It was odd that some of these items have special meaning to Christians but even the holiday itself has been removed enough from it true meaning that hotels feel free to display the decorations without offending anyone.
I realize that this is probably not where you intended this thread to go,
but I'm going to make a few statements and let my opinions lay on the table:
I've often seen how "Christmas" ( a day that has been, traditionally, set aside to remember the Saviour's birth ) has been watered down to being about gifts and celebrating the giving of them, even to the point of avoiding calling it "CHRIST-mas" and re-naming it "X-Mas".
Like everything else this world hates, even a
day with His name on it gets despised in one form or the other ( try getting most of those in the non-religious West to call "Sunday", "Domingo" ( "Lord's Day" in Spanish ), and I think you'll see where I'm going
)
IMO, to the world-at-large, it's just another day to eat, drink and be merry, like Thanksgiving has become ( a day originally set aside by the "Pilgrims" to celebrate the Lord's providence to them at the founding of Plymouth Colony ).
But until relatively recently, I hadn't even considered where the holiday really came from:
Well over a thousand years of built-up tradition that was, most probably, instituted by what would later become the Roman Catholic Church.
Many "holidays" were introduced that way, from my perspective...most of which are not celebrated nationally, here in America.
Yes, I believe that many of those who celebrate "Christmas" do so with an understanding that they are celebrating Christ's birth, and I don't see any reason that we as believers absolutely shouldn't.
But to associate it with the old Roman Feast of Saturnalia, which took place on the same day?
Hmm...
OK, if that's what people want to do.
I, personally, prefer not to celebrate it... but to me, it's one of those areas that I'm not going to separate over.
Ultimately, this is one of those occasions that I have to step back and allow God to convince His children of the merits of, one way or the other.
In a rough sense, I adhere to this when it comes to religious holidays:
Romans 14:4-12.
As for why the rest of the world downplays Christ's birth, life, death, burial and resurrection?
Because they don't see any day that is dedicated to the Lord, as being important to them.
May God bless you this new year, and on into many more.
