Before I write anything else, I'd like to wish a Merry Christmas to all of my followers who celebrate either version (secular or religious) of Christmas.
I felt it was important to start out with this introduction for a couple of reasons. For starters, in the United States, Christmas seems to be a religious holiday that has taken a good deal of secular baggage. In some circles, the "secular baggage" has overshadowed what many to believe is the real "message" behind Christmas. For those who are not fans of Christmas, Halloween is also a holiday steeped in religious tradition, but which has also been usurped (or maybe just watered down).
In any event, I'm writing this primarily for my readers in Asia, who probably have NO understanding of what Christmas means. As you all should know by now, this blog's first mission is data and data analysis. Fully 10% of my readership is now in China, so I have to do a GREAT deal of thinking about this audience. I'm sorry to say that I don't have any Chinese friends; the closest I come to an Asian friend is an off-the-boat Japanese friend, and we rarely talk these days.
However, I know that the Christian Church is very strong in China, and I assume it is hard to share the Good News of Jesus Christ on a street corner in China. So, because I have a strong Chinese following (who may NOT know what Christmas is all about), I'm going to take a few paragraphs to try to communicate what "Christmas" means to a "Christian'; that is, a believer in Jesus Christ.
For starters, we don't believe in reincarnation. Some outside the faith have said that Christmas and Easter are examples of reincarnation.
Nope- do you celebrate your birthday or anniversary? In the Christian faith, it's fairly similar. We celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Jesus. Christmas- to a Christian- is nothing more than acknowledging (celebrating) the arrival of Jesus on Earth. To the rest of the world, there are all sorts of things which have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus- like Santa, Rudolph and shopping. If you have an understanding of a birthday celebration, then you should be able to see what Christmas is all about: it's merely our way of commemorating and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
Speaking of which, much has been made recently of the fact that Jesus' birth was not in December, but probably in a much warmer month. I think most Believers have little problem with this, as the Catholic Church is famous for doing all sorts of things to assimilate nonbelievers.
I guess that's all for now. Have a joy-joy Christmas!
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
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