In 1931, the Coca Cola company created a new, improved Santa Claus. He was dressed in bright red with white trimmings, sported a large black belt and high boots, and looked like a child’s dream Grandpa, rosy cheeks, bright eyes, infectious smile and a hearty demeanour. He was a huge hit, and far more appealing [...]
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For Aunt Harriet, Christmas Day was magic. The happy squeals of the children as they ripped open their presents, the contented sighs of the adults after the Christmas dinner, and the happy family banter through the rest of the day. She looked forward to it for months. This year, however, had been different. One of [...]
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Dear Uncle George thought it would be a jolly nice idea to invite Santa Claus over for tea. The excitement he imagined in his nephews’ and nieces’ faces when he announced his jolly idea brought a tear to his dear old eyes. It didn’t take much to coax a neighbour to dress up in a [...]
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To many people the idea of a Star guiding a camel train of Wise Men from Persia to Palestine to present gifts to Jesus at the house where he was living as a young child is ludicrous and laughable. They are convinced that no such Star existed. They have their own explanations as to what [...]
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Years ago I accepted why Jesus was born – to save me from my sins (Matthew 1:21). But it still left me wondering why Jesus had to be human to do that. Why did he need to be a helpless baby, and why spend all that time being a child and going through teenage, earning [...]
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In 2009 my sister was dying as Christmas approached. It was deeply saddening for her family, especially at Christmas-time with all its wonderful memories of shopping for gifts, decorating the tree together, preparing the Christmas dinner and relaxing in that special warmth that only Christmas, it seems, can create. I’m so glad, therefore, that Christmas [...]
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Christmas is amazing. For some incredible reason it just keeps going. Even non-Christians don’t mind keeping an ancient pagan festival. For most people, Christmas has nothing to do with Christ or his birth, of course, it’s about the mythical Santa Claus bringing gifts to children on Christmas Eve. But isn’t that the secret behind the [...]
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“So, what did you get for Christmas?” kids want to know – but what did Jesus get for Christmas? Because it was his birthday, right? So what did he get? What he got arrived on his doorstep from hundreds of miles away, tucked away in the saddle bags of some very important people. And those [...]
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A whole hour of talk radio was taken up with the rules of Christmas gift-giving. One lady complained bitterly that she puts a lot of thought into finding the right gifts for people but all she gets in return is the usual stuff like perfume that takes only a few minutes to find and purchase. [...]
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Imagine the Managing Director of a major business stripping off his pinstripe suit and dressing instead in the clothes of the lowest job in the company, and then quietly, without anyone noticing, he slips downstairs to the basement and takes on a job that pays him just enough to survive. And later, when he leaves [...]
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