History of Christmas

By: Grace Soyemi

Christmas Unwrapped

Christmas. It’s the most celebrated holiday of the year. More than 2 billion people consider it the biggest holiday of the year. A date marked to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ — between 6 and 4 BC — with joy and gift giving. Surprisingly enough, it is not factually believed that Jesus was born exactly on December 25th. In fact, December 25th was ultimately chosen as it was a popular holiday for the winter solstice. Christmas was not officially celebrated until hundreds of years after Jesus.

To spread the appeal and recognition of the holiday to all cultures, unique traditions were created. Arguably the most popular of which is the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is typically an evergreen tree decorated and ornamented for Christmas, with the star at the peak representing the star of Bethlehem that led the three wise men to baby Jesus. However, what really spread the word of Christmas was the concept of gift giving. In practice, giving gifts to family and friends on Christmas is meant to symbolize the gift of Jesus that God gave humanity. Humans around the globe could all relate to the happiness of surprising loved ones with long anticipated presents on Christmas Day.

And soon, as Christianity spread to more countries, the Christmas spirit grew with it. In Korea, Christmas is celebrated with delicious food, like kimchi, and a church service at night. In Brazil, many workers are given a 13th salary to help boost the economy on Christmas. And in the US, many decorate the exterior of their homes with lights and other symbolic decorations.

But no matter how one celebrates Christmas, the message and gift of it is offered to everyone. So go out and treasure the people, not the presents, and have yourself a merry Christmas!