The Christmas Story

The idea of celebrating Jesus' birth was done to counteract pagan holidays  celebrated in Rome during the Winter Solstice. Church leaders thought Christmas  celebrations were more likely to be popular if they coincided with the  traditional festivals and merrymaking during the Winter Solstice. 

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Although some Christmas celebrations are secular, the religious aspect of  Christmas remains central to celebrations. This is evident in church services  such as Midnight Mass and primarily in the many forms of the Nativity, or  Christmas Story, presented wherever people celebrate Christmas. 

That story started in Nazareth in Galilee about two thousand years ago.  Mary, a young woman, was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. An angel appeared  to her one day and told her she was with child. She couldn't understand how that  could happen because due to her circumspect nature, she had not laid in bed with Joseph. The angel explained however, that the child would be special as he would be the Son of God and his name was to be Jesus. Mary and Joseph then got married 

soon after the angel's appearance.. But about the time when Mary was to have the baby, the couple had to travel far away to Bethlehem, Joseph's birthplace, to 

pay a special tax.

It was difficult for them to find a place to stay because many other people were in Bethlehem to pay their taxes. After many rejections, one innkeeper offered a room in his stable where they could spend the night. That's where Jesus, the Holy Child and Son of God was born and then wrapped in bundles of cloth and placed in a manger for a cradle.

In the same hours that Mary was giving birth, shepherds who were in a field that overlooked Bethlehem saw an extremely bright star over the sky in Bethlehem. They had never seen anything like it and had feelings of curiosity and scariness. An angel appeared and told them the 'good news' that the Son of God had been born in Bethlehem.

The shepherds left their flocks to go to Bethlehem to find the baby. When they reached the stable, they were filled with immense joy at seeing Jesus. They fell to their knees and worshipped Him. They also told Mary and Joseph about the bright star and the angel appearing to say Jesus would be the Savior of the world.

The bright star was also seen by Wise Men in the east. The Wise Men, who studied the stars, learned that a new and great ruler would appear whenever an extraordinarily bright star appeared in the sky. Three of them therefore set out to find the new ruler. They first visited King Herod in Jerusalem because they thought the child would be born in the palace. But when they asked to see the child who would be the new ruler, King Herod was very worried as he thought he would be removed from the throne. King Herod told the Wise Men that when they found the baby, they should return and tell him so that he could also worship the baby. 

The Wise Men used the star as a guide to go to Bethlehem where they found Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus who they worshipped and offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Wise Men are celebrated in some Christmas celebrations on Jan. 6, known as the Epiphany to mark the date when they found Jesus. Later in the night the three Wise Men had a dream in which an angel told 

them that King Herod wanted to kill Baby Jesus. They left Bethlehem to return to the East but didn't return to Jerusalem to tell King Herod where they had found the child. Joseph also had a dream soon after the Wise Men left in which an angel appeared and told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because Herod had ordered that Jesus be killed. In an effort to kill Jesus after the Wise Men did 

not return to inform him of the baby's whereabouts, Herod later ordered that all baby boys in Bethlehem should be killed. But by then Mary and Joseph had left with Baby Jesus.

Taking Jesus Out of Christmas

I am sure you have all heard by now how the secular forces in our country are attacking the true meaning of Christmas. These secular forces are trying to literally replace the term "merry Christmas" with "happy holidays." They are trying too re-name our traditional Christmas tree as the "holiday tree." They are trying to take out the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph from the manger scenes.

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President Bush himself has taken out the term "merry Christmas" from his yearly standard Christmas card that he sends out in an attempt to try and be politically correct. Many of our major department and retail stores have also replaced the term "merry Christmas" with "happy holidays" for fear of offending the minority in our country if they are not Christians.

In the last poll I saw taken, it has been estimated that 80-85% of the people in our country still consider themselves to be Christians. We are thus looking at 15-20% of our population either being atheists, agnostics or of another faith and religion.

In an effort to try and appease and not offend this small minority, many in the political, academic and social fields are literally trying to take out the true meaning of Christmas - the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And surprisingly, many liberal Christians are now in this secular camp.

I have seen many of them on the local news and cable talk shows. They are telling the rest of us conservative and traditional minded Christians that we are getting too upset over nothing, that we should be willing to completely separate Church from state, that we are too thin skinned and that we need to go along with this secular agenda and take our faith and belief right out of any kind of public arena.

As a result of this dark side attack, many Christians have risen up and have done battle with the secular forces trying to remove Christianity from the public square. We have been successful in some of the court battles along with some of the battles against some of the schools who are also trying to remove every tenant of Christianity in their teaching systems.

