Edna Bowman once wrote a modern parody of the famous Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” It went like this:  On the twelfth day of Christmas,  My littlest love gave to me Twelve dogs a-leaping, Eleven cats a-creeping, Ten fingers gripping, Nine toes a-tripping, Eight drinks a-spilling, Seven glasses filling, Six friends and things, Five telephone rings, Four crayoned walls, Three loud calls, Two Kisses free And one mother up a pear tree.”

According to Robert Webber, a modern worship guru, “Christmas worship is not confined to a single day but extends for twelve days. The origin of these twelve days of festivity lies in the early church. The early Christians of the East celebrated the birth of Christ on January 6 … In the West, Christians began to celebrate Christmas on December 25…Eventually, these two dates became the boundaries of the Christmas season, with the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25 representing the beginning of the festival and the celebration of the manifestation of Christ to the world through the visit of the magi on January 6.” Thus we have the 12 days of Christmas.

I’ve suggested, along with many others, that the song was written during a period of persecution of Christians, and it was a song with a message only to those who “got it.” Yet, some of the myth buster websites argue that it was simply a nonsense song written as a joke. And this explanation is not true. But there are others that argue it is true. I prefer to see it my way. Others agree with me. The song has meaning. The suggested meaning, traditionally, has been as follows: My True love is God the Father. I am the receiver, as a believer, of His gifts. They are: The Partridge is Christ crucified in a tree, then, 2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments. 3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity– the Theological Virtues.  Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists. 5 Golden Rings = the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch”, which relays the history of man’s fall from grace. 6 Geese A-laying = the six days of Creation. 7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. 8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes. 9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit. 10 Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments. 11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles. 12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed. Whether this is a historical fact or not, it sure gives meaning to a nonsense song that we’ll hear often during the Christmas season. We may as well see some significance in it when we hear it. To me, “My True Love” is the God who “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

We received a lot of them this year! We’re not good at sending them out, but are always excited about opening the ones that we get. I did some research and found out that the creator of the Christmas card was John C. Horsley, an English illustrator, who designed the first card in 1843. It showed three generations of an English family celebrating Christmas and carried the message, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” By 1870, the custom of exchanging Christmas cards had spread to the United States. It was promoted by Louis Prang, a Boston printer, who is known as the father of the American Christmas card. One of my sources wrote, “About 95% of American families exchange Christmas cards—usually 60 to 70 cards per family. A staggering four billion cards are mailed during Christmas. How did all these get started? Museum director Henry Cole, during the mid-19th century, used to write short notes to his friends at Christmas, wishing them a joyful holiday season. In 1843, he had no time to write and asked his artist friend John Horsely to design a printed greeting card. Inadvertently, he had invented the Christmas card.” This source went on to say, “And the President of the United States sends over 40,000 of these greetings yearly—probably having the longest Christmas card list in the country.”

Max Lucado suggests that Christmas week is the week when mail is fun. He writes, “This is the week of red envelopes, green stamps, and Christmas tree stickers. This is the week when your old roomie who married Hazel and moved to Phoenix writes to tell you their fourth child is on the way. This is the week of front-and-back newsletters describing the Grand Canyon, graduations, and gallbladder surgeries. This is the week of overnighted nuts and packaged fruitcakes and frenzied mailmen. Add to that a gift from Aunt Sophie and a calendar from your insurance agent, and you’ve got a daily reason to whistle your way to the mailbox.”

He goes on, “Only a Scrooge doesn’t want a Christmas card. Some are funny. Got one today with elves pulling books off the ‘elf-help’ shelf. Others are touching, like the illustration of Mother Mary and the baby resting at the base of the Egyptian sphinx. And a few are unforgettable. Every Christmas, I read this reminder that came in the mail several years ago: If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.” In is conclusion, Max adds, “He became like us, so we could become like him. Angels still sing and the star still beckons. He loves each one of us like there was only one of us to love.”

Our Christmas season is well underway now. I think we begin as early as the first part of December when we begin to think much more seriously about the gifts we’re going to give to our kids. The media seems to move the focus on the commercial aspects of Christmas earlier each year. But in centuries past, the Christmas season began on Christmas Eve. One commentator suggests that “Perhaps the practice of celebrating the evening before the big day is an echo from ancient Jewish reckoning. Among earlier Jews, a day began at six in the evening and ran until six the following evening.” He then comments that even the creation account in Genesis records the evenings first.

Christmas is a combination of two words, “Christ” and “Mass.” Dan Graves goes on to suggest, “…the tradition of observing it goes back to at least the fourth century. Under the influence of the church, Christian traditions replaced pagan solstice festivals throughout Europe. Often, the more innocent pagan practices (such as bringing in a Yule log, decorating with holly, and the like) were carried over into the Christmas observance, transfigured with new meaning.  Christmas Eve (the evening before Christmas day) was then celebrated with roaring fires, story-telling, feasting, drinking, dancing, and sometimes clowning.” Singing special songs has been a major part of everyone’s Christmas experience. Sir Walter Scott described its festive air in a poem. In his poem, he says the mass was “sung.”

On Christmas Eve, the bells were rung;

On Christmas Eve, the mass was sung.

The damsel donned her kirtle sheen,

the hall was dressed with holly green;

All hail’d with uncontroll’d delight,

And general voice the happy night

That to the cottage, as the crown,

Brought tidings of salvation down.

Graves also notes that Luther is supposed to have cut the first Christmas tree. The story may be apocryphal, but we know that on Christmas Eve, 1538, he was in a jolly mood, singing and talking about the incarnation. Then he sighed, saying, “Oh, we poor men, that we should be so cold and indifferent to this great joy which has been given us.” Despite Luther’s lament, others would make warm memories on Christmas Eve. In his memoirs, Sir John Reresby told how he invited his poor tenants for a feast on Christmas Eve, 1682. During World War I, the famous Christmas Truce began for many troops on Christmas Eve, 1914, demonstrating the power for good that is inherent in the season. Mark Water tells an interesting story. He writes, “Moisture from the Salzach River had caused the pipe organ of St Nicholas’ Church, the Alpine village church of Oberndorf, Austria, to rust. Another tradition says that mice had gnawed holes in the bellows of the organ of St Nicholas’ Church. On December 24, 1818, when Josef Mohr was told there could be no organ music for the Christmas Eve service, he wrote the words for Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!, Silent Night, Holy Night. He then asked the village organist, Franz Grüber, to compose a tune for this new carol just in time for the choir to rehearse. In 1834, Silent Night was performed for the king of Prussia. He then ordered that it should be sung every Christmas Eve by his cathedral choir.”^[1]

^[1] Water, Mark. 2002. The Christian Book of Records. Alresford, Hants, UK: John Hunt Pub.