Tag Archive - Christmas
I got this email on Friday from Krispy Kreme in Mexico. It really goes to prove the differences in how Americans think about time and how Mexicans think about time.
Making Christmas Memories – 2009 Edition: Part 1
Three Kings Day in Mexico
Today is a continuation of Christmas here in Mexico. On the church calendar, it’s epiphany. But in Mexico, it’s more commonly known as “El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos.”
It’s the day that the Magi arrived to visit baby Jesus. The “three wise men” even have names here: Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar. One of them rides a horse; the other rides a camel; and the other rides an elephant. Of course, they come bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
But for Mexican families, they come bearing presents for the children, too. On the 5th of January, the children write notes to the three kings (Los Tres Reyes) and tie them to helium balloons. Then, when they go to bed, they put their shoes under the Christmas tree (yes, it’s still up), and in the morning, they see what the Three Kings have left for them.
Many families go to the park downtown to get their picture taken with Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar like you would get your picture taken with Santa Claus.
Oh, and of course, there is the Rosca de Reyes, an oval sweetbread, decorated with candied fruit. Each person takes a turn to cut their piece of the bread. Inside the bread, little baby Jesus figurines are hidden. The person who gets the baby Jesus figurine has to host a party for their family and friends on February 2.
So while the rest of the world has moved on and packed away their Christmas things, we are still celebrating the birth of Jesus, thinking about the Magi, and having fun as a family. Happy Dia de los Reyes Magos.
(More information is available here)
(Photos by Christian Frausto Bernal on flickr)
Timing is Everything
I got this email on Friday from Krispy Kreme in Mexico. It really goes to prove the differences in how Americans think about time and how Mexicans think about time.
The purpose of the email was to promote their “new” Christmas doughnuts. However, they sent the email the day after Christmas, and these doughnut styles have been in the stores for weeks now.
Latin American cultures do not think about time like we think about time in the United States. They are not time oriented, nor do they plan very far in advance. I’m generalizing here, but I have observed that, in Mexico, people are much more important than events.
The person who sent this email was probably busy with Christmas parties with friends and didn’t get around to sending the Merry Christmas email until after Christmas.
Either that, or they are really early for next year.
Christmas Day 2008
This Christmas was a lot better than last Christmas. Last year, Nathan was so sick for Christmas that he couldn’t hardly open his presents. This year, however, we got to wake up and have some family time before the craziness of the day.
He got lots of cool toys, including a Leapster (a kids’ educational video game system), some moon sand, a Bullseye horse and from the movie Toy Story (and a Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head set), the game “Ants in Your Pants,” and other things.
We traveled home specifically to spend Ben’s first Christmas with our family (even though my sister lives in Las Vegas…miss you Christy). Since he’s only 5 months old, his presents were basically rattles and some clothes. But he liked them, I think.
Overall, it was a good day, especially for the kids.
Here are a few video slideshows from the day:
Pictures from the camera:
Pictures from my iPhone:
You can also see our flickr set from Christmas 2008.
Christmas Contrasts
I love Christmas Eve. In fact, I think I enjoy Christmas Eve more than Christmas day. I spend a lot of time on Christmas Eve before the rush of family reflecting on the reason for Christmas.
Today, I got to thinking about the contrasts that existed on that first Christmas when Jesus was born. A few things stand out as powerful contrasts in the Christmas narrative.
- The purest of all was born in a dirty stable. Imagine how disgusting that stable was. The innkeeper had to be so busy with the travelers that he had little time to take care of the animals. If each family parked their donkey in there, there had to be a lot of animals in there. And if the animals had been walking along the dusty roads, imagine how dirty they had been. But in that filth, pure baby Jesus was born.
- The most powerful was made powerless. I can’t think of many things more helpless than a newborn baby. But God Almighty became the most powerless creature in the world.
- The one who owns everything now had nothing. According to the Biblical account, Mary and Joseph were a poor family. Newlyweds are almost always poor, but they had their baby with nothing.
- The one who sustains everything couldn’t even hold his head up. The hand of Jesus sustains everything, but a little baby is so helpless, powerless, and weak that he can’t even hold up his head. Babies don’t even control their own body, let alone the universe.
- The independent, self existing One now was dependent on others. The “I Am” who depends on nothing was now dependent on human hands to feed Him, change his diapers, and care for Him for everything.
- The Creator became creation. Jesus, who was there in the beginning and participated in creation, was now part of that creation.
- The light of the world came into the darkness. The world was a dark place. The people of Israel had gone a long time without hearing from God. And in walked the Light of the World.
- Deity became humanity. The one and only God who created and ruled everything became finite. Jesus put away equality with God and became like us, with all the problems that being human brings with it.
- The author and giver of life became vulnerable to death. And He was killed 33 years later. But, of course, God raised Him up and exalted Him higher than all others.
These things will take me more than a lifetime or more to comprehend, but they are all things that I’m thinking about this Christmas. I hope you have a great Christmas, and I pray that these contrasts can draw you closer to the person of Jesus.
I’m contemplating Philippians 2:5-9 this Christmas and the contrasts that it brings.
(Image by c.a. muller on flickr)
Merry Christmas Video
Here’s a quick video we made on Animoto to wish you a Merry Christmas. Hope you have a great Christmas!
You can watch it on animoto here.
