Not everyone celebrates Christmas. We are all learning not\nto be culturally myopic. Sometimes it\u2019s a little forced, with Hannukah and the\nlate comer Kwanzaa getting a lot of attention without having very many\ncelebrants in a particular region. Still, I want to encourage everyone to\ncelebrate in their own way to match their values and culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone observes solstice though. You might forget it\u2019s\nhappening but the world turns with or without you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All cultures from all times have observed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, it\u2019s because the of solstice winter observances\nthat Christmas landed where it did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rome, as an empire, knew that it needed to build a big tent\nfor its many conquered people. The Romans became Catholic and were working out\nthe details when Pope Julius the first declared the date of Jesus birth as\nDecember 25th<\/sup>. It was another layer of paint on the traditions that each\nconquered culture already celebrated. Also, it was a toe in the door for\nChristianity to be celebrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n America was weird about it. The pilgrims wanted a NEW\nEngland, not the old crappy England with its church and holidays. They frowned\nupon Christmas, and Boston even outlawed it for a while. Those Puritans were no\nfun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n But not everyone came over on the Mayflower. Captain John\nSmith (was that his real name? Come ON!) came to America to have a good time.\nHe was from Jamestown, a totally different kind of place and their New England\nincluded parties and servants (ahem..slaves<\/em>) to support the festivities\non any holiday they chose to celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christmas was a personal choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But why let a good party go to waste? Washington Irving\n(pillar of American Literature) wrote a story<\/a> about how\nEngland celebrated Christmas. America had swung around to liking England and\nthese fictional reminisces made Christmas seem like a good time for Americans. An\nAmerican minister wrote \u201cTwas the night before Christmas\u201d only a few years\nafter Irving\u2019s story. It took a little longer for marketing people to cast\nSanta as Jesus\u2019 a co-star in this event. It was the Coca-Cola people who gave\nhim THEIR color as his signature outfit a hundred years ago. He may have top\nbilling now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The long cold nights invite are asking to be lightened up by\nwhatever we\u2019ve got. My American traditions have borrowed from it all, and I\u2019m\nhappy to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am glad to have traditions to share with my family and\nfriends. It\u2019s fun to know where they came from, learn new ones and tell stories\nabout how things used to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a cozy time of year. Happy Holidays everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not everyone celebrates Christmas. We are all learning not to be culturally myopic. Sometimes it\u2019s a little forced, with Hannukah and the late comer Kwanzaa getting a lot of attention without having very many celebrants in a particular region. Still, … Continue reading