just got the newsletter from a lovely Christian retreat centre that I know and love, but...
one retreat they're advertising is titled "the true meaning of Christmas" and I'm afraid I've got rather fed up with this well-worn phrase, along with phrases such as "it's all about Jesus" and "Jesus is the reason for the season" and all that stuff which attempts to imply that this festival is purely a Christian festival and that it's all about celebrating the birth of Jesus. (something which, incidentally, probably happened in autumn and not "in the bleak midwinter"...)
in an item about another December retreat they say: "Somewhere along the way, modern day society hijacked Christmas. The consumer-driven world urges us to find our happiness by spending more, eating more, drinking more." - sorry to spoil the fun, guys, but eating more and drinking more were part of the 25 December pagan celebrations long before modern-day society and long before Pope Gregory in 597 decided to "Christianise" the pagan celebration of the "rebirth" of the sun god and start pretending that it's the birthday of the Christ.
so no, modern-day society has not hijacked something that is Christian, it's actually the Christian church that originally hijacked something pagan, and as a Christian I do wish the church would do the sensible thing and just hand it back.
one retreat they're advertising is titled "the true meaning of Christmas" and I'm afraid I've got rather fed up with this well-worn phrase, along with phrases such as "it's all about Jesus" and "Jesus is the reason for the season" and all that stuff which attempts to imply that this festival is purely a Christian festival and that it's all about celebrating the birth of Jesus. (something which, incidentally, probably happened in autumn and not "in the bleak midwinter"...)
in an item about another December retreat they say: "Somewhere along the way, modern day society hijacked Christmas. The consumer-driven world urges us to find our happiness by spending more, eating more, drinking more." - sorry to spoil the fun, guys, but eating more and drinking more were part of the 25 December pagan celebrations long before modern-day society and long before Pope Gregory in 597 decided to "Christianise" the pagan celebration of the "rebirth" of the sun god and start pretending that it's the birthday of the Christ.
so no, modern-day society has not hijacked something that is Christian, it's actually the Christian church that originally hijacked something pagan, and as a Christian I do wish the church would do the sensible thing and just hand it back.
