Have you ever wondered why Christmas is often designated as Xmas? Contrary to what you might think, it is not a scheme devised by commercial ventures to avoid the mention of Christ.  I credit the Blog Dictionary site (http://blog.dictionary.com) for an explanation of how it came about. The term "Xmas" was first used in the mid 1500s.  X is the Greek letter "chi" which is the initial letter of the Greek word for Christ. X has been an acceptable representation of the word Christ for hundreds of years. This device is known as a Christogram. The mas in Xmas is the Old English word for "mass." (I'm sure you've long since figured that one out!) In the same vein, the dignified terms Xpian and Xtian have been used in the place of the word Christian.

     That being said, one could say - forgive me this play on words - regarding the birth in Bethlehem of our Christ, that " X " marks the spot where the entire cosmos, and most importantly, humankind, were profoundly and forever changed. Indeed the infant Jesus' humble, rough-hewn manger suddenly became the center of the universe for Heavenly adoration and earthly wonder of salvation come!

     Some years back, I was gifted a book titled God With Us : Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas. The excerpt I include below describes a nativity tradition that, for me, resymbolizes the manger in a very personal way. I hope it does for you, too.