Thousands of people know that holidays like Christmas and
Easter have pagan origins, but we don't
hear of the holidays being celebrated in pagan fashion like days of old. It is kind of creepy knowing that though. ewe!
For whatever reason the church leaders had for choosing the dates they are the
dates we celebrate. Christmas... Merry
Christmas. Say that in public a few times these days and watch heads spin. Christmas
is obnoxious to some because it represents the combination of two words,
"Christ" and "mass." The word means "the mass of
Christ." But what does
"mass" really mean in the compound word Christmas? The dictionary
reveals that the English term mass evolved from the Anglo-Saxon word maesse, which derived in turn from the
Latin missa, which is a form of the
verb mittere, which means "to
send." Consequently, the root meaning of Christ-mass is "to send
Christ," or "Christ is sent."
There is nothing inherently obnoxious in the name Christmas. The term
accurately represents what the holiday is all about--the sending of Christ.
In doing that little word study I
discovered another thing that sets my teeth on edge like fingernails scratching
a black board. Xmas!?! The abbreviation Xmas takes Christ out of Christmas right?
That's what I thought. Certainly some who use the abbreviation may do so for
that very reason. But the abbreviation did not originate either to take Christ
out of Christmas or as an "irreverent modern substitute for
Christmas." The X in Xmas did not
originate as our English alphabet's X but as the symbol X in the Greek
alphabet, called Chi, with a hard ch. The Greek Chi or X is the first letter in
the Greek word Christos. Studies reveal that as early as the first century the
X was used as Christ's initial. Certainly through church history we can trace
this usage. In many manuscripts of the New Testament, X abbreviates Christos
(Xristos). In ancient Christian art X and XR (Chi Ro--the first two letters in
Greek of Christos abbreviate his name. This practice entered the Old English
language as early as AD 100.
A pearl to string:.
God planned and executed the first Christmas. No matter how flagrantly men may
abuse this holiday, they cannot rob devout believers of its wonder and glory as
expressed by the angel of old, "Fear
not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is
Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10, 11).
Christ IS sent...
Because God loves you
Merry
Christmas my friends
I
love you too
Lyndi
Enjoy this fun song: Christmas
With A Capital C http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAckfn8yiAQ
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