A bit of a look back today. As a classic film fan and lover of old Hollywood, this type of memorial strikes a chord. TCM always puts together a classy memorial reel, providing the most comprehensive look at the loss that film suffered in the past year.
It's interesting how we set a couple of chapters of the Bible aside to really only teach them once a year. We set aside everything to do with the birth of Jesus and reserve it for December. As if that were the only time we could learn from it.
It's odd, because we wouldn't recommend someone reading through the Bible in a year, or whatever period of time, set aside Matthew 2 and Luke 1-2 for December. Rather we would recommend they read it and study it when they come to it. For context and for understanding.
In that spirit, I've collected all of the posts that have focused on the birth of Jesus and the religious celebration around it into this summary post. It can serve as a reference point for me to jump back to and expand as the years progress and hopefully will prove useful to others as well.
May we not leave the power, the joy and wonder of the incarnation of the Holy Christ to one season a year.
Advent
The Nativity
Epiphany
"A manifestation of a divine or supernatural being; a moment of sudden revelation or insight."
Today marks Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. Twelfth Night has ended, and the magi have arrived. A celebration of the visit of the Magi to the Christ child, and the physical manifestation of Christ to the gentiles.
After today, the twelve days of Christmas are over and we enter Carnival. King Cake season. A celebration in preparation of the coming fast.
I think the Biblical account of the Magi provides us a blueprint for how to approach this new year with the appropriate viewpoint.
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 'In Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, 'for this is what the prophet has written:
'"But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel."'
What would it look like if we started the year with exceeding great joy, celebrating our encounter with the Messiah? If we brought Him the best gifts we can, that reflect His character. Gold celebrated His kingship, frankincense celebrated His deity, and myrrh celebrated His death. What would we bring, what aspect of His character would we celebrate?
That's our call in this season, in this new year. To rejoice with exceeding great joy.
There is also a warning in this passage. When the Magi question the leadership of Israel, it's clear that all the priests and scribes know what to look for, where the Messiah will be born. They have all the knowledge necessary to go and find him. But the Magi are the only ones who do. You would think some of those scribes would be curious enough to go and see if this is finally it, if the Messiah has arrived. But none leave their routine. None leave their pattern or comfort.
Don't get so stuck in your routine that you miss the miraculous around you.
Go forth, celebrate the season. Let's start the year with joy. And may we carry that spirit forward throughout the year.
Twelfth Night
Tonight marks the end of Christmastide. The Ghost of Christmas Present lives through midnight this evening, so may the spirit of the season still be with you. Tonight we feast. The decorations have all been left up, the lights are all on. We gather together to spread merriment and cheer.
It's a time to eat king cakes and rum cakes, and to drink wassail. It's also a time for the upending of the normal. Where the Lord of Misrule enjoys one last night of his reign, calling for songs, entertainment, and plays. Servants often dressed up as their masters, men as women and so forth.
It's this atmosphere Shakespeare captured in Twelfth Night, or What You Will. A comedy of errors and misunderstanding. Of mistaken identities. It's a celebration of love and joy and a fitting end to this holiday season.
"If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity 10
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical."
I pray this Christmastide has been a joyous season for you, that these Twelve Days of Christmas has been full of love and laughter, of exceeding great joy, and this new year has started well for you. May it continue in the days ahead.
Elizabeth Ann Seton
"Elizabeth Ann Seton is a saint. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is an American. All of us say this with special joy and with the intention of honoring the land and the nation from which she sprang forth as the first flower in the calendar of the saints. Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American! Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage."
For the eleventh day of Christmas, we honor the first person born in the United States to be canonized as a saint, Sister Elizabeth Ann Seton. This is the most recent celebration added to the twelve days of Christmas, marking the anniversary of her death.
Seton was a Catholic religious sister and educator, born August 28, 1774. Though married early in life, she was widowed by the age of twenty-nine, and from there turned to Catholicism and charitable work. She would go on to open the first Catholic girls' school in the nation and the first congregation of religious sisters in America. This religious congregation was dedicated to the care of the children of the poor. This was the first congregation of religious sisters founded in the United States, and its school was the first free Catholic school in America. This led her to be remembered as the founder of America's parochial school system, and earned her the title "Mother Seton."
