Despite what you might hear in the media and in the shops, we are not yet in the Christmas season. The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on the night of Christmas Eve - the celebration of Jesus' birth among the people of Israel - and ends on January 6, the celebration of the Epiphany, when Jesus was manifested to the Gentile nations represented by the three wise men from the East. During that time, Christians sing special Christmas songs and practise other special traditions that are more cultural than religious.

The four weeks before Christmas is preparatory. it is called the Advent season - getting ready for the coming of Jesus; but the merchants and the media have captured Christmas, and on Boxing Day, all Christmas Carols will stop, since Christmas shopping will be over. But that is when they should begin, and continue past the New Year! What a travesty!

With many churches failing to provide proper instruction, many have no sources of information other than the merchants and the media, and they pick up errors, believing them to be fact. For example, traditional Christianity has never said that Jesus was actually born on December 25; no one knows his actual birthday, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pick a day and celebrate it.

Here is the logic to choosing a late December date. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9: 2). Theologically, the coming of the Messiah brought light to a darkened world, and December 21 is the darkest day of the year - it has the longest night - in the northern hemisphere. Locating the birth of the Messiah at a time when the days are getting longer suggests the triumph of light over darkness, the perfect time to commemorate Jesus' birth! Locating Easter after the Vernal Equinox - when days actually are longer than nights - suggests a final victory. Using these natural phenomena to set important religious celebrations is to allow nature and religion to mutually interpret each other, adding meaning to both.

It is not true to say that Christmas is a pagan celebration. Pagan sun-worshippers knew about the conquering sun, and had their Saturnalia; but to credit pagans with Christmas is to discredit the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Misconceptions

Another misunderstanding is the abbreviation XMAS, which causes an extraordinary amount of confusion for such a simple thing. Anyone who pronounces it Exx-Mass only shows his or her illiteracy for XMAS may only be properly pronounced Christmas. The 'X' is not the English letter Exx, but the Greek letter Chi (which rhymes with sky), and is pronounced like 'k'. It is the first letter in the Greek word CHRISTOS which means Christ, and hence XT is short for Christ, XTIAN is short for Christian, and XMAS is short for Christmas.

Many Jamaicans, for whom a primary education is supreme, only know 'X' to mean 'Wrong' in their exercise books, so there must be something wrong with 'XMAS', and voting with an 'X' - that must be wrong too.

But the real meaning of Christmas is that the creative Word became flesh and dwelt among us humans. In theological language we call this the 'Incarnation', and Christmas is a celebration of the Incarna-tion. If God could become truly human, then humanity isn't so bad after all! 'The Fall' has been upended, and the objective state of humanity has been elevated! And the potential of humanity has been vastly increased! The Garden of Eden has its antithesis in the stable in Bethlehem! And we are about to enter into a new covenant with God! This is tremendously good news, to be proclaimed everywhere!

Christmas is really a celebration of the high status of humanity, and about the joy of life. May the joy of Christmas be with you all.