The True Meaning of Christmas

Posted on December 16, 2005 by me

I could write about politics again, but today I’ll write about Christmas. First, let me say that I generally don’t like to mix my faith with my holidays. True, that’s somewhat oxymoronic, seeing that “holiday” is morphed from “holy day,” and Christmas is, of course, “Christ’s mass.” I, of course, don’t mind that the story of Jesus’ birth is central to the holiday.

In spite of the various non-Christian traditions that have become part of the holiday and the materialistic obsessions that make it so attractive to the secular world, Christmas is unarguably, unavoidably, and essentially a Christian celebration. I tend to agree with John Gibson that there seems to be a “war on Christmas,” at least as to its Christian roots. It’s not the holiday, per se, it’s just that “men loved the darkness rather than the light.”

So, on one hand, I tend to be almost militant concerning the Christian essence of the Christmas holiday, in spite of my prior assertion that I don’t like to mix my faith with my holidays. I do not deny that I am at times a conflicted individual, as much as I try to be consistent about what I believe; however, I don’t think this is a conflict as much as it is a matter of scope.

On the broad scope, Christmas, along with Santa & the whole deal, is fundamentally about Jesus’ birth. “Happy Holidays,” to me, means Christmas & New Year’s Day. They’re the only 2 holidays I celebrate at this time of year.

However, on a more personal level, I see nothing spiritually significant about the day. I realize that he probably wasn’t born in December, and there’s no mention of snow anywhere in the Gospels that I can see. I do not feel any need to read the Christmas story (Linus does such a good job, I see no reason to attempt to top it) on Christmas day, or force my kids to do anything spiritual before opening gifts.

You see, Jesus is already an integral part of our lives. We can’t be any more “spiritual” on Christmas day than on Halloween (yeah, we trick or treat, too…). I appreciate the fact that Christianity is the reason Christmas is such a big deal, but it seems to me that to try to be more spiritual on Christmas would just be hypocritical. So, we don’t try to be.

Paul says in Romans 14:5, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” So, I don’t fault those who find some special significance in Christmas, but I feel free to just enjoy all of the trappings of Christmas, as self-indulgent as they are.

This year, as most of us have realized by now, Christmas day is on Sunday, and a few churches such as Willowcreek have cancelled services so people can spend time with their families. This move has caused some debate, as you would expect (I’m not going to weigh in on this one – surprised?). Our church is having an abbreviated service, and I haven’t decided if I will go or not.

So, the true meaning of Christmas? Certainly, you can’t ignore its Christian foundation, but other than that, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”

Posted in Random Thoughts, Spiritual stuff | 1 Comment

Defining Victory

Posted on December 15, 2005 by me

The great liberal cry is now, “Define victory, define victory!” Last night on Hannity & Colmes, this was the only intelligible thing Alan Colmes could say to Newt Gingrich. He said it as though this was the key to Bush’s destruction.

Give me a break. Why, now, are liberals all of a sudden concerned about definitions? Clinton couldn’t even define “is,” and no one even bothered to ask him about it.

It would, perhaps, help if the loudmouths on the left would take a few minutes and actually listen. Or perhaps read. Thinking would also be a worthwhile pastime.

Today, estimates are that over 70% of Iraq’s registered voters – about 11 million people – turned out to vote in the parliamentary election, with minimal violence. The Sunnis, who boycotted the first election, turned out in such large numbers that they ran out of ballots in some places, and voting hours were extended due to the long lines of people still waiting to vote. By the way, I don’t think the U.S. has ever had such a turnout for a national election. (It’s amazing to me that the Iraqis, most of whom don’t really understand democracy yet, seem to care more about it than many Americans. About half of Americans don’t bother to vote, even without the threat of violence.)

Amazing, by any stretch of the imagination. I would call this a success. I would even go so far as to call this a “victory.”

Now, compare this to the start of America’s government. Anyone know how long it was before we had a constitution? We have this crazy notion that our founding fathers all loved each other, and agreed on everything, and that our constitution was welcomed with open arms. It’s not true, you know. My son, who just finished reading a biography of Alexander Hamilton, remarked that the founding fathers “were all jerks.” America, indeed, has had its share of rough spots in becoming a democracy.