Her modest work would spread to great affect. From her initial congregation, six separate religious congregations across the United States and Canada can trace their origins. Her name has been honored on hospitals, schools, and churches across the country. Seton Healthcare in Austin comes from Seton Infirmary founded by her Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph in St. Louis, Missouri, the first hospital west of the Mississippi River.
Her last words to her Sisters were "Be children of the Church."
That is good advice for us today.
And what does being the Church look like?
It means we are known for our love.
It means we loose the bonds of wickedness, we let the oppressed go free, we break every yoke.
It means we give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, take in the stranger, cloth the naked, look after the sick, and visit the imprisoned.
It means we do what is right, we love mercy, and live humbly before God.
May that spirit carry us into this new year.
May we be children of the Church.
The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus
"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus."
"But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel'
(which means, God with us)."
"But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."
Though often celebrated on January 1, or the Eighth Day of Christmas, today marks a celebration of the Holy Name of Jesus.
And what a name worth celebrating.
Jesus is derived from the Greek name Ἰησοῦς, a form of the Hebrew Yeshua or Joshua, meaning Yahweh saves, is salvation, is a saving-cry, is my help.
That Jesus is born is the good news of Christmas. That our salvation is born. That God saves. And that He is Emmanuel. God is with us. God cares for us. Our God saves.
Names matter in Hebrew culture. When a parent gives a child a name, the parent is giving the child a connection to previous generations. The parent is also making a statement about their hope for who their child will become. In this way, the name carries with it some identity for the child. This is why it was so striking that the angel would tell Mary what the child's name would be. He was asserting God's parentage and identifying the child for the world.
Our God saves indeed. He is worthy to be praised.
It's in His very name.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
There's just something about that name.
Master, Savior, Jesus,
Like the fragrance after the rain.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away
But there's something about that name.
Saint Basil the Great
It’s the beginning of the month, beginning of the year
Today, in many traditions, marks the Feast of St. Basil the Great of Caesarea, an influential Byzantine bishop from the mid-300s. Basil was an influential theologian in the early church, marked by his care for the poor and underprivileged. Though Basil was born into wealth, he gave away all of his possessions to the poor, the underprivileged, those in need, and children, forgoing luxury for the creation of the communal monastic life.
Because of his care for the needy, Basil in certain traditions even becomes the Santa Claus like figure of Christmastide. In Greece, on January 1, it is Saint Basil who brings gifts to children on Saint Basil's Day. On St Basil's Day vasilopita, a rich bread baked with a coin inside, is served, mimicking the actions of Basil as a bishop, wanting to distribute money to the poor and commissioning some women to bake sweetened bread, in which he arranged to place gold coins.
We talk a lot in Christmas about how it is a season of giving. And we do see some evidence of that fact. Nearly one third of all annual giving in the United States are made in December, with ten percent of all annual giving occurring in three days before New Year.
But there is still a bit of a disconnect. While we gave $309.66 billion in individual donations throughout 2019, we spent $707 billion in retail sales between November 1 and December 31, 2018 alone.
And we're at a time when the need is as great as ever. The latest data from the census indicates that roughly 13.4% of America is below the poverty line. This means that 42.5 million Americans live below the poverty line. Keep in mind, the United States poverty line is around $12,880 for individuals, $26,500 for a family of four. If you expand the criteria for those below, at, or near the poverty line, it can account for nearly half of all Americans. The amount of people living paycheck to paycheck, remains incredibly high. Meaning most families are just one sickness, one emergency, one inconvenience, one accident away from losing everything.
In the spirit of Saint Basil, perhaps we remember our calling.
"Is this not the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"
New Year's Day
Welcome to 2023. An opportunity to start a new chapter, a new story, a new verse.
It seems we are all in want of that lately. We want to shake off 2022 and all it brought and move back into brighter times. There's no reason a new start should limited to today alone, but the day and the occasion does make for a good transition.
In this season of resolutions, I pray you make them and work towards them. If nothing else, to try something new and different. Something you've always wanted to do. Be bold. Be daring. Shoot for the moon. Be wild and ambitious. But most of all be kind. If it's one thing I've observed and wished for my life, it is that we need more kindness in the world, especially now. Pure, unadulterated kindness. To view the whole world as our neighborhood. I hope to be a part of that change.
