Today is Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas. It marks the traditional end of the holiday season and the descent into the long and dull days of winter when there is very little to look forward to but the arrival of spring sometime in the months ahead. However, if you practice Eastern Orthodox Christianity, tomorrow is Christmas Day in the Gregorian Calendar. So at least Christmas isn't really over for some Christians. They, at least, if they live in this part of the country, will enjoy a white Christmas, something we didn't get to enjoy this past holiday season. The snows didn't really start to blow until just recently and these past few days, the Lake Erie snow machine has been going full force, with snow falling every day and more predicted in the coming days ahead. I don't know why it is that we so associate Christmas with having snow on the ground. I suspect that it has to do with the picture postcard image of Christmas, a cozy house on a cold and snow covered night with smoke coming out of the chimney, snow on the roof and on trees and bushes in the yard, a wreath on the door and a Christmas tree in the window. When you consider that Jesus was probably born in the spring in the Middle East, it's not likely that he ever saw snow in his lifetime. The whole White Christmas thing seems to be a marketing ploy by postcard and greeting card companies bent on selling a particular image of the holiday season, buttressed, of course, by the old favorite song, "White Christmas", probably something that added to the mystique of a snowfallen picture postcard Christmas. So if you are a practicing Eastern Orthodox Christian, allow me to wish you a Blessed Christmas, and for those of us who are on the Julian Calendar, well...it's the 12th day of Christmas and the traditional day to wrap up the holiday season by taking down trees, decorations, etc. and packing it all away for another year until the holidays are once again upon us after Thanksgiving in November. Farewell to another holiday season. Time to look inward and contemplate what good you can do in this new year, however big or small that may be. Long cold, dark winter nights will afford ample opportunity to do just that.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
On the 12th Day of Christmas
Today is Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas. It marks the traditional end of the holiday season and the descent into the long and dull days of winter when there is very little to look forward to but the arrival of spring sometime in the months ahead. However, if you practice Eastern Orthodox Christianity, tomorrow is Christmas Day in the Gregorian Calendar. So at least Christmas isn't really over for some Christians. They, at least, if they live in this part of the country, will enjoy a white Christmas, something we didn't get to enjoy this past holiday season. The snows didn't really start to blow until just recently and these past few days, the Lake Erie snow machine has been going full force, with snow falling every day and more predicted in the coming days ahead. I don't know why it is that we so associate Christmas with having snow on the ground. I suspect that it has to do with the picture postcard image of Christmas, a cozy house on a cold and snow covered night with smoke coming out of the chimney, snow on the roof and on trees and bushes in the yard, a wreath on the door and a Christmas tree in the window. When you consider that Jesus was probably born in the spring in the Middle East, it's not likely that he ever saw snow in his lifetime. The whole White Christmas thing seems to be a marketing ploy by postcard and greeting card companies bent on selling a particular image of the holiday season, buttressed, of course, by the old favorite song, "White Christmas", probably something that added to the mystique of a snowfallen picture postcard Christmas. So if you are a practicing Eastern Orthodox Christian, allow me to wish you a Blessed Christmas, and for those of us who are on the Julian Calendar, well...it's the 12th day of Christmas and the traditional day to wrap up the holiday season by taking down trees, decorations, etc. and packing it all away for another year until the holidays are once again upon us after Thanksgiving in November. Farewell to another holiday season. Time to look inward and contemplate what good you can do in this new year, however big or small that may be. Long cold, dark winter nights will afford ample opportunity to do just that.
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Most of the wintry imagery, including the Tannenbaum, that we have come to associate with Christmas is exported from Germany. But you probably already knew that!
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