Happy 4^th day of Christmas!

     That’s right, today (12/28) is the 4^th day of Christmas.  In case you didn’t know, I am a big fan of holidays and of using the annual calendar for discipleship purposes.  Of course, I know there are people out there that believe that celebrating holidays is from Satan and that all who do so will go directly to hell.  I’m convinced that most of these people are a little bit nutzo and that none of them understand Scripture or how culture works.  In many cases, they just need to lighten up.  The celebration of annual holy days and holy seasons has a rich tradition in the Bible.  The Old Testament is just full of this kind of stuff.  Jesus celebrated many of these holy days himself (e.g. Matt. 26:18, Jn. 5:1) and Paul gave us a great New Covenant command on the subject when he wrote, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.  Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.  The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord” (Romans 15:5-6a).

     So, if your conscience troubles you on celebrating certain days, you are free in Christ to not celebrate.  Likewise, I’m free to celebrate and observe days and seasons in honor of the Lord – so, I say, let’s party (or fast, pray, mourn, sing, etc.).  I firmly believe that holidays and holy seasons can be tremendously powerful discipleship tools for individuals and communities.  I’ve written about a chapter and a half on this subject in Ethnographic Chicago (chapters 3 and 14), so if you want to read more about this please pick up my book.

     Well, anyway, like I said today is the 4^th day of Christmas.  As the song indicates, there are 12 total, beginning with Christmas and lasting until Epiphany (Jan. 6).   Epiphany, in case you didn’t know, marks the occasion of the visit of the magi to the child Jesus.  This doesn’t mean that Christians believe the wise men visited Jesus 12 days after his birth, is it simply a way of symbolically indicating that the visit was later.  The 12 days of Christmas are a wonderful time to remember Christ and worship him, to teach your children, to reflect on the significance of the incarnation, and more.  That’s right, it’s not just for bowl games (though that’s fun too). 

     What can you do to observe the 12 days with your family?  Our family is doing a couple simple things.  First, we’ve taken the wise men from our Nativity scene and moved them far away—actually into a different room.  Each day, we’re gathering around them with our kids and moving the figurines a little bit closer to the scene (by the way, we also leave our tree up until January 6^th ).  Then we sing a little bit of the “12 days of Christmas” song (adding a verse per day) and explain the symbolism to our children.  That’s right, symbolism.  Did you know that song was actually a Christian teaching device used to impart spiritual truth in a memorable way to disciples of Christ?  So, for example, the “partridge in a pear tree” represents the death of Christ on the cross, God is our “true love”, and the “four calling birds” (that’s today’s symbol) refer to the four gospels that proclaim the good news of the life of Jesus Christ. 

     That brings me to a new recommended resource for your family.  It is a children’s book called The 12 Days of Christmas and it's written by Helen C. Haidle.  With beautiful illustrations, this book explains the symbolism behind each of the 12 days of Christmas in a way that will engage and educate your whole family.  We put our copy under our tree during the Christmas season, but it is also a wonderful thing to have on your coffee table for non-believing guests to flip through as they visit your home.  I really like this book a lot and think it is a great thing for families to have in their home during this time of year.  So, pick it up and enjoy the rest of the Christmas season!

     If you have questions about other symbolism in the song, just post your questions in the comment section and I’ll be sure to respond.  And don’t forget to spread the word about this blog to others that you think might benefit.  A series of posts on the apologetics of creationism and the intelligent design debate are coming in the next few days, so stay tuned!