 |
Morning thoughts from Pastor Tim |
|---|
| Good Morning! This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. |
|---|
Santa Clause is sometimes referred to as Kriss Kringle, a name most likely derived from Christ Kindl (Christ-child).
The German name of the Christ Child is Christkind, commonly used in its diminutive form Christkindel.
The Dutch-German protestant reform movement brought in the idea that the Christchild should be the standard bearer for Christmas. Traditionally an image used for his messenger was a young child with a golden crown who holds a tiny “Tree of Light”, and brings the gifts of the Christ Child.
The transformation from Christkindl to Kris Kringle did not take many generations, especially with intermarriage between the Pennsylvania Dutch and the English settlers in the America.
So despite the intentions of the Protestant reform movement, the original meaning of the word faded.
Once thought to be the Christchild’s chief helper, the image of Kris Kringle has over time reverted to an image of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus).
The name Kris Kringle is still strangely popular as the Santa Claus of some Pennsylvania Dutch web Pages today.
He carries a tiny Christmas tree and enters the house through a window left open.
When he has left the presents, he rings a bell allowing the household to know of his departure.
Thus “Kris Kringle” a name deriving from the German Christ Kindel is another name for Santa Clause.
So, whilst “Santa Clause” is more popular and recognizable the world over, to some people Kriss Kringle or Kris Kringle (an Anglicanized version of the German words for Christ Child) has become used as another synonym for Santa Clause.
While the idea of Santa Clause may have slowly evolved from Christ Kindl, the truth is in the fact that the Christ 
Child, Jesus, has given us a great gift, which is upheld by the Word.
When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. Eph 4:8
The gift He gave for each of us is eternal life; it is the gift of God. Rom 6:23
So celebrate Christmas but always remember that the Babe of the manger, the real Christ Kindl, gives the greatest gift.
Morning Thought with Pastor Tim 
PT, you just brought back memories of my childhood, my family is Pennsylvania Dutch, I was raised in Bethlehem, Pa. another tradition, they have in that area, is the Putz’s, ( it is a large Moravian area also) and you can go to people houses, they ussually have these set up in their basement, and they are beautiful, it is a nativity that is ussually quite large, it can have running water, for the streams, and as you start the tour, you see the angel coming to Mary, and it continues all the way to the birth of Christ, the tour ussually takes about an hour to view, I didn’t mean to change the subject, but thought I would share another tradition they have in that area. I know Adam and I never taught our children there was a Santa Claus, our reason was, if they grow up beleiving in Santa Claus, when they find out, there really is no Santa, are they going to think, there really is no Jesus either? Children believe what mom and dad teach them, and if we tell them Santa is real, and Jesus is real, aren’t we deceiving them? They need to know, Jesus, is the reason for Christmas, we are celebrating His birth, not Santa Claus, we used to bake a birthday cake, with Happy Birthday Jesus on it, to make sure they knew why, we were celebrating Christmas. If you get a chance, look up the Bethlehem, Pa. area , also known as the Christmas City, you may be able to see some of the putz’s they have there, and the tradition of the Moravian church, very interesting, the orriginal buildings are still there, from when they settled in the area, it was a beautiful place to grow up in. Great MT’s today!
LikeLike
Pingback: Random Thoughts On Christmas | Right Cogency
Pingback: Christmas Thoughts in 2011 | Right Cogency