The election today is a victory, and even the liberal press has to admit it (though they will refuse to use the word). I’m sure there will be more rough spots ahead for Iraq, but that doesn’t diminish what has been accomplished today.

Posted in Politics/Current Events | 2 Comments

So this is Christmas…

Posted on December 12, 2005 by me

Christmas tree lights in motionFirst, this post is not a tribute to John Lennon, who, IMHO, was totally out of touch with reality, possibly a result of way too much LSD, or way too much of Yoko, herself out of touch with reality. The first line of “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” just sticks in my head, that’s all. Other than that, it’s an empty, hopeless, completely out of touch Christmas song.

All this to say, I have posted (or riposted?) an old Christmas story of mine on Small Voices, called “An Angel’s Christmas Story.” Check it out, it’s quite good…. 😉

Posted in Random Thoughts | Leave a comment

St. George’s Castle at Elmina

Posted on December 1, 2005 by me

St. George's Castle at Elmina
As I have mentioned in prior posts (click on the “Ghana Experience” link on the sidebar for the rest of the Ghana series), we didn’t have much time for touristy stuff during our visit to Ghana. However, our 2-day trip to the Central Region allowed for a small bit of sight-seeing, allowing us to spend a bit of time on the beach, and to tour the famous Elmina Castle, also known as St. George’s Castle, in the port city of Elmina. Me at the entrance to the Castle

The Castle was built by the Portuguese in 1472 (that’s 20 years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue…) to protect their gold mining activities, back when the Gold Coast got its nickname. Elmina means “the mine.” Besides gold, the castle became a major trading post for ivory, salt and other items. In 1637 the Dutch captured the fort, and eventually it became the African headquarters of the Dutch West Indies Company.

One of the Slave cellsSt. George’s Castle is known as a “slaving” castle because the slave trade eventually replaced that of gold and other items as the primary export, and the store rooms were converted to holding cells, where humans were crowded in like cattle. It was quite interesting to learn that it was some of the African tribes themselves who first introduced the Europeans to the slave trade, which apparently went back to the time of the Romans. It was apparently not uncommon for warring tribes to sell their captives as slaves, and as I understand it, began trading their slaves, as well as criminals that they wanted to get rid of, to the Europeans in exchange for items brought in from Europe. Elmina was not the largest slave-trading location, but is the oldest such castle in Ghana.

cell barsThe castle – as a structure – is amazing, and the view is breathtaking. However, seeing the small holding cells where humans were kept in terrible conditions before being shipped out in even worse conditions was sobering, to say the least. It is always horrifying to consider the cruelties that men can inflict on other human beings. In many rooms the original iron bars are still in place, and you can see the supports for the loading dock still standing in the water.

Castle courtyard & churchIn the center of the castle, in plain sight of the cells, stands a church, constructed by the Dutch. Our tour guide – who was obviously not a Christian – pointed out on a number of occasions this hypocrisy. It is indeed hard to imagine how someone could consider themselves a Christian and participate in that kind of abuse. We were taken into the cells and through the passageways to the “door of no return” that the slaves would have gone through on their way to the loading docks – those that survived, that is.

What really impressed me, both here and wherever we went in Ghana, was the lack of racial tension. Here we had a black tour guide speaking to a group that included a handful of whites, including at us 3 Americans and a Dutch couple (recall the Dutch did most of the slave trading from this castle). However, I never felt the same kind of racial tension that I think I would have felt on a similar tour in the States. It was truly remarkable. I had wondered what it would be like, being the obvious minority. In Ghana, I never really felt that I was a minority.

two of the original cannons The architecture and textures of the castle itself is wonderful – and just to touch anything that old is pretty amazing, especially for someone from the relatively young American western coast. If you can separate the magnificence of the castle itself apart from its history with the slave trade, it is a very impressive and beautiful place. As I said earlier, some of the iron bars are original, as are the cannons. The castle has been restored as a tourist site within the last 20 years or so, and as with all tourist attractions, even has a small gift shop.

I would have loved to have spent more time at Elmina, as there is more to see. Maybe next time.

I have put a few more pictures from the Castle in the Ghana photo album, including one of a large compass in the courtyard in front of the castle which I understand is as old as the Castle itself.

Posted in The Ghana Experience | 1 Comment