For those of you who don't know what the word "secular" means, Webster's Dictionary describes it as follows:

"Worldly, profane, heathen. Relating to worldly things as distinguished from things relating to church and religion; not sacred or religious, temporal."

Another term that you will often hear is the phrase "secular humanism." Webster's describes this term as follows:

"Humanism that systematically opposes the introduction of religious ideas or standards into the functions of the state, especially into public education. A system of doctrines and practices that disregards or rejects any form of religious faith and worship."

Remember this word. You will be seeing a lot more of this demonic movement in the coming years.

Per the series of articles I have done on all the end time events that will be occurring before Jesus returns to us for His second coming, one of the heavier signs that will be occurring will be the moral disintegration of many people from all walks of life.

The Bible tells us that in the latter days many people will become lovers of self, boasters, proud, blasphemers, unthankful, unholy, slanderers, brutal, without self-control, headstrong and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. The Bible also tells us that some of these people will be falling for "doctrines of demons."

There is no doubt in my mind that the secular agenda and their basic philosophy is a demonic doctrine straight from the pit of hell. Not only do they not believe in God - but they want to try and take Him right out of any kind of pubic arena - even if they are considered to be in the minority!

You thus have liberal judges, teachers, professors and politicians who are doing everything they can to try and remove God from all of the public areas of our life. They are doing everything they can to try and remove the Bible and the Ten Commandments from every major public area of our lives.

Many of our school children have literally lost their faith in God and Jesus by the time they graduate from some of these liberal and secular colleges. If that child has not been raised up with a good, solid Christian upbringing, he will become easy prey for some of these demonic professors who are teaching them that man does not need a God to answer too and that man and science can eventually solve all the world's problems.

What you will find that is really funny in all of this is that these secular forces are not attacking any of the other false religious faiths and beliefs. They are not attacking any of their holidays or trying to take out any of their system of beliefs out of our public arenas.

The reason for that is that all of these other false religions and beliefs are not considered a threat to them and their beliefs. Christianity is the only faith and religion that will draw a major battle line in the sand and call out things the way they really are. Christianity is the only faith that will call man as he really is - a sinner in need of a Savior.

Secularists don't want to be told that they are all sinners. They don't want to be told that they need God's grace and mercy through the death of Jesus Christ in order to receive redemption and a pardon for their sinful states and natures.

They don't want to be told what they can and cannot do. They want total freedom of expression and they don't want to have to answer to a real live living God for the moral decisions they want to make with their lives. In other words, they do not want any moral absolutes dictating how they should live in this life.

This is why you are seeing such a fierce and relentless attack on Christianity in every area that they think they can get away with. With us now approaching what I believe are the latter years as told to us in the Bible, I am afraid that not only is the secular movement not going to be going away, but it will be getting stronger in the coming years, eventually leading up to a real live antichrist who will literally be ruling this entire world for the last 7 years on this earth.

Stay Sane This Holiday Season: 7 Tips To Make Your Life Easier

The stress of the impending holiday season is enough to take an experienced host out of their Thanksgiving turkey, tryptophan-induced coma and turn them into a Christmas-crazed, Black Friday maniac.  With these seven helpful hints, avoid the fervor of the masses and retain your sanity.

Kids Christmas Activities And Games

1. Delegate!
Although hosting the perfect holiday celebration may feed your ego, it may also provide you with sleepless nights before the big event.  Don't be afraid to delegate tasks.  Send your spouse to the store with a list of last-minute items; have your kids vacuum and clean up around the house.  When a guest asks what they can help with or bring, don't look a gift-horse in their courtesy offer.

2. Watch the clock.
If you know the post office or the grocery store becomes chaotic at 4:30 pm every afternoon, plan your trips accordingly.  Avoiding long lines, impossible parking and crazed consumers will help you keep your cool.  If you cannot fit these tasks into your schedule at any other time, see tip number one!

3. Check vacation balances at work.
Don't be afraid to ask a member of management or Human Resources to check your vacation and floating holiday balances.  Many companies do not roll vacation balances to the next year; if this time is not taken, it is lost.  Use this forgotten vacation time to finish last-minute details and errands.

4. Give your hand a break!
When contemplating all the Christmas cards, holiday invitations and thank-you notes to be written, you may already have a hand cramp.  Buy an <A HREF="http://www.rubberstamps.net">address stamp</A> for those envelopes or a “Season’s Greetings” stamp for your correspondences.

