The Christmas gift shopping season is now in full swing. The gifts are wrapped in pretty paper and placed under the Christmas tree. It all looks so beautiful. The tree looks complete and perfect.
Then comes Christmas morning and it's time to pass the gifts around. Hopefully, everyone will be happy with what they have gotten from Santa. With all of the time, effort and thought that goes into each and every gift.
It's now over, the paper and the boxes that the gifts came in are in the garbage (hopefully some of it made it into the recycling bin). The living room has been cleaned up and under the Christmas tree, it looks empty and a bit naked of its gifts. The gift giving is over. How did it all get started??
Tradition dictates that it started back when the three wise men came from the east, bearing gifts; gold, frankincense and myrrh to honor the baby Jesus, the King of Kings. Traveling many miles and dealing with King Herrod.
The tradition of giving gifts at this time of the year started even before that. The Romans gave gifts in celebration of the winter solstice festival of Saturnalia. They believed that the gift of giving would bring them good fortune next year.
When paganism was replaced by Christianity in Rome, the two holidays merged. The gifts that were once given at Saturnalia were now given at Christmas. The same "give and you shall receive" message remained and when the Roman Empire expanded, the tradition followed throughout its Empire.
The tradition of Santa Claus giving gifts to children came around the 4th century. It started with St. Nicolas, a loved and respected priest, who was traveling through Asia Minor at that time. During his travels, he gave presents to poor children.
In the 10th century, King Wenceslas further added to the tradition. Rather than receiving gifts from his people, he started giving food and clothing to the poor in his kingdom.
The Puritans, who believed that Christmas was a worldly tradition not worth celebrating. They had the celebration of Christmas band in the United States until the 1800's. However, once the holiday finally took off in the United States it gained momentum year after year.
With the commercial aspects that Christmas has been put under, it is easy to forget the real meaning and the message of those who had started the tradition in the beginning. The giving of gifts has been a time honored tradition throughout history, no matter what nationality or of what race a person is from. If you get only one message from this article, no matter if you are religious or not, "it is better to give than to receive"!
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