Christmas is veritably encompassed in mystery and mythology, its traditions encased by a variegated shroud of fantasy and fiction. Essentially, this begs the question: what then concerning the Christmas season is true and what is not?
From our youth, our parents have told us that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birthday, yet we know that he was actually born sometime in April. The 25th of December actually originated as a pagan holiday and was adopted by the Christians in order to attract proselytes, or something to that effect. But this not the only Christmas mystery which merits debunking. Here are some others.
Three wise men visited the Christ child: The Christmas story often includes the visitation of the three wise men from the East who came bearing gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold. The Bible makes the type of presents delivered extremely clear, and consequently many have tried to solve this algebraically: 3 presents = 3 wise men. But how do we know for sure that there were only three wise men? Why could there not have been more? Perhaps there were six or nine or more who came. But there were only three presents given, you argue, angry to have someone disturbing so traditional a paradigm. But perhaps there were not three presents; perhaps there were three types or categories of presents. If that is indeed the case, it stands to reason that the wise men could have brought duplicate presents or variations within each category.
Wise Man #1: "Well, guys, I bought a new Scentsy warmer and a bar of that special-smelling wax to put on it. The saleswoman called it FrankinScentsy."
Wise Man #2: "You know, I bought that one too. My wife works for them, you know, and she recommended it. Smells really nice."
Wise Man #1: "Why didn't you buy him a box of myrrh?"
Wise Man #2: "Wise Man #3 told me he was getting that."
Wise Man #4: "I just decided on a simple gold chain for the Child."
Wise Man #5: "Well, I'm giving him my collection of gold coins. And, Wise Man #4, I would try something a little fancier than that gold chain; it looks a lot like A-Team memorabilia."
Wise Man #4: "Maybe you're right, Wise Man #4. I'll get him a set of five gold rings, just like that one song says."
Wise Man #3: "Wow, this myrrh is strong. I hope he likes it, though. It came in a combo pack with a miniature incense burner."
It is more blessed to give than to receive: 'Tis an old saying. Lots of people, famous and infamous, have said it. However, the two actually function as a coordinate pair. While giving presents is certainly a nice thing to do, receiving presents gives those around us the opportunity to express their affection and love. Therefore, just as it is service to give a gift at Christmas, so too is it service to allow our fellowmen to receive the blessings of God and kharma for their generosity toward us. Simply put, it is just as blessed to give as to receive.
Santa Claus comes at midnight: I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve watching "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"; Santa never showed up. However, in the morning, it was evident that he had come at some time during the night. This leads me to believe that not only does Santa come only when children are in bed and asleep but he also has Christmas Eve surveillance teams tracking the children. Truly, George Orwell might as well have written this as the last line of 1984: "He loved Santa Claus."
Naughty children get lumps of coal: Wrong. Naughty children get just as many toys as the good children, if not more so, generally because their parents are caught in a cycle of buying the children's good behavior, which leads to expectations of receiving things, which leads to disappointment and bad behavior when expectation is not met, which must again be resolved with further bribery. If more lumps of coal were distributed, perhaps the naughty children might realize the error of their ways and return to the light. Simple fact: the less coal is given, the more it will likely be needed.
Rudolph is the always the leader in Santa's troupe of flying reindeer: Actually, that only happened one time. After that Christmas was over, Rudolph became so conceited that he was the only reindeer around with a built-in fog light that Santa made him the main course at the next elf barbecue, had his head stuffed, and mounted it on top of a giant candy cane. Consequently, "Rudolph with [his] nose so bright" became the town's first traffic light (he couldn't do anything but give the yield signal, but he still went down in history. Like Columbus you know).
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