"Come, gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness." William Shakespeare
“New Day’s Lyric”
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren’t ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.
This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.
What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once all together beaten,
Now all together beat.
Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.
We heed this old spirit,
In a new day’s lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we’ve fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.
I think we need to go back to Watchnight. Late night services for Christians to review the year that has passed and make confession, and then prepare for the year ahead through prayer and resolutions. For many, this also carries a liberation component. Being set free. In remembrance of the African American congregants gathering December 31, 1862, expectantly waiting confirmation of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
That all seems particularly appropriate to reflect on this season, as 2022 has remained a year of change. Avalyn starting Third Grade. Jude starting Kindergarten. Jamie starting substitute teaching.
It has also been a marvelous time in seeing God's faithfulness, his provision, and his care.
The Feast of The Holy Family
"Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.' 'Why were you searching for me?' he asked. 'Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?' But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."
St. Thomas Beckett
On the fifth day of Christmas, we talk about murder. Specifically a murder that happened 851 years ago. The Murder in the Cathedral, when the king’s men, acting on the “suggestion” of King Henry II put Archbishop Thomas Beckett to death for his defiance of the king.
Becket had once been a trustee advisor to the king. He served as Lord Chancellor to King Henry and had even fostered the king’s son Henry as was the custom of the time. Becket as chancellor had focused on strengthening the secular governmental position. The expectation was that he would strengthen the tie between the church and the state with his appointment to Archbishop.
Becket, however, saw things differently. And saw the importance of a distinction between the church and the crown. He would repeatedly fight Henry on the jurisdiction of the English courts over church officials, the independence of the priests, and the influence of Rome. He became a fugitive and an exile to avoid the king’s ire.
Eventually it was a breach of protocol that proved to be the final straw. King Henry had the Bishops of York, London, and Salisbury crown the heir apparent in 1170. Seeing this as a flagrant disregard of his privilege as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Becket excommunicated all three of them in November 1170.
It’s in response to this excommunication we have the scene that has transcended history. When told the news, Henry is said to have replied to his men, “What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" Or perhaps more famously, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
His men saw this as a direct order and carried out the execution swiftly. On December 29, 1170, four of the king’s knights traveled to Canterbury to force Becket back to Winchester to account for his actions. From all accounts of the story, they left their weapons outside and only went back to retrieve them once Becket refused to accompany them. When the knights left to retrieve their weapons, the other monks at Canterbury tried to bolt the doors, but Becket refused. “It is not right to make a fortress out of the house of prayer!”
When the knights returned, they asked, “Where is Thomas Becket, traitor to King and country?” Becket replied, “I am no traitor and I am ready to die.” And with that, the knights went to work. It took several blows, but the Archbishop was murdered there on the cathedral floor, in a spot near a door to the monastic quarters, the stairs to the crypt, and the stairs to the quire.
“For the name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.”
Swiftly after his execution, Becket started being recognized as a martyr. And by 1173, he had been canonized as a saint by Pope Alexander III. December 29 has become his feast day.
We have a lot to learn from Becket today and in many ways are in large need of more religious leaders that will follow in his example.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention which part of his fight we can and should do without first. We have no need for the desire to keep church officials out of the secular court system. This has done nothing but create huge problems for the church throughout its existence. It is the ugly stain behind the Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention sexual abuse scandals on the macro level and the complicity in abuse of local churches at the micro level. When churches misuse and distort the doctrines of grace and repentance to cover up for abuse by keeping it as a matter for the church to govern, it is sin. Plain and simple. For believers, God instituted both government and the church, and gave specific purposes to each. To circumvent this system runs counter to his design.
What we do need, and need desperately, are religious leaders that will fight any erosion between church and state. That will fight to keep the church set apart, distinct, holy. That will not be swayed by the promise of power.
I’m sure there are pastors who believe they are standing in that gap. They are standing up to the current “corrupt” government in their eyes. They may even chuckle or more at minced epitaphs like “Let’s go Brandon.”
It’s easy to oppose something when it’s not your side.
