So it's been almost two months since I last wrote anything. It has been a CRAZY time filled with work, homework, and spending time with those I love. I know I talk about CSM a ton but it has fully changed my perspective on so many different things and shown me where I need to improve. Thanksgiving and mine and my mom's birthday were all last week. I spent the morning of mine and mom's birthday with mom just hanging out and then I worked for the majority of the afternoon/evening. I spent the rest of break working and hanging out with my family.
Yesterday, my lovely roomie, Ashlyn and I decorated the living room with Christmas decorations at our home away from home complete with glitter puff painted names on our stockings. I love giving gifts and I love having decorations and all of that, but I tend to forget the reason for the season. It is so important to remember what Christmas is about and why we celebrate it. Let's break down that word, Christmas: first, it's important to know that Christmas is actually a compound word. Christ is obviously a noun, while "mas" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word maesse, which comes from the Latin missa, which is a form of the verb mittere, which means "to send." Now I know that origins of words aren't everybody's favorite thing but this tells us that Christmas literally means "to send Christ" or "Christ is sent." Now come on, how cool is that?! The bible tells us that Jesus was sent to live as a human, he was sent to Earth. Most of us know that Jesus died the death that we should have died so that we could live the life that he should have lived, but we frequently forget the beginning. Jesus came, died on the cross, defeated the grave by coming back and ascended to heaven, and will come back again but I feel that the fact that he came is glossed over a little bit in comparison to the rest of his story, especially because the holiday that we use to celebrate his birth, the first time he came to us, is now overshadowed by all of the commerciality that society has given it. I didn't know this until recently but the reason why the tradition of gift giving was started was to represent and honor the gifts of Frankincense, gold and myrrh that the Wise Men gave Jesus. What a long way we have come from that! There are many theories and legends about why and how Christmas trees became a thing but this one is my favorite because it brings the meaning of Christmas into the tradition of putting up the trees."The first first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house, in the way we know it today, may have been the 16th century German preacher Martin Luther. A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas (I snagged this story from whychristmas.com)." And the Christmas lights we all love so much? Those started in 18th century Germany and they began as candles that were attached to Christmas tree branches by melted wax. They would only be lit for a few minutes each day due to the fact that it often resulted in fires. Again, what a long way we've come right?!
Yesterday, my lovely roomie, Ashlyn and I decorated the living room with Christmas decorations at our home away from home complete with glitter puff painted names on our stockings. I love giving gifts and I love having decorations and all of that, but I tend to forget the reason for the season. It is so important to remember what Christmas is about and why we celebrate it. Let's break down that word, Christmas: first, it's important to know that Christmas is actually a compound word. Christ is obviously a noun, while "mas" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word maesse, which comes from the Latin missa, which is a form of the verb mittere, which means "to send." Now I know that origins of words aren't everybody's favorite thing but this tells us that Christmas literally means "to send Christ" or "Christ is sent." Now come on, how cool is that?! The bible tells us that Jesus was sent to live as a human, he was sent to Earth. Most of us know that Jesus died the death that we should have died so that we could live the life that he should have lived, but we frequently forget the beginning. Jesus came, died on the cross, defeated the grave by coming back and ascended to heaven, and will come back again but I feel that the fact that he came is glossed over a little bit in comparison to the rest of his story, especially because the holiday that we use to celebrate his birth, the first time he came to us, is now overshadowed by all of the commerciality that society has given it. I didn't know this until recently but the reason why the tradition of gift giving was started was to represent and honor the gifts of Frankincense, gold and myrrh that the Wise Men gave Jesus. What a long way we have come from that! There are many theories and legends about why and how Christmas trees became a thing but this one is my favorite because it brings the meaning of Christmas into the tradition of putting up the trees."The first first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house, in the way we know it today, may have been the 16th century German preacher Martin Luther. A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas (I snagged this story from whychristmas.com)." And the Christmas lights we all love so much? Those started in 18th century Germany and they began as candles that were attached to Christmas tree branches by melted wax. They would only be lit for a few minutes each day due to the fact that it often resulted in fires. Again, what a long way we've come right?!