5. Stay healthy.
Get eight hours of sleep each night, drink enough fluids and take your vitamins.  While you're busy taking care of guests, family and friends, don't forget to take care of yourself.

6. Shop online.
Although there's something immediately gratifying about leaving the store with a fistful of shopping bags, shopping online can eliminate the insanity of the in-store experience.  Many online stores offer free shipping, "receive by Christmas" guarantee dates or a huge variety of gift ideas.  Shop online and avoid the mob flocking to the local mall.

7. Remember the "reason for the season."
Instead of allowing the stress and circumstances to overwhelm you, take a moment to reflect on why your family and friends are gathering.

Follow these seven tips this holiday season and watch your tension levels melt away.  Don’t traumatize yourself by obsessing over unfinished tasks.  That’s what family is for.

Spread Some Christmas Cheer Without Breaking the Bank

If asked most people will say that the best part of the Christmas season is all the beautiful decorations and yummy food! Everyone loves all the sweets, cookies, cakes, pies and candy, but they also like all the cheery and warm decorations that abound everywhere!

Kids Christmas Activities And Games

If you're on a tight budget you may feel like you can't offer much for the holidays, but as they saying goes, 'it's not the cost of the gift that counts, it's the thought'. Just take a look around at what you have to work with, and of course you can always give some kind of baked goods or other homemade goodies.

When my children were small we didn't have much money, but I would make big batches of different kind of cookies and then put them in cookie tins or on sturdy paper plates wrapped in cellophane! They were always one gift I knew would always be loved regardless if the recipient were young or old!

Decorating is another thing that can be done without having a big budget to work with. Maybe you have some decorations from previous years or you can pick up some simple red, green and gold streamers to decorate around the house.

If you have some old Christmas baby clothes or stuffed teddy bears around perhaps you could put them in a small child's chair by draping the sweater over the chair and have the bear sitting snuggled in the corner of the chair. Find a nice corner of the room to place the chair,or near the tree if possible.

Candles are another thing that always add a nice touch and they can provide the atmosphere with some wonderful scents as well. The small votive candles are inexpensive and can be used in a number of ways for decorations. For instance you could put some votive candles floating on some water in a festive bowl of some kind or place them in groups of 3 on a small plate and scatter them around on the end tables or coffee tables.

Candy canes are always popular and don't cost much. You can hang them around at various places or make some candy cane bouquets and place them in some green or red glasses or other festive glasses you may have. It's not about much you spend it's about spreading a little Christmas cheer in the best way you can.

Holiday Winners, Losers, And The Vicious Cycle Of Debt

Holiday shopping brings bargain hunters and retail outlets together to fight it out over the once mighty dollar. As always, there are winners and losers in this economic game. The winners from the business side are the retailers that met or exceeded their sales expectations. The winners from the consumer’s side are those of us who did not overspend, or break our holiday shopping budget. Of course, you must first need to know what your holiday shopping budget is in order to know if you have won that game.

The losers on the business side are the retailer who did not meet their sales expectations. Of this group, the big losers are the small, locally owned shops without any corporate backing. This group must find ways to pay for excess inventory, and extra hours worked by their employees. Unfortunately, this could mean borrowing money. Which of course leads to further reductions to the bottom line in the form of increased interest payments.

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Another unfortunate occurrence is when these small retailers no longer can obtain a quick loan, or cannot receive more credit from their vendors. They may turn to business credit cards to “bail them out”. This is a huge gamble, as credit cards usually carry higher interest rates that can increase at any time, just because the bank wants them to. Businesses that use credit cards to fund parts of their business operations are setting themselves up for a vicious cycle of debt. This should always be avoided.

As for the consumers, the losers of course are those who overspend on holiday gifts. The biggest losers are those who overspend using their credit cards, and do not immediately pay them off. Even while paying a bit more than the monthly minimum, after adding interest and fees, it could take months, or even years to pay off just one season of holiday shopping. And we start this all over again in less than 11 months.

What about those consumers who did not break their holiday spending budget? Did they win? Well if they shopped using cash, checks, or debt cards, then yes, they are the winners. However, if their spending budget was based on the fact that they could charge their purchases, and make small monthly payments, then they too are losers in this game. Interest on the debt built up over the gift giving season can easily break anyone’s budget. Most people do not stop to calculate the interest paid on specific purchases, and the banks will not help you do this. For too many people, the finance charge on their monthly statement is just another line item. Just part of life, or part of their expenses that can’t be avoided. We get to pay that in small monthly payments too. Plus more interest.

