“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control. Against such things there is no law” – The Holy Bible
The magical season of the year
The best time of the year…
When everyone comes home…
With all this Christmas cheer…
It’s hard to be alone…
Putting up the Christmas tree…
With friends who come around…
It’s so much fun…
When Christmas comes to town!!
Yeah people get ready for some awesome surprises as the Holy month of Christmas have arrived and it is just around the corner to bring more smiles, happiness & prosperity in your life. Just as the Christmas festivity is so mystical, the tale behind this divine celebration is much more beautiful & magical.
The Christmas Tale
A long time ago in the place called Nazareth, God sent an Angel named “Gabriel” to a young woman who lived in the northern town of Nazareth. The girl’s name was “Mary” and she was engaged to marry “Joseph”.
The angel “Gabriel” Said to “Mary”, God has blessed you and is pleased with you. Mary was very surprised by this and wondered what the angel meant. The angel said to her ‘Don’t be afraid, God has been very kind to you. You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a baby boy and you will call him Jesus. He will be God’s own Son and his kingdom will never end.’ Mary was very afraid but she trusted God. ‘Let it happen as God chooses.’ she replied to the angel.
The angel “Gabriel” Said to “Mary”, God has blessed you and is pleased with you. Mary was very surprised by this and wondered what the angel meant. The angel said to her ‘Don’t be afraid, God has been very kind to you. You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a baby boy and you will call him Jesus. He will be God’s own Son and his kingdom will never end.’ Mary was very afraid but she trusted God. ‘Let it happen as God chooses.’ she replied to the angel.
Joseph was worried when he found out that Mary was expecting a baby before their marriage had taken place. He wondered if he should put off the wedding altogether? Then an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: ‘Don’t be afraid to have Mary as your wife.’ The angel explained that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of his Son and told Joseph that the baby would be named Jesus which means ‘Savior’ because he would save people. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel had told him to do and took Mary as his wife.
At this time, the land where Mary and Joseph lived was part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Augustus wanted to have a list of all the people in the empire, to make sure they paid their taxes. He ordered everyone to return to the town where their families originally came from, and enter their names in a register (or census) there. Mary and Joseph traveled a long way (about 70 miles) from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because that is where Joseph’s family came from. Most people walked but some lucky people had a donkey to help carry the goods needed for the journey. Joseph and Mary traveled very slowly because Mary’s baby was due to be born soon.
When they reached Bethlehem, they had problems finding somewhere to stay. Many people had come to register their names in the census, that every house was full and every bed was taken in all of the guest rooms. The only place to stay that they could find was with the animals. People often kept animals in the house, especially at night, and used them like ‘central heating’! People normally slept on a raised/upper level with the animals below to give them extra warmth.So, in the place where the animals slept, Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God.
When Jesus was born, a brand new bright star appeared in sky. Some Wise Men in faraway countries saw the star and guessed what it meant. They were very clever men that studied the stars and had read in very old writings that a new star would appear when a great king was born. They set out to find the new king and bring him gifts.
The Wise Men followed the star towards Bethlehem. It seemed to stop and shine directly down upon the place where Jesus was.
The Wise Men entered the house where they now lived and found Jesus with Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him. The Wise Men spread the gifts they had brought before Jesus. The gifts were gold, frankincense and myrrh. So, that’s how the joyous Christmas celebration started with welcoming of the heavenly “Baby Jesus”.
HO ! HO ! HO !…. ARRIVAL OF SANTA !!
The Gladdening part of Christmas is the arrival of our favourite “Santa Clause” who is loaded with gifts and children are eagerly waiting for the Christmas morning, where they can find their favourite gifts kept under the beautifully decorated Christmas tree.
BUT..WHO IS SANTA ???
As we know him by the name “Santa Claus”, was a saint and his name was “St. Nicholas”. He was a Bishop who lived in the fourth century in a place called Myra in Asia Minor (now called Turkey). He came from a very rich family and when his parents died, they left him with a lot of money. He was a very kind man &helped the poor. He used to give secret gifts to people who needed it. Because of his kindness, Nicholas was made a Saint.
And..How he was turned into Santa…??
In the 16th Century in northern Europe, the stories and traditions about St. Nicholas became unpopular.But someone hadto deliver presents to children at Christmas.In some countries including parts of Austria and Germany, present giver became the ‘Christkind’ a golden-haired baby, with wings, who symbolizes the new born baby Jesus.
In the early USA, his name was ‘Kris Kringle’ (from the Christkind). Later, Dutch settlers in the USA took the old stories of St. Nicholas with them and Kris Kringle and St Nicholas became ‘Sinterklaas’ or as we now say ‘Santa Claus’!
Many countries, especially in Europe, celebrate St. Nicholas’ Day on 6th December. In Holland and some other European Countries, children leave clogs or shoes out on the 5th December (St. Nicholas Eve) to be filled with gifts. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklaas’s horse, they will be left some sweets. St. Nicholas became popular again in the Victorian era when writers, poets and artists rediscovered the old stories.
It is believed that, Santa travelled through the sky in a sleigh filled with gifts and it was pulled by 8 reindeer’s and Santa also named them as: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder & Blixem.
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