A Christmas Poem

A Christmas Alphabet

A is for Animals who shared the stable.
B is for the Babe with their manger for cradle.
C is for the Carols so blithe and so gay.
D for December, the twenty-fifth day.
E for the Eve when we're all so excited.
F for the Fun when the tree's at last lighted.
G is the Goose which you know is fat.
H for the Holly you stick in your hat.
I for the Ive that clings to the wall.
J is for Jesus, the cause of it all.
K for the Kindness begot by this feast.
L is the Light shining way in the east.
M for the Mistletoe, all green and white.
N for the Noels we sing Christmas night.
O for the Oxen, the first to adore Him.
P for the Presents Wise Men laid before Him.
Q for the Queerness that this should have been
     Near two thousand years before you were seen.
R for the Reindeer leaping the roofs.
S for the Stockings that Santa Claus stuffs.
T for the Toys, the Tinsel, the Tree.
U is for Us - the whole family.
V is for Visitors bringing us cheer.
W is Welcome to the happy New Year.
X Y Z bother me! All I can say,
     Is this the end of my Christmas lay.
     So now to you all, wherever you be,
     A merry, merry Christmas, and many may you see!

Author Unknown

From Christmas Poems, Stories and Carols
Random House Value Publishing Inc., 1995.

Christmas - The birth of Jesus or something else

Christmas is coming. Are you ready for it? Ready for the family dinners, the twinkling tree, and the exchanging of gifts? Or are the images you carry overcrowded stores, angry/rude people and Black Friday Madness?

Our culture has the made the holiday into the most popular toys, latest electronic gadgets and companies watching the ka-ching of their cash registers.

Churches have made it about pageants, musical choirs and nativity scenes complete with a huge star.

The solstice is celebrated by others with the drumming up of the sun. 

Question is, what is Christmas really about? Given the various examples it would depend on whom you asked.

Our modern Christmas trees come from German tradition.

The giving of gifts DID NOT originate with the gifts the magi gave to the Christ child. It comes from the presenting of gifts to a pagan god during the Solstice. It was adapted and changed by the Catholic church.

Fact. It is too cold in the middle east for sheep to be out grazing during December. It is more likely, or so it is speculated, that Jesus was born sometime in September.

The huge star was actually a series of planetary conjunctions noted by many cultures. The Jewish people did not watch the heavens and therefore didn't know what was going on. Another reason Herod had no idea what the magi were talking about. Not to mention Mary and Joseph were living in a house when the gifts were presented. Not the stable as is commonly shown.

The story of the birth of Jesus has had a great deal of mythology added to it. Not to mention at no point does Peter, Paul or any of the followers of Christ say we should make a holiday out of our savior's birth.

So what is Christmas really? Should it really be a celebrated holiday or is it simply a tradition that is a mix of many cultures with roots no one really wants to look at? And what will it morph into in the future?