Reclaiming Christmas

I think it is important in this gluttonous haze of Thanksgivoweenmas to ruminate a bit on the true meaning of Christmas as it pertains to the Christian calendar.

I know this may be shocking to some, and maybe even disturbing. But yes, western culture has Christmas all wrong. We put up or Christmas trees at Thanksgiving and sing carols all through what is supposed to be Advent, and then Christmas arrives and boom! Everything is taken down on the 26th (or later for those slackers).

This, my friends, is wacked out. Christmas celebrated the birth of Christ! It is not merely a one day event! It is a 12 day event that started on the 25th and ends on the 6th of January (Epiphany). The twelve days of Christmas! Real Christmas, not the packaged and wrapped gift getting orgy we celebrate on the 25th and then begin counting the shopping days until next year!

This is my first installment of Christmas according to the Church calendar. So, Enjoy Advent! Christmas is right around the corner, Charlie Brown!

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