By A. Dru Kristenev ——Bio and Archives--December 24, 2023
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Some writers feel compelled to compose a column commemorating each holiday that comes along, especially Christmas. I’m not one of them. This year, however, there has been an inner pressure to speak to the “holy day,” its import and impact upon the earth’s inhabitants beyond and including the billions of believers.
Our family was melded between traditions of two faiths – my father a Jew, and my mother a Gentile raised to honor Christian legacy.
Christmas was a joyful season in a household that was also sprinkled with Hanukkah lights and gelt as a reminder of Father’s heritage. Music, the aroma of baking #, and crafting décor to festoon the house colored the month leading up to Christmas morning.
Having parents that revelled in song, a treasured memory is how we came together to voice carols when my grandmother came to live with us for a brief period. Raised in a family of professional musicians, years before she had prepared multiple copies of Christmas carol lyrics that we sang from during that one special Christmas season. Although grandmother passed away just a month before the holiday, as a child I kept one of those songbooks with me, continuing to sing throughout the year the words she so loved and revered. Always will I remember her favorite as the “Cantique de Noël” which she sang in her native tongue.
Preparing for the celebration of the Lord’s earthly incarnation wasn’t religious in that the ceremonial trappings of the holiday weren’t the focus of Christmas, family and giving was. Even after Mother’s passing during my teen years, my sister and I did our best to keep Mother’s spirit of sharing, and a month of joyful preparation alive.
As a missionary for the past 13 years, landing in numerous households and often spending the holy days alone, the significance of attending church services, especially those laced with inspiring hymns honoring Jesus’ birth, have taken on a precious role. Recalling the music that underlaid the activities of a loving household, no matter how difficult finances were, brings home the blessing of God’s gift who became our salvation.
Honoring the birth of Christ has infiltrated nearly every culture worldwide with celebrations, despite differing religious traditions. Commercialization of the holy day has spread the tradition far and wide, embedding the impact of Christ among the nations. The Gregorian calendar that schedules secular society is based on that day of Emmanuel’s arrival in the earth, whether or not non-Christians acknowledge that fact.
No other human personality has shaped the social order and underlying ethos as has Christ who manifested God’s Word, and was the Word come in the flesh (John 1). There can be no denial of Him and His affect on every nation, no matter how vehemently an individual argues. Attempting to redesignate B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini) as B.C.E. and C.E. (Before Common Era and Common Era) erases nothing regarding the rationale behind the dating system. It centers around the birth of Christ.
As the beauty of the season culminates in the celebration Christ’s coming on a day that may or may not have been His actual birthdate, it is incumbent on all mankind to recognize who laid the foundation of the world, provided moral tenets, and demonstrated forgiveness, stemming from God’s ultimate sacrifice on a cross as a gift of forgiveness for any to receive.
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Before brushing aside the offering Jesus made of His own body on the cross, a reminder is in order of just how brutal and utterly inhumane is the torture a person endures hanging only by nails impaling hands and feet. It is humbling to investigate the torment inflicted on Christ’s body by relentless scourging that flayed skin open to the bone, and how one fights agonizing pain in order to breathe from a position devised to steal breath.
Yet, Jesus came to the earth to suffer this humiliation for all to gain access to God’s forgiveness, and to prove His deity by rising from death, testified to by hundreds of witnesses. There is too much corroborative documentation from sources other than the Bible of who Jesus was, is, and what He suffered for any and all who will simply believe.
Whatever Christmas means to each, the season’s melodies, lighted streets, shops and homes, and scents of # can bring memories sweet or sorrowful. If the reason for the celebration of sharing and comradery is understood, then melancholy is overcome by gratitude and worship.
The Christ child wasn’t born to establish anguish or loneliness, but to bring joy of salvation and closeness to God, the Creator, in hearts of all mankind. “on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14) means what the host of angels declared, if only we will open our hearts to receive His promise that it can be lived through us for Him.
Merry and Blessed Christmas to All!
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Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.
ChangingWind (changingwind.org) is a solutions-centered Christian ministry.