Christ·mas
[kris-muh
s] Show IPA
lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman." Obviously, as Rome became "Christian" under Emperor Constantine, this tradition gradually changed over the year (many many years) and had its back and forth moment, but eventually Christmas, as we know it, came around to the holiday that we celebrate today.I guess what surprises me most in how both conservative and liberal groups get so bent out of shape. Seriously, how can you hate something or someone or the idea of something or someone? Lack of forgiveness is the pathway to eternal imprisonment.
To challenge our Christian friends who are so animate about protecting our freedom religions, I would encourage them to take a step back to our founding fathers and to our founding universities (schools like Harvard and Stanford and so on, when students had to be fluent in Latin and had to defend and define their relationship with Jesus Christ). Don't get me wrong, there are always times that we have a right to fight (defending our constitutional rights is very important), we just need to find Jesus in all that we do.
Let me ask a question this way: Do we celebrate Jesus once a year (Christmas), twice a year (Easter?) or everyday of our life. Let's put it this way: How many of us Christians practice Coram Deo. Everything under the Sun is under God and He is over everything. Do we, Christians who profess Jesus Christ as Savior, live our lives each day with Jesus with us (in us through His Holy Spirit)?
How about this, instead of pointing to the light of Jesus once or twice or a few times a year....why don't we let our light shine everyday of the year. The transforming power of Jesus's birth, death and resurrection is our daily process of sanctification in becoming more like Him and less like us. To tell the world about him with how we live our lives daily.
Your thoughts?
Blessings,
Dante