But how many of those same leaders were calling out the actions of the previous administration when they were improper? How many leaders are still trying to curry favor with that president in hopes of his return to office and the power and influence it will bring? How many religious leaders sold their souls for Supreme Court Justices?
Forget leaders, how many Christians sold their souls so their team could be in power?
No doubt there are leaders that are standing in the gap, making their opposition known and like Becket trying to keep the church set apart. But in our largest Protestant denomination, in the most “powerful” Christian block, the one closest to home, we are not seeing it.
Today, on the Feast of Thomas Becket, that should be a somber reflection.
“Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain:
Temptation shall not come in this kind again.
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”
"Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
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| Massacre of the Innocents by Léon Cogniet (1824) |
St. John the Apostle's Day
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
"It is God whom we adore at Bethlehem during Christmas time. Thus it was natural that St. John, the chief evangelist of the divinity of Christ, should be found beside the crib, to disclose the greatness of the Infant who reposes therein."
When I am a seeker,
I seek both night and day;
I seek the Lord to help me,
And He shows me the way:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.
He made me a watchman
Upon the city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.
Boxing Day, or the Feast of Stephen
Today, in many places with connections to the United Kingdom, is Boxing Day. Boxing in this instance refers to the practice of preparing a Christmas box typically for postmen, errand boys, and other servants, consisting of gifts and gratuities to them for their service throughout the year. It was given on the day after Christmas since they were most often having to work and serve on Christmas Day.
From growing up in the family business, I really appreciate Boxing Day. We always closed December 26 and enjoyed the day. It was our holiday, since we would be open for nearly a complete work day on Christmas Eve. We would take Christmas and the day after as our holidays because it impacted fewer customers.
Today is also Saint Stephen's Day. A celebration of the life of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, with a feast in his honor. And the Feast of Stephen makes me think of a Bohemian king.
Good King Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. Rex Iustus, the righteous king.
Wenceslas was considered a martyr and a saint immediately after his death, viewed as a monarch whose power stems mainly from his great piety, as well as from his vigor. “But his deeds I think you know better than I could tell you; for as is read in his Passion, no one doubts that, rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.”
Oh, if that could be said of us.
So in this time, when all the gifts have been given, and we are basking in what we have received, may we take time to remember the less fortunate, the poor, the widowed, the orphan, the imprisoned, and the low.
"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."
It's Christmas Eve. I pray you and yours have a wonderful night. May the night be spent with those you love and may the blessings of the season be upon you. May it be all you hope for, and all you need.
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes--how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."
It's a Festivus for the rest of us.
"On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..."
In preparation for the series of posts beginning December 25, I post this reminder of what the Twelve Days of Christmas actually refers to.
You may have noticed many businesses and organizations refer to a Twelve Days of Christmas celebration or sale now. Some schools even started marking the Twelve Days of Christmas at the beginning of December, because they were only going to be to school twelve days in December before Christmas break.
Without proper context, you would think this could be an accurate use of the term. The modern Christmas season has come to be defined officially as the period from Black Friday after Thanksgiving through Christmas Day. Unofficially, it seems to begin the day after Halloween, or All Saints Day. This is largely because the economic component of Christmas is so important, so the focus has shifted to the shopping related days before Christmas. We can promote this shopping season through decoration, through music, through events leading into Christmas Day, and then get everyone to return their focus to work and productivity after that one singular day.
But, while this might be our modern focus, we know this is not the proper usage, nor the correct time period for the Twelve Days.
This specific period of time starts on Christmas Day and then continues through Epiphany. There is some debate as to whether day one starts on Christmas Day and then finishes the day before Epiphany, or whether the twelve day period starts on the day after Christmas and then includes Epiphany at the end. Either way Christmas Day on December 25 and Epiphany on January 6 mark the bounds of the Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Christmastide or Twelvetide.
Those two bounds would be the markers because it reflects the entirety of the Nativity of Christ. Christmas Day would celebrate the birth and the stable. The shepherds arriving, angels appearing, and the spreading of the gospel. Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, would mark the arrival of the Magi, completing the Nativity story.
