For many years, I’ve done an (almost) annual Christmas blog. I’ve celebrated Christmas a lot of times in a lot of places. They were all different, and all special. This year Christmas is different, but not special. But here goes — my (almost) annual Christmas blog.
I got to wondering the other day — we celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas, but we don’t really think much about him, at least not as a baby.
I was wondering…. how much did he weigh when he was born, and was he a cute baby? Most people think all babies are cute so I expect most would have thought Jesus was cute. But maybe since they thought He was the messiah or a great prophet, they’d probably think he would have been cute just because they’d have positive thoughts about him. But if he was so wise, maybe he looked like a serious little old man. Since there were no iPhones, I guess we can’t know for sure, but I think he was probably cute.
As to how much he weighed, so far as I know, the weight of Baby Jesus isn’t recorded in the Bible — or any historical texts. His birth is described in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but they focus more on the circumstances of his birth rather than specific physical details. Given that He was born as a human child, a good guess would be that he weighed within the typical range of newborn’s weight — probably between five and a half and eight and a half pounds. Of course that’s based purely on speculation.
So now that that’s out of the way, here’s some more stuff you — like me — have been wondering about….
“Silent Night” was first sung as part of a church service in Austria. a guitar was used because the church organ was so badly rusted it couldn’t be played.
Guatemalan adults do not exchange Christmas gifts until New Year’s Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ Child) on Christmas morning.
In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time. Their Dutch counterparts use shoes.
The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally grew in Mexico, where it is also known as the “Flower of the Holy Night.” Joel Poinsett first brought it to America in 1829.
When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on a goat named Ukko. Finnish folklore says that Ukko is made of straw, but is strong enough to carry Santa Clause anyway.
When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied by his servant, Black, who is responsible for actually dropping the presents down the chimneys. He also punishes bad children by putting them in a bag and carrying them away to Spain.
In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by one of the Wise Men’s camels. The gift-giving camel is said to have been the smallest one in the Wise Men’s caravan.
There are 364 gifts mentioned in “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas carols.
America’s official national Christmas tree is located in King’s Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant sequoia called the “General Grant Tree,” is over 300 feet high, and was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.
Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones since 1991.
Franklin Pierce was the first president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree.
Electric Christmas lights were first used in 1854.
So to both my faithful readers, and everyone else, and no matter how your celebrate — have a Merry Christmas.
— 30 —