Through the mouths of babes . . .
Merry Christmas.
Amidst all the excitement, may w all take a few moments to ponder the meaning of His birth so long ago and do our part to make the world a better place.
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Friday, December 12, 2008
Jesus: The Reason for the Season
Every year our elementary school has a Christmas Program—at least that’s what it used to be called. It’s now politically incorrect to refer to it as a Christmas Program. It was the Holiday Program for a few years but is now called the Winter Program.
When my oldest daughter was in 2nd grade, she played the part of Mary and we had a program based on the Nativity. It was, by far, the best program I’ve ever seen our elementary school perform. Since then, we’ve had shows about penguins, Hansel and Gretel (another daughter played Gretel), the Abominable Snowman (my son played that part), and coyotes. This year it’s about musicians and a Hopi myth. While I like to learn about other cultures, having a program about Hopi Indians, instead of the Nativity, during the Christmas season seems out of place to me.
Our elementary school shies away from anything religious. My question is always, “If our program isn’t about celebrating Christmas, why do it in December (one of the busiest months of the year)?” I have yet to receive an answer to that question.
I’ve noticed over the years that while many minority groups have enjoyed greater respect and inclusion (as they should), it’s been at the exclusion of Christian groups. Our school district bends over backwards to accommodate every group under the sun except Christian groups. We aren’t allowed to pray in school. My nephew was told by a teacher that he couldn’t pray at all in school, not even silently. He responded that he could pray anywhere, anytime and no one could stop him.
If we claim a belief in God, more and more people scoff at the idea. People have gone so far as to claim that Jesus is a myth and the whole Nativity story is fashioned after the story of the Egyptian God Horus. They say that the Christian believers made up the story of Jesus and wrote the Bible in an effort to perpetuate the myth. They claim the Bible has been fabricated and cannot be a reliable historic source because those who kept the records only did so to fool people into believing Jesus was born and then crucified for our sins.
The only way we can know if the story of the Christ child is real or fabricated is to receive our own witness of the truth. Once the Holy Ghost has witnessed to our spirit that Jesus did in fact walk the earth and then willingly laid down his life to atone for our sins, there is no room for discussion or alternate versions of reality. We must each receive that witness.
For me, I have no doubt that Jesus is the Christ. I have no doubt he was born into mortality, walked the earth, and then took upon him the sins of the world as he suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. How he did that, I don’t understand, but I have faith that he did. I’ve had my own witness.
It is his birth that we celebrate. May we all remember the reason for the season, proclaim our belief in the Savior, and enjoy a very merry and blessed Christmas.
Return to the neighborhood.
And while you're there, subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. Welcome to the yourLDSneighborhood newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the LDS newsletter brings you LDS articles, LDS products, LDS services, LDS resources and LDS interviews from around the world—all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. LDS Newsletter Subscriptions are FREE, and joining is easy.
When my oldest daughter was in 2nd grade, she played the part of Mary and we had a program based on the Nativity. It was, by far, the best program I’ve ever seen our elementary school perform. Since then, we’ve had shows about penguins, Hansel and Gretel (another daughter played Gretel), the Abominable Snowman (my son played that part), and coyotes. This year it’s about musicians and a Hopi myth. While I like to learn about other cultures, having a program about Hopi Indians, instead of the Nativity, during the Christmas season seems out of place to me.
Our elementary school shies away from anything religious. My question is always, “If our program isn’t about celebrating Christmas, why do it in December (one of the busiest months of the year)?” I have yet to receive an answer to that question.
I’ve noticed over the years that while many minority groups have enjoyed greater respect and inclusion (as they should), it’s been at the exclusion of Christian groups. Our school district bends over backwards to accommodate every group under the sun except Christian groups. We aren’t allowed to pray in school. My nephew was told by a teacher that he couldn’t pray at all in school, not even silently. He responded that he could pray anywhere, anytime and no one could stop him.
If we claim a belief in God, more and more people scoff at the idea. People have gone so far as to claim that Jesus is a myth and the whole Nativity story is fashioned after the story of the Egyptian God Horus. They say that the Christian believers made up the story of Jesus and wrote the Bible in an effort to perpetuate the myth. They claim the Bible has been fabricated and cannot be a reliable historic source because those who kept the records only did so to fool people into believing Jesus was born and then crucified for our sins.
The only way we can know if the story of the Christ child is real or fabricated is to receive our own witness of the truth. Once the Holy Ghost has witnessed to our spirit that Jesus did in fact walk the earth and then willingly laid down his life to atone for our sins, there is no room for discussion or alternate versions of reality. We must each receive that witness.
For me, I have no doubt that Jesus is the Christ. I have no doubt he was born into mortality, walked the earth, and then took upon him the sins of the world as he suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. How he did that, I don’t understand, but I have faith that he did. I’ve had my own witness.
It is his birth that we celebrate. May we all remember the reason for the season, proclaim our belief in the Savior, and enjoy a very merry and blessed Christmas.
Return to the neighborhood.
And while you're there, subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. Welcome to the yourLDSneighborhood newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the LDS newsletter brings you LDS articles, LDS products, LDS services, LDS resources and LDS interviews from around the world—all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. LDS Newsletter Subscriptions are FREE, and joining is easy.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Traditions
My two daughters were cast in, "Fiddler on the Roof," for the fall 2007 musical. It was an amazing production. Our high school program is extraordinary when it comes to theater productions and my kids have been very lucky to be able to participate in such an outstanding program. Tradition is the underlying theme in "Fiddler" and it explores how one man deals with daughters who no longer wish to adhere to their long established traditions. It's a powerful play.
