Right Turn from the Left Lane

^{Luke 2:1}And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. ²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) ³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) ⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. ⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. ¹⁸And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

We Wish You the Merriest
Which is not to suggest that your holiday is in fact a “holy day”, if you don’t want it to be. Or isn’t, if you do.

A Light in Darkness
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father)

Not C, of course.

C is for Christmas. No, not that Christmas, the other Christmas – the mid-winter educational hiatus festival of lights sickingly sappy sentimentality only a new car will make you happy ecumenical reindeer-trampled grandmas watching ‘round-the-clock red n’green sweater’d romcoms (in July) Christmas.

There is no doubt that we need a little and we need it now, but in the absence of meaning there is a meaningful increase in merrymaking.

Don’t answer this:

But if your neighbors accused you of being a Jesus freak, would there be enough evidence in your seasonal display to convict?

Yeah… there is more holiday in Christmas than Christ in the holiday.

Fortunately for everybody, “Happy Holidays” is unhip and the C word is cool again (so long as the C word has little to do with the X word).

Long before the comically festive DEI Happy Holiday crowd, the crassly commercialized Xmas-ers also attempted to remove the Reason from the Season, but in truth only revealed the 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 from the original Greek.

χριστός-mas… the birth of Christos

Algebraically, X represents the unknown. Perhaps their abbreviation was merely a equation in search of a solution:

Xmas = [Christmas – $$$$]
Solve for X

In days of old, fortune hunters would follow a cartographer’s X to chart their quest to hidden treasure. The X of Christmas can be discovered on a walk through Bethlehem:

The night was silent and there was peace on Earth. Caesar insisted. No department store sales. No musical displays. No red kettle’d Santas. But there were shepherds…

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. ^{Luke 2:16}

Some thirty-odd years later, the first Christmas tree would be hacked with an axe and stripped bare of its leafy foliage then hefted and left undecorated.

Just thorns and spikes.

Many had hoped that the Christ had come to free them from the tyranny of Rome, but Jesus was born to save us from the tyranny of sin. And died that we might live.