"The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown, of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown."

Quite a few years ago now a co-worker of mine was scoffing at the idea of Christmas. He thought he was being very clever when he said, “What do trees have to do with Jesus anyway? That’s pretty stupid if you ask me.” Well no one had asked him and although I was fully prepared to explain the ancient symbolism of Christmas traditions I didn’t waste my breath. Anyone who could simply dismiss wholesale a holiday celebrated annually by millions of people around the world wasn’t worth continuing a conversation with, in my opinion.
No matter what your views of Christmas are or what your spiritual beliefs may be, the history of Christmas and its seemingly unusual traditions is a fascinating subject. In a day and age when making fun of Christmas, or simply disregarding it altogether, has become fashionable I thought I would take the time to share a bit of what I know about Christmas and why many of us do the things we do every December.
No matter what your views of Christmas are or what your spiritual beliefs may be, the history of Christmas and its seemingly unusual traditions is a fascinating subject. In a day and age when making fun of Christmas, or simply disregarding it altogether, has become fashionable I thought I would take the time to share a bit of what I know about Christmas and why many of us do the things we do every December.