Seven Things You May Not Know About Christmas

Trees…Saint Nick…and December 25

Seven Things You May Not Know About Christmas

Traditions are powerful things. The celebration of the birth of Christ is among some of the most long-standing and influential traditions in the world, even though they took several centuries to get up and going.

Traditions, however, are not static — they evolve over time and as cultures, languages, and societies change. Words and phrases that once had deep meaning no longer carry any contemporary meaning at all. Customs and rituals that once touched souls become tired practices of which people grow weary. Things that once held great significance get lost in the wave of progress, development, and contemporary concerns.

Christmas is no exception. It is our challenge as contemporary Christians to find ways to express the meaningfulness and significance of Christmas in ways that connect to the people in our time and place, wherever that may be. To do so, we need to know where our traditions came from, how they have developed, and how we can move forward — keeping some traditions intact, transforming other traditions as possible, and (perhaps) allowing some to be laid aside.