Well, it’s the 25th of December. If you’re a Christian or living in a largely Christian country, you’ll probably be celebrating Christmas in some way. Even for those of us who aren’t religious, this can be a very special time of year.
What probably started out as a simple celebration that we’d made it through the darkest days of the winter and were now heading towards the rebirth of spring has been adopted by every major western belief system and worked into their mythology since long before the birth of that influential carpenter in Bethlehem.
From the Pagans through the Ancient Romans to the Christians and now, arguably, those that worship at the altar of consumerism. We’ve allowed this time of year to be moulded into whatever philosophies we, as a culture, are exploring at that point in history.
We assign importance to those transient philosophies but we make them conform to a few simple aspects of the core celebration we’ve always enjoyed. These are the things that I think are truly important at this time of year. The timeless things that we can all see the value of, even those that don’t believe in virgin births.
Family, compassion, love, warmth, celebration and friendship. Those are the things that have always been the point to this midwinter celebration. We celebrate the embrace of family and friends in the face of the bitter cold that the world throws at us at this time (at least in the northern hemisphere, where these traditions were born). We find warmth in each other, even through the darkest days of winter. Whether it’s the Pagan Yule, Roman Saturnalia, Christian Christmas or any of the many other celebrations we’ve assigned.
So it doesn’t matter if you’re celebrating the birth of your Messiah, the cycle of nature, the God of agriculture or anything else. We wish you a very enjoyable December 25th and hope that you get to spend it with family and friends, doing what is perhaps the most important thing a human can do: feeling compassion and love for your fellow humans.
Happy Holidays.
fatefellshort
Happy holiday everyone! Thanks for the great article.
icuyesido
You’re lovely TSA, have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year.
ericzap
D’awwwwwwww. Thanks for this.
Dan Lee
Have a great day, everyone!
E8_BALL_
*merry christmas* enjoy
Beelzie14
Have an awesome Xmas TSAers. *rubs head after getting a slap from the Hangover Fairy*
DJ Judas
Merry Christmas! :)
Hur4d
Happy Holidays to all :)
4lf13
Merry Christmas to you all.
Zuler
What a lovely article. Merry Christmas guys, and let’s look forward to another great year :)