Why Christmas Came a Little Early This Year

Like me, you probably noticed the Christmas season started a little early this year. Shattered and shuttered by COVID’s impact on our lives, the symbols of Christmas sprang up across our community almost immediately following Halloween. Perhaps even you put up your Christmas tree and hung lights before Thanksgiving.

According to a Denver Post article on November 19^th, home decorators were busy by early November, spending more time and money than ever to get a “dose of light and happiness…” One Vail, Colorado resident was quoted as saying, “Why…would you wait any longer? Everybody needs the cheer now.” Even the Grinch might have had second thoughts about stealing Christmas this year, if he'd thought about it at all. 

What is it about Christmas that brings a light of hope to the human heart?

The word Christmas literally means Christ mass. The liturgical church refers to it as the Feast of the Nativity, commemorating the birth of Christ. Yet billions of non-Christians also celebrate Christmas as a cultural event—a time of peace on earth and goodwill towards men—a dazzling display of charity and good cheer when relatives gather and gifts are given. Parties and revelry often follow these occasions.

But did you know that Christians have not always celebrated Christmas? The early church never considered it. Jesus never mandated it, and no specific date of his birth was ever mentioned in Scripture. Instead, they concentrated on the arrival of the Magi and the events surrounding his resurrection, looking forward to his return.

The first time Roman records show a celebration of Christ’s birth is in 336 A.D. and December 25^th became established several decades later. Devout Christians then and now scoff, since the greater likelihood of shepherds abiding in the fields watching their flocks by night puts Jesus’ birth sometime during the spring. Still, some have suggested the church chose the date to coincide with Roman pagan festivals to convince Rome to accept Christianity as its official religion, though further scholarship places this in doubt.

Regardless, Emperor Constantine eventually claimed Christianity and sanctioned it as the official religion. The celebration of Christmas spread throughout the western world, though some Christians, i.e. the Armenians, retained Epiphany (January 6, the visitation of the Magi) and Jesus’ resurrection as more important.

By Medieval times, various pagan and secular practices were added to the celebration of Christmas. These include the Nordic yuletide and gift-giving in the tradition of the fourth century Saint Nicholas. Evergreen boughs that once had been used to decorate homes and temples in pagan ceremonies to honor the gods of the sun and agriculture were brought into homes as garland and decorated Christmas trees. The Reformer Martin Luther is credited with adding lighted candles to the branches.

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony--Hamill House Georgetown, CO

Christmas Yule Log for Dessert

In addition, Christmas took on a raucous tone. Celebrants attended church, then returned home to drunken parties. Moreover, the rich delivered themselves of their decadence and debauchery by giving to the poor.

None of these traditions honored or gave tribute to Jesus.

To refocus attention on the purpose of Christmas, Francis of Assis created the first manger scene or crèche in 1223 A.D.—a living nativity with Mary and Joseph and the Christ child that also included an ox and a donkey. In time statues replaced people, and shepherds and three kings were added, though this was not completely accurate, since the Magi hadn’t arrived until almost two years later.

Modern Day Crèche  

By the seventeenth century, the celebration of Christmas had become so entwined with the profane that Oliver Cromwell in England and the Puritans in America banned it, saying it defiled the true Gospel message. The Scottish Parliament even outlawed the observance of Christmas between 1637 and 1690. The United States didn't make it a federal holiday until 1870.

In the United States throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, commercialism seems to have overshadowed any semblance of religious celebration. Many Christians today have adopted the tradition of opening gifts on Christmas Eve, as Martin Luther did in the 16th century, and reserve Christmas Day to honor Jesus' birth.

So, what is it about Christmas that has led it down a bumpy road, and yet, it seems to be the brightest star in the lives of multiples of millions this year, whether Christian or not? Could it be that in spite of pagan symbols, underneath national tensions, overtop a virulent disease a higher truth transcends and gives us hope for a better future?

In Christmas, we find hope in God, who came to earth as a human baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, whose mission was to be the Savior, the Light of the world. In him, the Bible says, there is no end to his government or of peace, and he will uphold it with justice and righteousness (Isaiah 9:7). It's what we all long for, and it's what he promises he will do.

Original Nativity as Francis of Assis Envisioned

Perhaps, just perhaps, this turbulent year has made us take another look at the promise Christmas offers to a world that is broken and hurting.

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What Is This Christmas Celebration Called Advent About Anyway?

Since Christmas is just around the corner, I thought it only fitting to give tribute to the season and why we celebrate Christmas. So, I’m switching things up for the next few weeks. My emphasis is on the history behind Christmas and its celebrations. Today, I’m looking at the Christian Church’s celebration of Advent.

Celebrating Advent has been a family tradition for me, since I was a young child. I remember sitting around the Christmas tree with my mom and dad, lighting the Advent wreath, reading a devotion, and singing Christmas Carols. The Christmas carol book we used still survives, though the pages separated from their spine long ago. Jim and I have continued the tradition of Advent in our home over the last thirty-six years. 

Wichelman Christmas Wreath 2020

 Donna's Christmas Carol Book Music Sheets 

What is the Christian tradition of Advent? The word comes from the Latin adventus, translated from the Greek parousia, which means “coming” or “arrival.” It is a month-long, daily focus that begins four Sundays before Christmas and anticipates the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. The celebration is an ancient custom, dating back to the early centuries of the Church, though fixing an exact date is difficult.

We know Christians celebrated Advent as early as the 4^th century in Spain and Gaul (France), and probably the rest of Europe. An official mention of Advent occurs at the Council of Sargossa (380 AD) to give a counter-argument to the heretical philosophy of Gnosticism and established once and for all the incarnation—the conception of the divine Son of God, born to a virgin girl, who lived on earth in bodily form. Thus, it affirmed the understanding of Jesus as both the divine (the Son of God) and human (the son of man or humanity).

