Christmas in the East as celebrated by the Orthodox is based upon the Julian Calendar. So when did Western churches decide to move to the Gregorian Calendar? Why in 1582 the then Pope Gregory decided that his calendar was closer to the Solar Calendar. The Protestants went along with this change over a hundred years later. That left the very staid 300 million Orthodox the predominant group to continue on with the tradition of celebrating 13 days later. 14 if you consider in the 2100 leap year will be skipped and the Orthodox will be celebrating on January 8th!
No matter how you celebrate your spirituality or what your traditions are, I wish you all peace, health and happiness as we approach this Christian celebration. We are all more alike than different and the things that separate us are mostly man made and projected forces like inequality, scarcity, hubris, evil oppression and greed (to name just a few). Love and kindness, kindness to share and to help each other does nothing to concentrate wealth or project power. But rather love, mercy, compassion, repentance and care for each other diminishes the very things that divide us. With the World redefining itself in so many ways, and old systems falling away, perhaps the Christmas message would be a great start.
AML
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