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Christmas is one of the most awaited days of the year, especially in countries where the majority of the population is Christian. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior whom Christians believe to be the Son of God. Christmas is usually celebrated in a variety of ways, depending on the traditions and customs of each place. Some people celebrate it in a simple way, while others celebrate it in a more extravagant way.
Usually, people celebrate Christmas in the same way, namely by putting up a Christmas tree and Christmas lights at home, gathering with family and friends, sending gifts to loved ones, and cooking Christmas special foods. Christmas is also often celebrated by singing Christmas carols, reading the Bible, or visiting a church to attend services. Christmas cheer is usually felt in all corners of the city, with houses filled with Christmas lights and beautiful Christmas trees. A sense of warmth and togetherness is also felt throughout the place, with people being friendly and happy with one another. And christmas is a beautiful and warm day for many people, and is one of the most anticipated moments of the year.
As a Muslim, of course I cannot celebrate Christmas with Christians in general, as I discussed earlier "beliefs cannot be mixed up" with one another, however, the warmth of Christmas festivities can still be felt by all people who have relationships (friends, family, co-workers, campus friends, country & community relations) such as sharing happiness posts, sharing videos and various other festivities carried out by Christian friends, I salute to see the festivities that are being carried out, as if -On special days like this there will be nothing else to discuss other than "happiness", just like us Muslims, every Eid arrives, we will not discuss anything other than happiness & visiting relatives' homes, every adherent of religion must have had an extraordinary day in her life and it was a day of celebration.
Even though we embrace different religions and cannot celebrate the same day, that does not mean we cannot share happiness with one another, and conversely we are also not prohibited from receiving gifts given by adherents of certain religions, and in our beliefs " religious tolerance" is everything, a simple way to build good relations with adherents of different religions is on the day of celebration in many ways, one of which is by sharing gifts or greeting someone so that there is no separation between the two, and this will create a more harmonious world and peace, in this case there are interesting words from one of the Muslim leaders in the past "look for similarities in differences" which means we can do something on behalf of "brothers with people who have different beliefs".
What is your best Christmas memory?
specifically nothing, I have never celebrated Christmas before and of course I have never received gifts or other memories of any kind, because I was not at the festivities, but there are other memories with my friends on campus in the past and I still remember them to this day today, let me tell you a little about my friend;
I have a friend from the city of Medan with a distance of 8 hours by land from my city, he is majoring in law at "Malikussaleh University", one of the universities in Lhokseumawe city and the second largest campus in Aceh, and it's great that we study in different majors "he is law while I am economics, he is Christian & I am Muslim" but we met on the first day of college "ospect (campus orientation orientation), one of the activities held for new students, for the first time I did not know that my friend was a Christian , it seems he is closed to me because we just met during ospect, this is normal, but every Sunday when I call him to invite him to enjoy the beach atmosphere he often gives excuses he is busy once, once, twice, three times, I understand my friend's reason, as time went by I wondered why he always refused my invitation, finally I decided to seek I found out and I found the answer, it turns out that my friend is a Christian and every Sunday he goes to church.
finally he was honest and I was happy because he had opened up to me, since then we were like family and did not look at religion in living our daily lives, and right in December 2014 where Christmas day arrived he had returned to Medan to celebrate Christmas with his family, and this is the first time I have a friend with different beliefs, and I know more or less about Christmas, at that time he sent me a photo of himself in a Santa Claus costume with the caption "I am Santa Claus from a philanthropic city that will give value A+ for semester exams", honestly I laughed out loud hearing that sentence.
OMG,, I still remember the white mustache that he wore very thick, almost covering the entire upper lip & nostrils, and to be honest, 2014 was the first day I knew Santa Claus in Christmas celebrations, since then I started calling him "Santa barbara" she actually laughed when i called her by that name, and in the following years she celebrated Christmas openly and unfortunately I was never given the gifts that were on the Christmas tree,, hahhahah Lmao
he only gave me a photo of himself in an all red costume, but unfortunately the photo was lost because my laptop broke, from this incident my friends can learn if there is a special photo just save it in hive or make it as NFT so you can look back on it in later years next year, hive is the best blog for storing photos because hive has the concept that content cannot be changed.
even though I was only sent a photo, but it is still the most beautiful memory for me, because through him I know about Christmas celebrations and especially about Santa Claus, after I searched on the internet and I found interesting facts that Santa Claus is an important figure in celebration a christmas where she secretly gives a gift to someone.
Santa Claus, also known as St. Nicholas, Kris Kringle, and Father Christmas, is a legendary figure who is said to bring gifts to children on Christmas Eve.
The modern image of Santa Claus is based on a variety of influences, including the Dutch Sinterklaas, British Christmas traditions, and the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas"). The North Pole is often associated with Santa Claus, and in some stories, he is said to live there with his wife, Mrs. Claus, and their elves, who help him make toys for all the good boys and girls.
According to legend, Santa Claus has a list of all the children in the world and keeps track of who is naughty and nice. On Christmas Eve, he delivers presents to the nice children and lumps of coal to the naughty ones. In many countries, children write letters to Santa Claus asking for gifts and telling him about their good behavior throughout the year.
Some people believe that Santa Claus has magical powers, including the ability to fly, to see everything that happens in the world, and to know if you've been naughty or nice. In the United States, the Coca-Cola company played a significant role in shaping the modern image of Santa Claus. In the 1930s, the company hired artist Haddon Sundblom to create a series of holiday-themed advertisements featuring a jolly, rotund Santa Claus enjoying a Coke. These advertisements became popular and helped to establish the now-familiar image of Santa Claus as a plump, happy man with a white beard, red suit, and black boots. The city of North Pole, Alaska, has embraced its association with Santa Claus and has a number of Christmas-themed attractions, including a Santa Claus House where visitors can send letters to Santa and have their pictures taken with him.
thanks a lot to Hive-learners for holding a great contest for the Christmas edition, and thanks also to my college friend where he once sent me a photo of himself in a Santa Claus costume and it has become an important moment for me in understanding different religious celebrations, thank you for everyone who has visited the blog & see you in the next post with a different topic.