Christmas is beyond a doubt my favorite holiday. My Baptist up bringing taught me that first and foremost the holiday was the celebration of the birth of Christ. Of course like any other child, I was also intrigued with the myth of Santa Claus. I don't know how other regions separated the spiritual from the mythical but kids in rural Alabama learned that the holiday celebrated the birth of Jesus. Santa Claus was a part of the celebrate, not the reason for the celebration. The fact of the matter was that the years first celebration of the season was the church Christmas party. As I recall, it was held on the second Friday night of December.
It was a great party. Every child in attendance got a gift. Usually a small box of candy. The box was very similar to an animal cracker box. It was dark blue in color and contained probably eight pieces of soft candy. That blue box also had a picture of the three wise men following the star of Bethlehem. Its been years since I have seen one of the little boxes yet I remember them quite well.
My uncle Jim was the perennial church Santa. The church had greater needs than a fancy Santa outfit. That being the case, my uncle had to improvise. He made a bazaar Santa but I'd still give him an A+. Would be nice if he were around this Christmas. Bless you uncle Jim.
Christmas time in my minds eye, besides being the birthday of Jesus, is a history of this nations good fortune. Sadly that same good fortune has caused us to over look the real reason for the holiday. Christmas and the magical atmosphere of the season is lost on adulthood. How many of us will proclaim the feeling of being happy when its over..

Merry Christmas to all............

Larry Ennis