If you’re a Christian who thinks the Christmas season ended on Dec. 25, then you’re already a casualty of the ‘war on Christmas,’ and you don’t even know it. In the United States, the annual commercial assault on Christmas begins on Thanksgiving, when some Christians line up in the middle of the night for special sales that force others to work on a national holiday. In the bigger picture, the modern attack on Christmas, and Christianity, has been ongoing in... Read more
The Roman god Janus was the god of gates, halls, doors, and doorways. The god of beginnings and endings. Usually depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions, Janus frequently symbolized change and transitions, such as the progression of past to future, of one condition to another, of one vision to another. He was also known as the figure representing time because he could see into the past with one face and into the future with the other. This... Read more
I learned of Watch Nigh” at my historically black seminary (one of the many, many blessings I received by attending the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University). In the African American community, Watch Night services on News Year’s Eve commemorate the evening of Dec. 31, 1862, as blacks looked to Jan. 1, 1863, and the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation. The idea of a New Year’s Eve service actually is much older than Freedom’s Eve, and... Read more
By Hugh Haynie, first published in the Louisville Courier-Journal on Dec. 24, 1961. Read more
Much like the shepherds during the first Christmas, people around the world had their attention turned toward the heavens 47 years ago tonight, when the astronauts of Apollo 8 delivered their famous Christmas Eve broadcast from lunar orbit. In some ways, this year was a tough year for our nation, but 47 years ago, 1968 was very difficult. The year begin with the North Vietnamese Tet offensive in Vietnam, where the war entered it’s fifth year. In April, Martin Luther... Read more
We’ve all seen A Charlie Brown Christmas, the Emmy award-winning TV program that has charmed audiences for 50 years. As Charlie Brown struggles with the commercialism of Christmas, Linus reminds him of what Christmas is all about. The Christian messages are both obvious and subtle. Linus was actually a contemporary of Paul and active in the early church. The soundtrack includes the hymn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing: Hark the herald angels sing “Glory to the newborn King! Peace on... Read more
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