Since the Stone Age the Winter Solstice has been celebrated. From the 21st of December the nights become shorter. The days become longer. After living through the winter months, people were glad of the good news of summer getting closer and so they celebrated. Sophisticated stone henges were built near Amesbury on Salisbury Plain and Avebury in Wiltshire, which acted like calendars. At the time of the Winter Solstice, the sun predictably shines through the appropriate stones. There were celebrations to welcome the longer day. There were songs sung and one of these was the now famous Holly and the Ivy, which was associated with winter thanksgiving. The song developed into a carol when the Christian missionaries arrived in England. They took over the solstice celebrations and turned then gradually into the Christmas festival that we all know today.
The Holly and the Ivy was taken to be a representation of the red holly berries being the blood of Christ and the pointed leaves of the Ivy being a reference to the crown of thorns that was put on his head. It seems inappropriate to sing of Jesus’s crucifixion when celebrating the joyous birth of a pure and innocent baby boy. Mary, his mother, bore him in love as a gift from God to the created world. The celebrations at Bethlehem are well known with the visit of the Three Wise Men, who were guided by that star in the East to worship this child and bring him gifts. It is a story of joy and celebration. Even today we give presents to our loved ones and friends in memory of this action by the Persian astronomers, who followed that star to worship the child Jesus, as we should all be led to do.
A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship. It is often with a dance or a popular character. The word comes from the French carole, a circle dance accompanied by singers. A carol was a happy dancing song of celebration for festivals. Later there were special carols written for Christmas and special Carol Festivals. A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is a gift to all people, everywhere, who wish to share in it, most famously from King’s College, Cambridge. It should be mentioned that we often use the red berries of the Holly as well as the green Ivy leaves for decorations. This makes our homes more colorful and happy as we celebrate the traditional twelve days of Christmas. Christians who celebrate the Twelve Days may give gifts on each of them, with each of the Twelve Days representing a wish for a corresponding month of the new year. They may feast on traditional foods and otherwise celebrate the entire time through to the morning of the Solemnity of Epiphany.
However, in recent years this buying of presents has become a commercial necessity in the High Streets of the world, now taken over to a large extent by online buying. It is a sad reflection on the way the world views it’s actions by the amount of money that they spend rather than the love and harmony of everyday life. The birth of Jesus Christ should be celebrated each and every day. His teachings to us all can’t be put back in the box after the Christmas celebrations. We need to live our lives through his example of loving our fellow man, sharing what we have together for the greater good. What is important about Christmas is the remembrance of the earthly birth of a small child, born to humble parents in love. The life of Jesus was all about love. His examples to us all must be recognized if we are to have any successful futures on this earth plane. We need to act with positivity and negate all negativity that is infecting our lives and give thanks for the trust that Jesus gives us each and every day.
Saturday, 29th May 2021
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