Once again, it's Christmas Eve. Christmas is one of the only (maybe THE only) "religious" holiday that's also a national government-approved holiday. How did we get this one past the First Amendment test? A better question might be: How did this become a holiday at all?

There's been a lot of speculation as to whether Jesus was actually born on December 25th. The records are all hearsay, and - considering they were not written by unbiased witnesses - the date is suspect. It's pretty clear, though, that the Catholic church chose to set their important dates the same as the local's pagan festivals.

Easter occurs near the Vernal Equinox. Lent occurs near Imbolc. And, of course, Christmas occurs near Yule. What's interesting is that we still refer to this time of year as the "Yuletide". It still has a very prominent place in our yearly celebrations, with the Christmas tree, wreaths, and all the other décor coming straight from the pagans (and/or Wiccans).

As a kid, we celebrated a secular Christmas. Sure, there was a Crèche on the mantle, and I watched "Little Drummer Boy". For us, though, that was all part of the Big Story - not something we accepted as fact. The bigger focus was on Santa and presents, and the aforementioned co-opted pagan decorations. Religion was never a part of our household. I expect it's been like that for a lot of other households as well.

Christmas Eve was always special, though. We'd have a big dinner (usually prime rib and Yorkshire pudding), because Mom didn't want to have to cook a big meal on Christmas. After that, we'd get to open 1 present, and that was usually new pajamas. Then it was off to bed. The anticipation combined with the calm and quiet of a winter's day where there was no traffic, along with the feel of soft flannel, sent us off to slumberland dreaming of the Big Day.

And then... it was Christmas morning. The best representation of that was in "A Christmas Story":



Here's wishing you all a safe, calm, relaxing Christmas Eve (and Christmas Day), regardless of whether you celebrate it or not.