In the 5^th and 6^th centuries, we find references, establishing dedicated fasts and readings for devout worshippers, though it seems Advent hadn’t yet been given a specific connection to Christmas. It’s also believed Advent prepared new Christians for baptism at the January feast of Epiphany—the celebration of the Magi’s visit to the baby Jesus.

It wasn’t until the 6^th century that a strong connection had been made between Advent and Christmas. By that time, Roman Christians celebrated Advent as the “coming” of Christ but linked it to his second coming—his glorious return to the world, when he will establish his reign as King of kings and Lord of lords (think Handel’s Halleluiah Chorus) upon the earth.

Only in the Middle Ages was Advent also linked to Jesus’s first coming at Christmas. Many of our modern traditions developed during this time—particularly lighting Advent wreaths and keeping Advent calendars.

Wooden Advent Calendar: a 19th Century German Tradition

Advent wreaths were originally made from evergreen, bundled in a circular shape, on which candles were lit. Traditionally, there are four candles—three purple, symbolizing hope, peace, and love; and one rose to symbolize joy. A fifth white candle is often added inside the wreath and lit on Christmas Day to symbolize Jesus’s birth. If you grew up in a traditional church, most likely your church used an Advent wreath and lit candles each of the four Sundays before Christmas. Today, a variety of shapes and elaborate designs have become acceptable as well as various color candles on the wreaths. 

A Hanging Christmas Wreath 

Star-shaped Advent Wreath

In recent decades, Christians of all denominations across the planet have donned the celebration, recognizing the importance of Advent. It reminds us that in the midst of secular and consumeristic tendencies of our day, the importance of Christmas rests primarily on our hope in Christ. We are an expectant people; not only do we celebrate Jesus’s first coming as Savior, but we await his triumphant return when all will be made right in a broken and troubled world. Our cry is, "Come, Lord Jesus!"

 

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3 Facts You May Not Know About The Titanic

No one can argue the significance of that fateful night on April 14, 1912 when the Titanic went down in history as one of the most tragic ship wrecks of all time. The enormity of it—the sequence of events, the intricacies of the lives of those who survived and those who did not, the dynamics of how the ship sank—has captured the fascination of scientists, the imagination of writers and film makers, and the allure of you and me alike.

The Titanic first caught our daughter’s attention in second grade. Later that summer, we visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and toured Titanic’s traveling display. As we entered, everyone received a ticket with the name of a real person who had been aboard ship. At the end, we looked for our names on a wall containing all 2,240 passengers and crew to find out if they had been one of the fortunate 706 “souls” who’d survived. Stephanie and I had survived. My husband had not--a staggering and sobering thought.

Ticket for Passage on the Titanic

Over the years, we’ve attended the traveling display again in Denver, an hour from our home, watched documentaries, and seen James Cameron’s movie, starring Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet—and enthralling film, though still less fact than fiction.

Separating fact from fiction can be tricky, given conflicting accounts, recent advancements in science and technology, and the tendency to romanticize the dramatic events in books and film. Still, you may be surprised to learn some little-known trivia.

First, the Titianic made two Ports of Call after leaving Southhampton, England with 1,647 passengers. In Cherbourg, France twenty-four people disembarked and 281 more boarded. The second and last Port of Call was Queenstown, Ireland, renamed Cobh in 1920. At Cobh (pronounced cove), seven passengers left the ship—a Jesuit priest and a family named Odell—and 123 passengers came on ship.

In 2009, we visited Cobh where the Titanic Trail, led by Dr. Michael Martin, still lures tourists today. The trail has made Cobh one of Ireland’s top tourist destinations, and provides a provocative walking tour of its role in the unfolding of the Titantic’s journey.

Cobh's Waterfront Park

Cobh's Historic Titanic Pier 

Memorial Plaque

Titanic Trail Brochure

Cobh is also the second largest natural harbor in the world. Therefore, it played a great part in sending off emigrant ships for America between the 1830s and the early twentieth century, many of whom ended up in Colorado’s mining camps. Some of Titanic’s third-class passengers who died were emigrants, hoping for a better life in America. Incidentally, my protagonist, Anna O’Sullivan in A Song of Deliverance, took the boat from Queenstown to America in 1872 before settling in Georgetown, Colorado.

Cobh's Natural Harbor

Another well documented story involves Margaret (aka Molly) Brown’s undertaking to keep Titanic’s passengers calm as they got into lifeboats. Though The Unsinkable Molly Brown, bears little fact, the production’s popularity shot Molly to greater prominence than she’d had before as a socialite and wealthy wife of a Colorado mining baron.

Born in Missouri to Irish immigrants in 1867, Molly moved to Leadville, Colorado, sixty miles from Georgetown, hoping to catch a wealthy miner. She met and married James Joseph Brown in 1886, where a huge population of Irish immigrants had settled, though he had little more than she did, having also been born of poor Irish immigrants.

 But fate would be on Molly’s side, since J.J. had determined to make something of himself and, over time, made his mining fortune in Colorado. J.J. and Molly moved to Denver in 1894, and included members of the Brown and Tobin families in their mining and philanthropic endeavors. The Molly Brown House Museum in Denver is open to the public and includes history about Molly’s experiences on the Titanic.

Molly Brown House Museum, Denver

I have to admit that I’m tempted to add a little historical fiction of my own to the Titanic story. I suspect that at some point, Molly and Anna met in the late nineteenth century, having come from Irish descent and marrying mining moguls in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It would make for another good historical fiction series, don’t you think?  

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