Down the road, in white and gold lights, Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale proclaims "Jesus is the Reason for the Season!" Somewhere, Bill O'Reilly is pitching a fit at those who would rather call the events happening in December the "holidays".
While Christ does rightfully belong in the word Christmas, is Christmas, and the birth of Christ, really the reason for the season?
More than enough evidence has been presented to indicate Jesus was not born somewhere even remotely near December 25th, in fact the celebration of his natal day was moved to that time period during the 4th century CE, when Christianity was made the official religion of Rome. It is generally presumed Jesus was born in the spring.
Even earlier, the Egyptians celebrated the god Osiris, who died and was reborn, the time of the Winter Solstice. The Greeks celebrated the "Festival of Wild Women" around Dionysus, who was murdered and reborn during the same period of time. In Rome the Saturnalia was celebrated.
The Winter Solstice, or return of the sun, began pre-religion, as early man observed the cycles of the sun. It is said that aboriginal people were able to notice a slight elevation in the sun's path within days of that time when the sun sunk to its lowest point on the horizon, and it is believed people soon began to celebrate the sun's return, or rebirth, around the solstice, as they knew that soon the warmth would return and they would be able to cultivate crops.
On December 21st, or thereabouts, I'll be celebrating the return of the sun, in my mind the real reason for the season.
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