Christmas is of course a wonderful time for storytelling. There are so many stories involving Christmas. The ancient stories, the religous stories, the commercial stories.
Let's mention a few.
Solstice
The stories surrounding the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere, which is on December 21st. After that the nights get shorter and the days longer. Celebrating the return of light with using lights everywhere. Like in trees (hello Christmas tree) and burning the Yule-log.
The birth of Jesus Christ
Telling the story of the birth of a little baby boy on December 25th 0. Born in a manger in Bethlehem because the inns didn't have place for his mother Mary and father Joseph. Heralded by angels and welcomed by the shepherds and their sheep. Getting visits from 3 Kings following a star. And being hunted by a mad king. Now that is a story! After Easter the biggest holiday in Christianity.
Commercial Christmas
The stories involving lots of presents, lots of eating and being together with friends and family. The story of Santa Claus. He comes from various cultures, also from the Dutch Sinterklaas. Bringing gifts to children. Coca Cola used him very smart to boost their sales. Winter is of course downtime for cold drinks. But with introducing Santa in their commercials around Christmas time in the 1930s, the got a a big boost to their sales and setting a tradition of Coca Cola being a partner in Christmas with their distinct description of the jolly fat guy and nowadays their lighted Coca Cola Trucks.
With loads of songs, singing about family, being together and snow. A fact I find very funny, since most people in the world won't see snow on Christmas. But by now it is so common to associate snow with Christmas, that when I was traveling to New Zealand with a stop-over in Kuala Lumpur, the hotel lobby was decorated with snow flakes, while outside it was 30C.
No matter what you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful day. Share the story of this day with your friends and family.
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