The origins of this practice date back to 567 AD, where the Council of Tours proclaimed this twelve day period between Christmas Day and Epiphany as a sacred and festive season. Advent, or the weeks leading into Christmas, would be the more somber and reflective preparation for the feast. But Christmastide or Twelvetide would be the celebration and the feast.
With that in mind, traditionally, decorations for Christmas, like the Christmas tree, would not go up until Christmas Eve and then would remain up through the celebration. They would only be taken down between Twelfth Night, the eve of January 5, and the morning of Epiphany, January 6.
Likewise, gifts may have been given each of the twelve days of this period. This provides the inspiration for the song. Despite what you may have read, the song is not a catechism song, with encoded symbols for Christian theology. The symbols can be seen, but could be done with any gifts assigned to the numbers. In other words, the numbers there are all that matter. Rather, the origins of the song are more likely simply in a children's memory and forfeit song, given the cumulative nature of the verses. It would be sung and repeated to see which child forgot one of the gifts first.
Over time, celebrations have developed for each of the twelve days, whether they are feasts for the saints, or more secular and traditional holidays. I've included a snapshot below for each of the celebrations, and will be writing about each day this season starting on Christmas Day.
A celebratory season indeed. And an opportunity for a lot that we in our faith forget over the Christmas story.
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Luke 2:13-14
Peace on earth.
It’s such a nice concept, and it is fairly ubiquitous at this time of year. We sing hymns and carols about it. We’ll hear sermons on it. Send Christmas cards with its message. But we have to question ourselves – do we really practice it?
Do we really believe in peace on earth?
For followers of the Christ child, the answer should be an emphatic yes. If Christ is the Prince of Peace, and we are to be Christ-like (literally what Christian means), then we should be the first to practice peace. Agents of Peace, if you will. And not just in this Christmas season, when we wish everyone “peace on earth, goodwill toward men” as the angels did so long ago, but in each and every season.
How then do we practice peace?
First, and perhaps most importantly, we recognize that it starts with us. It starts internally.
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.”
Romans 12:18-21
The verse in Romans is so telling about our responsibility to peace, because it reminds us that in large part, it does depend on us. “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” Peace is not someone else’s responsibility. It is each and every one of our responsibility to be a person of peace. To seek peace. Not to simply avoid conflict, not to force peace through strength of will or of might, but to truly seek peace, to seek harmony, to seek wholeness.
It's why there can’t be an “us versus them” mentality among believers. There can’t be an enemy other than Satan – the real adversary. We can’t be against Democrats, or Republicans, or the LGBTQ community, or the NRA, or etc, or etc. Insert whatever group you want in here. There can’t even be enmity between believers and non-believers. Why? Because any and every person is just someone we’re called to show love toward.
It's important to understand the distinction in what I’m saying above and what I’m not saying. I’m not saying we have to agree with everyone on this planet. I’m not saying we have to approve of every message that we hear.
I am, though, saying, the moment that we stop seeing any person as unworthy of God’s love, we’ve failed. And we’ve stopped being part of the peace on earth that we seek. We can’t demonize an individual or a group of people because of our disagreement or opposition. If we follow Paul’s words above, and Jesus’ example, it’s those people we’re called to love even harder. Going the extra mile.
“And in despair I bowed my head;
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;
‘For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Secondly, it’s important that we recognize that the pursuit of peace is worthwhile even if we will never be able to attain it on our own. The struggle for peace here on earth is a worthwhile pursuit in and of itself.
I fully recognize that we will not see true and complete peace on earth until the Prince of Peace returns. Human beings naturally come into conflict. Just look at my children trying to play a video game together in a cooperative mode. We will not see an end to all conflict, a pervasive inner calm, a level of acceptance and harmony; we will not see no more tears, no more pain, no more night, until sin is removed from this world.
That does not remove our responsibility to try and make this world a better place while we are hear. It doesn’t remove the commands to love others, including our “enemies.” We as Christians should be known as people of peace. The first to love. The first to run in and care for others. The first to bring peace.
Indeed, let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with us.
So, this season, I ask you to look internally and ask if peace is starting with you. I pray that you are at peace, that you know peace, and that you will seek peace. I pray, that even if for just a moment, we will have peace on earth.
That would be a Merry Christmas indeed.
And a great gift for the Prince of Peace.
“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
