What We Celebrate At Christmas
What are America's traditional Christmas symbols?
In this pictorial feature we can think about America's traditional Christmas symbols of lights, wreaths, the Poinsettia plant, Saint Nicholas, angels, and Christmas trees.
Are there other symbols I might have included? What about the Christmas star, Christmas stockings, gifts, reindeer, and even lumps of coal? Perhaps those also are on your list.
Stop for just this moment and consider those I have listed below, and ponder what each of these means to you.
And, have a very merry Christmas once again.
The symbolism of Christmas lights...
The Christmas Wreath...
The Christmas Tree...
Santa Claus/Saint Nicholas...
Angels...
The Poinsettia...
Some parting thoughts...
There are more in depth discussions of what others ascribe to the meanings behind these symbols so many Americans associate with Christmas. If you feel so inclined, seek them out using your search engine for the worldwide web. Doing so can only add to your understanding of this exceptional season when, more so than any other, Christians celebrate the birth, promise, life, and sacrifice of a savior, Jesus Christ.
© 2019 Demas W Jasper
Comments
AUTHORMy father was an unerring guesser of what his Xmas presents contained before he opened them; that is until one year I wrapped a can of Kangaroo Tail Soup I had purchased at an International Red Cross bazaar in Washington, DC. In actual fact, he guessed it was soup, but after exhausting the names of every soup on a typical supermarket's shelves, he finally gave up and unwrapped his first and only can ever of Kangaroo Tail Soup.
- AUTHOR
Doris, That there is commercialization of Christmas is beyond doubt. Where there is money to be made, societies (especially its greedy) will grab it, count it, and resolve to make even more the next time around. Witness for the expanding of "The Christmas Season" which now sees stores with Christmas cards and other Christmas sellers showing up with the sales of Halloween items. My only intent in this Hub was to present what traditional Christmas symbols are meant to mean to Americans. If it helps to be reminded of those meanings, I may have succeeded. Thanks for the precious memory you shared.
Demas, unfortunately, I see commercialization in every symbol you've pictured here. One of my fondest memories of Christmas was the natural cedar tree that my father used to hunt and cut down for us. Then he put it in a block of wood he made to hold the tree. We had a few cheap glass ornaments, lights and tinsel to put on it, but we kids enjoyed stringing popcorn and making paper chains to use for decorations. We participated in Christmas more than just running to WalMart and a dollar store for trees and decorations.
One year my dad announced that we weren't going to have a tree that year. (Daddy was an atheist, not a Christian.) I was 9 or 10 years old and my brother and sister were toddlers a year apart. I got my back up. While he was at work, I got out his hatchet, and with our two dogs at my heels, went across the highway into the woods. I found a small cedar tree, cut it down and dragged it home. When he came home, I'm sure he saw the tree in the yard as he approached the back door, but I said, "The tree is in the backyard. I need you to put it in the stand." Without any protest, he went out and did as I requested. (Actually, it was more of a demand than a request.) He brought the tree into the house and set it up. I decorated the tree, and we siblings enjoyed it that Christmas. I think my mother appreciated my efforts, too.
- AUTHOR
If you have a favorite Christmas memory, you can share it here with a comment of your own. It is my wish that your Christmas memories are among your best memories of all.
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