Added: 01/09/2007 |
A Different Angle on the Christmas AngelAny mother, who has struggled to create an angel costume for a church performance, may have wondered how the public developed its fascination with the Christmas angel. As with any enduring symbol, there are many possible explanations. Below you will find an explanation that promises to offer a new angle to the story about the presence of angels among the general Christmas decorations.
According to Biblical writings, voices in the heavens spoke to shepherds in the field on that first Christmas morning. Perhaps the shepherds mentioned those voices to Mary and Joseph. Then maybe Mary and Joseph said something to the “three kings from the east” about the voices in the heavens.
If those “kings from the east” had walked to Bethlehem from Persia, then they would have been familiar with the term “angel.” Persian poets had written about angels. Perhaps those “kings from the east” helped to perpetuate the tale of the first Christmas angel.
That possible chain of events gains more credence when one observes the tops of Christmas trees. While most trees have a star, some trees display on top a model of the first Christmas angel. Perhaps when the kings from the east spoke about their guiding star, they also mentioned the stories about the Christmas angel that had appeared to the shepherds.
Maybe the story about the Christmas angel helps to explain the popularity of the Christmas symbols in the country of Iran. Iran is a predominantly Muslim county. Yet the people of Iran sometimes seek to copy the beautiful Christmas decorations found in Western countries. Perhaps Iranians find it easy to identify with the angelic Christmas symbol.
The native people of the Americas did not have a tradition that included the idea of angels. Such native people, however, were close to nature. The native peoples of the Americas would have been quick to use the gifts of nature in any Christmas ornaments. Perhaps the native people of the Americas encouraged the creation of the concept known as “Christmas bears.”
On the other hand, “Christmas bears” may have evolved from the creation of the Teddy Bear. That toy was designed by a craftsman following news reports that Teddy Roosevelt had shot and killed a bear while hunting. No doubt, on the year when that Teddy Bear first appeared, there were many stuffed bears under the various Christmas trees.
Maybe those stuffed bears were the first toy to have popularity much like that of the talking Elmo. Maybe the stores at that time reported long lines of people waiting to buy a Teddy Bear. One wonders, however, how a stuffed Elmo could ever replace a Teddy Bear. One wonders how a stuffed Elmo could ever become a symbol of Christmas.
Both the Christmas angel and the Christmas bears have become symbols associated with the spirit of the Christmas season. They characterize the season’s warmth, and its message of “peace on earth.” Until present-day toy manufacturers can come up with a toy that the public associates with the same ideals, no popular toy is apt to become a lasting Christmas symbol.
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