A few years ago I was writing a family blog over at another URL. I was recently reminded of a post I had written there with my thoughts on the Holiday Season. I would like to share it again...
As I enjoy my family on this Thanksgiving Day, I am reminded of the chorus from Handel's Messiah "Thanks Be To God". With this, I am prompted to reflect.....
We usually think of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day as three separate Holidays, and refer to them all, in general, as the Holiday Season. What if we changed our thinking of these Holy-days? What if the trio of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years could take on a more particular purpose? Three Holidays. I am reminded of the the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Three separate and yet one in the same. I am inspired to re-think our three-fold Holiday Season with emphasis on greater spiritual significance.
We begin with Thanksgiving, a moment of reflection and gratefulness. A time to remember the ones who have gone before us, the relationships that formed our nation at its beginning. For me, a day of family and remembering, "Thanks be to God in the highest".
Then Christmas. A time that we have chosen to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. We follow our Thanksgiving with a period of remembering the eternal life brought to us by Him alone. The birth of Christ - a time for celebration and meditation. Truly, "Joy to the World".
Finally, New Years Day. Symbolic of the new birth brought by salvation. A fitting time to follow the commemoration of our Savior with a moment to consider our new beginning. Contemplation. Introspection.
We usually think of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day as three separate Holidays, and refer to them all, in general, as the Holiday Season. What if we changed our thinking of these Holy-days? What if the trio of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years could take on a more particular purpose? Three Holidays. I am reminded of the the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Three separate and yet one in the same. I am inspired to re-think our three-fold Holiday Season with emphasis on greater spiritual significance.
We begin with Thanksgiving, a moment of reflection and gratefulness. A time to remember the ones who have gone before us, the relationships that formed our nation at its beginning. For me, a day of family and remembering, "Thanks be to God in the highest".
Then Christmas. A time that we have chosen to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. We follow our Thanksgiving with a period of remembering the eternal life brought to us by Him alone. The birth of Christ - a time for celebration and meditation. Truly, "Joy to the World".
Finally, New Years Day. Symbolic of the new birth brought by salvation. A fitting time to follow the commemoration of our Savior with a moment to consider our new beginning. Contemplation. Introspection.
I choose to believe there is a more divine purpose held within our three-fold Holiday Season. Thankfulness for our abundant blessings, rejoicing in the birth that brings eternal salvation, and then a clean slate....a fresh beginning. A time to let go of past mistakes and remember with joy the fresh start that we find new every morning in our Savior, in our new birth. "For unto us a Child is born..."
