The Evening before Christmas has a strange an delightful mix of energy. Expectation mixed with stress and anxiety… the deep quiet of Christmas Eve Services and the hustle and bustle of last minute shopping.
The Poem “The Night Before Christmas” has shaped our perception of Christmas Eve and has immortalized Father Christmas into a legendary and symbolic representation of Christmas that, in many minds has supplanted the image of Christ.
It is interesting that Christ’s birth came out of the night and was heralded by the mystical powers of the universe, took place during an oppressive time of Roman Government, and emphasized the humility of spiritual birth.
The celebration was moved to the time of the Roman Saturnalia. This was a weeklong celebration of the Winter Solstice and the Sun’s greatest distance from the Earth. The 25th of December is the point of least light. The Christ, bringer of the light, represents the return of the Sun.
For every Christian this time is a time of inner understanding and quiet contemplation of the order of life, the gift of life given by their creator to each and every living thing. In Christ, the divine became human… or was our divinity simply revealed to us…?