Matthew 2:2,9 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

That is one impressive star! For many of us the star on top of the Christmas tree has been a tradition. Young ones were often given the honor of placing the star on top being lifted up by dad. Not part of your memories? I dare say for those who participated in that tradition, it was memorable.

If there is one universal theme associated with this Christmas season it is the hope within the loving parents heart, or afflicted soul, that each Christmas leave an impressive memory of love and warmth for the children. It is these lasting memories that build tradition.

The issue of impressive only got more impressive with the wide distribution of electricity. You know where I am going with this. I don’t even have to mention it. It became a tradition for our family to drive around looking at all the Christmas lights adorning the homes of those who are “into it.” Lights strobing to music have only spurred on the competitive drive in some wishing for ten million hits on youtube, twitter and facebook. If you have a computer or smartphone I am sure you have seen some really impressive light shows.

Do they overshadow the original herald of good tidings? His came with real angels, not plastic ones. We only get to read about that, but is that any excuse for replacing the Morning Star with flashing lights strobing to the rhythm of the music? I hope not, at least not in your afflicted souls.

I can only hope this series is leaving an impression with you for this season.

Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

If there is nothing in the bible about Christmas’ celebrations then obviously there is nothing about the twelve days of Christmas. Here again our tradition is formed in song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, musical arrangement by Frederic Austin 1909 using a 1780 French chant that provided lyrics only.

Here again, I did not know this without looking it up. These traditions get passed down thru the years with such strong memories with total absence of origin and meaning. Twelfth night is January 5^th. Why is that?

“Clearly there was great uncertainty, but also a considerable amount of interest, in dating Jesus’ birth in the late second century. By the fourth century, however, we find references to two dates that were widely recognized—and now also celebrated—as Jesus’ birthday: December 25 in the western Roman Empire and January 6 in the East (especially in Egypt and Asia Minor). The modern Armenian church continues to celebrate Christmas on January 6; for most Christians, however, December 25 would prevail, while January 6 eventually came to be known as the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the arrival of the magi in Bethlehem. The period between became the holiday season later known as the 12 days of Christmas.” (quote from biblicalarchaeology.org)

Here once again, in the connected historical context, we find a secular rendering of a biblical time period. We knew that the magi were not present at the birth of Christ but nothing within the bible tells us exactly how many days there were between those events. Twelve? Maybe. Is it important? Probably not but throughout history traditions get formed and passed down because someone impressed on the next generation that this is how we celebrate this day.

What impressions do you make?