Lessons from The Winter Solstice

        For today’s blog entry, I wanted to turn to an ancient pagan holiday that took place around the time of Christmas, the Winter Solstice.  Many, including myself, believe Christmas is celebrated on the 25^th of December largely due to this pagan holiday.  In the time of Constantine, the Christians and the Pagans within his kingdom fought bitterly.  So Constantine called for a council to be held at Nicea to determine the future of the religion for his kingdom. 
        At this council many compromises were made between Christianity and pagan forms of worship.  Christianity would become the state religion.  The belief I and many others have is that one compromise was to celebrate the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ at the time of the Winter Solstice in order to make Christianity a little easier to swallow for pagan worshippers.
        Yet if you look at the Winter Solstice, you’ll find some wonderful signs pointing to Jesus Christ.  After all, everything in this world points to Christ.  As you explore the signs of Christ in the Winter Solstice, you’ll also find some excellent lessons on faith.
        For example, we can turn to the timing of the celebration.  Interestingly, the Winter Solstice was celebrated each year on the day that remained darkest the longest.  This celebration was to commemorate the coming of brighter days ahead as the sun slowly moved back to the Northern Hemisphere.  People knew the coming of the sun would bring more warmth, more food, and more sunshine. 
        This teaches us what we can expect from the coming of the Son.  In today’s world, this seems to be a particularly poignant lesson.  We live in a dark time.  Wars rage the earth.  Faith in God is under heavy assault.  Immorality of many flavors taints the hearts of the children of men.  You could argue these are the darkest days this earth has seen.
       So we can take our lesson from the darkest days of the ancient world.  We can celebrate the coming of the Son, and with Him brighter days ahead.  When He comes He will bring the warmth of His love.  Those who search for Him will feel His warm embrace and know they are cleansed of the darkness of this current world.  When He comes He will bring with Him the bread of life.  Those who partake of it will hunger no more.  When He comes He will bring the glory of God.  Those who follow Him will bask in this glory as He gives it to them and makes them one with Him and with Heavenly Father.
        So the lesson is to look forward to the coming of the Son with faith.  Do the works He has asked of you.  Then you can know that when He arrives, you will find His warmth, His food, and His sunshine.
       There are more lessons to be learned from the Winter Solstice, but I’m not an expert and can hardly do it justice.  So, if you’d like, take the time to learn them yourself.  In the meantime, consider the lessons you can learn from the Winter Solstice.  Remember that Jesus Christ is the Son, and He will be coming again.  We may be in the darkest days of this world, but His coming as drawing closer every day.  And as such, His disciples have a great deal to celebrate and look forward to.
        I want to shift gears by again turning my thoughts to Christmas.  After all, it is Christmas.  I want to again remind you that this holiday is about Jesus Christ.  It celebrates His birth, but remember that His birth was only the beginning of the many, many gifts He would give throughout His life.  And the gifts He has given to us extend beyond His life, both into the eternities before His coming and into the eternities after His death and resurrection.
       Everybody in the world should be celebrating His birth and remembering Him upon this day, for all have been blessed by His gifts.  So, now that you’ve opened your Christmas gifts and found delight in them, turn your heart again to the One who has given you the gifts that never diminishes.  Remember His gifts to you.  Make a covenant with Him that you will do all you can to make these gifts yours.
       I close now with a portion of my testimony of Jesus Christ.  I love Him.  I cherish Him.  I cannot express to you through these words, or through any other means I know of, how much I am grateful for Him.  I know that all I have I have because of Him.  I know that my dearly beloved wife can be with me as my eternal companion because Christ has provided the way.  I know that my daughter, and all my children to come, can be eternally bound to me as my children because Jesus Christ provided the way.  I know that this bond carries to all my family, inasmuch as they choose it, because Jesus Christ has provided the way for this to be.
       I hope you, too, know the blessings you have because of Jesus Christ.  And I hope you have the burning in your heart at this time to thank Him for His blessings.  And I hope you vow to make your gifts to Him gifts worthy of the Eternal King who was born in a stable.
       Merry Christmas!  May it be a joyous one!