and Peace.
