The Almighty and Powerful and Eternal creator of all the is , was, and shall be, chose to be with us in the flesh. He came through the womb and was born just as we were, in flesh and blood and completely vulnerable, save the Grace that was and is His , to have and to give. A baby, a newborn. He not only came to save us from sin, but to know us so completely, he was formed of the same stuff we are, he was made up of what he himself made. It does not matter that we do not have the day and time or season correct. God came to us, walked with us, and chose to know death, as we do, and showed us that there is no death with Faith. But today and tonight we ponder on his birth, his gift of life through his life. We are not Hebrews, mandated to worship and come to him by strict rules and rituals, forbidding this and allowing that.No, we come to him as we are, with our cultural practices, with our traditions , but we give glory to Him. A tree with lights is not pagan , unless we are worshiping a tree, but we are not. We use symbols of light to represent HIS light, a light that darkness cannot extinguish. And so, we recognize his birth at the time of year when light does return, on an earthly realm. Peter was given a vision as he set out on his ministrey, a dream, where all foods were allowed, that there be no dietary laws to adhere to, as in the old days before Christ. It is not required to join the body of Christ with circumcision. All that is required is Faith and belief. Enjoy Christmas, everyone, as you teach your children about the birth of Christ as written in the Gospel, as you let them know what a miracle came to us as a little child. Your Faith will not be judged because of a tree, or a practice that we do of gift giving which came from a real man, Saint Nicholas. God knows who loves him and who he saved, he does not have strict laws to follow, in custom and food and ritual. All that is required is the truth of HIS BEING in the form of Gods son, who died and resurrected so that we all may live. So please, have yourselves a merry little Christmas, Emmanuel has come, rejoice!