We have many family traditions during this time of year. One of those is to decorate our tree the day after Thanksgiving. When I was a child, living with my grandparents, Grandma pulled out boxes and boxes of decorations the day after Thanksgiving and we decorated the house and the store-bought tree. We spent the entire day getting ready for Christmas. Grandma loved, loved, loved, Christmas and she went all out. She bought gifts all year long and was more excited than we were for us to open the gifts she'd purchased.
I never even considered the idea that others didn't decorate the way we did until I got married. My husband and his family actually trudged through the wilderness to pick out and then cut down their Christmas tree. They decorated for Christmas well into December and celebrated a more Christ-centered Christmas.
My husband and I both had traditions coming into our marriage. We compromised. Even though I had never met anyone who cut down their tree, we decided to adopt that tradition along with my family's tradition of decorating the day after Thanksgiving.
We've spent hours and hours in the mountains following my husband's search for just the right tree. You know, the one where the light shines down upon the tree and choruses of angels sing in the background. I've carried small babies, drug toddlers by my side, and picked up small children who couldn't hike one more step. Usually, the tree we (translate: my husband) find(s) is at least 3 miles from our vehicle so dragging it back to load it is always an adventure. Of course, our best, albeit unintentional, tradition is to drive into our garage with said tree on top of the vehicle and wedging the tree between the roof of the car and the garage door. Even when we've specifically talked about not driving into the garage with the tree still on top, we've still managed to do it.
A few years back, a beetle infested evergreen trees in our area. The beetles and the severe drought we encountered for several years both combined to destroy about 2/3 of the trees in our region. We have very few trees left on our property. We decided at that time that we just couldn't bring ourselves to cut down a live tree when so many had perished, so we purchased an artificial tree.
Our artificial tree is very nice, but it's not the same. It doesn't smell like a Christmas tree should and though it is pretty, it doesn't look like a real tree, either. So we've adapted our tradition of cutting down a tree. We did still decorate the day after Thanksgiving (no black Friday for me) and have continued our other traditions.
Another tradition is to wrap and place all the gifts under the tree soon after it's been decorated. I've wrapped presents like a madwoman over the last several days and they're all finally placed under the tree. My kids have squeezed, shaken, and otherwise tried to analyze each wrapped gift--one of their traditions. Every day the gifts are all in different places. (This year, I might have outsmarted them because all the gifts that might be "obvious" from their wrapping, I've saved and won't put out until late Christmas Eve--that may become my new tradition).
This time of year is filled with traditions. But like Tevye in, "Fiddler," I guess I'll have to be open to adjusting some of my traditions.
The best traditions we have, though, are those that remember the One who initiated the celebration. Without the Savior, not only would Christmas be meaningless but so would life.
We have many family traditions during this time of year. One of those is to decorate our tree the day after Thanksgiving. When I was a child, living with my grandparents, Grandma pulled out boxes and boxes of decorations the day after Thanksgiving and we decorated the house and the store-bought tree. We spent the entire day getting ready for Christmas. Grandma loved, loved, loved, Christmas and she went all out. She bought gifts all year long and was more excited than we were for us to open the gifts she'd purchased.
I never even considered the idea that others didn't decorate the way we did until I got married. My husband and his family actually trudged through the wilderness to pick out and then cut down their Christmas tree. They decorated for Christmas well into December and celebrated a more Christ-centered Christmas.
My husband and I both had traditions coming into our marriage. We compromised. Even though I had never met anyone who cut down their tree, we decided to adopt that tradition along with my family's tradition of decorating the day after Thanksgiving.
We've spent hours and hours in the mountains following my husband's search for just the right tree. You know, the one where the light shines down upon the tree and choruses of angels sing in the background. I've carried small babies, drug toddlers by my side, and picked up small children who couldn't hike one more step. Usually, the tree we (translate: my husband) find(s) is at least 3 miles from our vehicle so dragging it back to load it is always an adventure. Of course, our best, albeit unintentional, tradition is to drive into our garage with said tree on top of the vehicle and wedging the tree between the roof of the car and the garage door. Even when we've specifically talked about not driving into the garage with the tree still on top, we've still managed to do it.
A few years back, a beetle infested evergreen trees in our area. The beetles and the severe drought we encountered for several years both combined to destroy about 2/3 of the trees in our region. We have very few trees left on our property. We decided at that time that we just couldn't bring ourselves to cut down a live tree when so many had perished, so we purchased an artificial tree.
Our artificial tree is very nice, but it's not the same. It doesn't smell like a Christmas tree should and though it is pretty, it doesn't look like a real tree, either. So we've adapted our tradition of cutting down a tree. We did still decorate the day after Thanksgiving (no black Friday for me) and have continued our other traditions.
Another tradition is to wrap and place all the gifts under the tree soon after it's been decorated. I've wrapped presents like a madwoman over the last several days and they're all finally placed under the tree. My kids have squeezed, shaken, and otherwise tried to analyze each wrapped gift--one of their traditions. Every day the gifts are all in different places. (This year, I might have outsmarted them because all the gifts that might be "obvious" from their wrapping, I've saved and won't put out until late Christmas Eve--that may become my new tradition).
This time of year is filled with traditions. But like Tevye in, "Fiddler," I guess I'll have to be open to adjusting some of my traditions.
The best traditions we have, though, are those that remember the One who initiated the celebration. Without the Savior, not only would Christmas be meaningless but so would life.
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