“I have told you
these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)
The first Sunday in December, I began a month-long series
of blog posts about the symbols and traditions of the Christmas season. You
might think that it was fun doing all that research – and it was, to a point.
But actually I read about a lot of things which really bothered me. On top of
that, a pastor told me the origins of the peace symbol from the sixties. All in
all, I found out things I really didn’t want to know.
Sometimes, I like to wear my Pollyanna glasses, believe in
the best in people, believe that good always triumphs over evil, believe that
more people will be saved in the end times than will go to hell. I guess I just
don’t want to think of those bad things. And though I know that God will reign victorious
in the end, I am scared by all the mess we will make of this world before then.
‘Sigh’. Ok, here’s what’s up. Did you know that most Christmas
traditions, even the date of December 25, has origins in pagan beliefs and rituals?
These aren’t just secular things, which have no connection to Christianity;
these were folks who worshiped satan, performed human sacrifices and
participated in all sorts of hedonistic activities.
One example is the seemingly innocent mistletoe. It is
supposed to possess mystical powers which bring good luck to the household and
wards off evil spirits. Druid priests used it in their sacrifices to the gods
and Celtic people thought it possessed miraculous healing powers. It supposedly
not only cured diseases, but could also render poisons harmless, make humans
and animals prolific, keep one safe from witchcraft, protect the house from
ghosts and even make them speak. Some of those claims sound pretty good, but how
is it going to protect me from witchcraft and ghosts? Only God can do that.
So, here’s the only thing that should matter to me. Jesus
was born in a humble stable some two thousand years ago to save all mankind, or
at least everyone who believes, and it doesn’t matter what day of the year that
occurred. We should celebrate his birth every day, right? And not focus so much
on the tree and the lights and the gift-giving and all the hoopla.
But here we are on New Year’s Eve, so I can put all the
hoopla behind me, right?
Well, if I thought there was a lot on the internet about
the bad places our Christmas traditions came from, I was really in for it when
I started reading about our New Year’s traditions. The whole idea of welcoming the
new year circled around making the gods happy. Originally the new year was celebrated
in the spring, the time of year for renewal and growth, and also the time to
really keep the gods happy so they would supply a good year’s crop. Eventually
the new year began being observed the first of January, because the name of
that month came from Janus, the Roman god of beginnings. Apparently, the only
way to honor Janus was through riotous excess and pleasure-seeking.
Things declined from there.
I’ve never been big on celebrating the New Year, I never
saw the point. And after reading all of this, I really don’t want to celebrate.
I look at the world we are living in and it makes me so
sad to see so many people turning from God in search of satisfying their own
pleasures. They don’t understand that God is okay with them having good, clean fun, that He wants them to be happy, but happiness
isn’t found just in this Earthly life.
But I will take heart. I know that God has got this
covered.
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