Christmas!

Well, Christmas is almost here again!  That's right, Santa Claus will visit us all next Tuesday night, Christmas Eve.  He is most certainly now busy making toys for good girls and boys in his workshop at the North Pole.  I think the elves are so busy as well, scattering to and fro, assembling bicycles, painting doll houses, testing train motors.  Of course he is making sure the sleigh is in good order and fit for the global journey.  I think he's probably already contacted Rudolph and discussed the terms and conditions of the Christmas holiday, 2013.  Although all at the North Pole still have another week before Christmas Day arrives, now is definitely crunch time and I'm sure the letters from good girls and boys across the world are pouring in. 

The meaning of Christmas, of course, has a religious context.  The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, or in other words, a church service for Christ.  The holiday is celebrated religiously by Christians around the world, but around this time other religions have a special holiday time as well, such as in the Judaism's Hannukah, otherwise known as the Festival of Lights which is a rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.  Another holiday celebrated in Britain is Boxing Day, which dates back to the days of exploration.  A priest placed a wooden box on ships, and each crew member dropped coins into the box as good luck for its safe return.  The box remained on the ship until it returned to port.  At this time the priest would say a prayer and keep the box until Christmas when it was opened and the coins were shared with the poor.  I heard from a friend that Boxing Day was a day to take empty boxes back to the store after opening presents.  I was glad to find that Boxing Day has a deeper and much more important meaning.

Regardless of which religion one is, the Christmas holiday season has become an amazing feat of business and marketing.  The actual marketing was helped along by the Coca Cola company which depicted Santa as a jolly white-bearded man in a red suit cheering with a cold Coke!