Holiday Family Entertainment: Multimedia Slideshows

Holidays should be a time for families to get together and catch up on the past year. But, these days with so many distractions (Xbox, Blackberries and iPods) it’s a lot harder to promote positive family interaction. So when attention spans are short, headphones are on and cell phones are ringing it might leave you asking what happened to that Norman Rockwell family holiday? Unless you can compete with the latest technology and stimulate all the senses there’s not much chance of hearing about winning the state championships or the camping trip to Yellow Stone this summer.

The only answer is to bring technology and interaction into the holiday by proposing a multimedia presentation contest. It might sound extravagant and even impossible to you, but rest assured many school aged children and teenagers know how to build slideshows in PowerPoint or even produce a video on their computer. The best thing about having a family multimedia presentation is that it’s a great activity that all ages can enjoy together.

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To keep it fun and creative ask the participants to build a photo slideshow or video essay of what they what to share about their year. This can include scanned photos, digital photos, or even video clips put together in a computer presentation format that can be easily shared. Since production could be time consuming make sure you give everyone enough time to pull everything together. Also, if you have a large family having a competition between family members adds more fun and excitement to the gathering. If you don’t have a large family, having the kids put together one large presentation works well.

A good way to set up the competition is to have the children of each separate immediate family put together a presentation. This way you ensure that everyone gets their turn and it builds a little friendly competition. Scoring is easy; every presentation gets a score from one to ten on the following three categories: content, production and presentation skills. The one with the highest total score by adding up all three categories wins. If you want to up the stakes you could even handout family Oscars.

To make your family presentation more impactful try projecting the presentation on a large wall using a PC projector or hook it up to a large screen TV. These days family time is almost non-existent, a family multimedia presentation is a good way to change that and who knows if might even become a fun family tradition.

Fancy Tales Related to Christmas

A lot of what is widely regarded as true about Christmas or held as a
tradition cannot or has not been verified, or, has changed through the years.
Even Christmas Day itself, Dec. 25, has been questioned about whether that is
the exact day on which Jesus was born. Skeptics have asked why would shepherds
be out in the cold watching their flocks by night during the winter. Those
skeptics have put forward the thought that Jesus may really have been born in
the spring instead. It is therefore little wonder that there are many fancy
stories and tales that are told about Christmas and the Christmas season.
The most common fancy tale that everyone tells, particularly to children,
is about Santa Claus, also called St. Nicholas. But even if it were accepted
that Santa Claus existed, where does he live and how is he able to get to all
the houses of good boys and girls on Christmas Eve?
In the United States, Santa Claus is said to have two homes. There is a
home in Torrington, Connecticut, which is used as a distribution point for Santa
and his many helpers, who are elves, to hand out gifts. And then, a second home
is said to be located in Wilmington, New York, and that is where Santa Claus and
his delivery reindeer crew are located.
But Santa can be visited in Cyberspace at anytime and what about the
widely held belief that Santa Claus really lives in a village at the North Pole?
The people of Finland also claim that their country is the official
residence of Santa Claus. That's because in Finland, you can actually visit a
village any time during the year and see Santa's workshop and observe Santa and
his elves hard at work as they prepare for their very important Christmas gift
delivery job on Christmas Eve. The only day when Santa's workshop is closed to
visitors is of course, on Christmas Eve.
Maybe a very smart visitor could visit Santa's workshop on the day before
Christmas Eve to see if there are any clues to how Santa and his reindeers plan
to make their trip the next day. That's because as the tale goes, in Finland
Santa Claus and his reindeers do not reach their destinations around the globe
by flying.

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Finland welcomes visitors to Santa's workshop but there is nothing said
about whether visitors actually have any chance of having a word with the man
himself. While the chances of doing so are believed to be non-existent, among
the questions that inquiring minds could ask Santa is whether Rudolph is the son
of Donner (and to confirm the spelling - Donner or Donder) or whether Santa
spotted him in a different reindeer village one foggy Christmas Eve when he had
already started on his Christmas toy-delivery mission.
If mere mortals got a chance to question Santa, then he also would likely have
some questions for us humans. He may want to know whose idea was it to have
Christmas trees and for the gifts to be placed under them.
The tradition of Christmas tree as it exists today comes from Germany by
way of immigrants. But it isn't clear how the tradition really gained a foothold
in Germany. One story is that Christians in Germany during the 16th century
started to bring trees that were decorated into their homes. Some of those
Christians would build pyramids for Christmas. The pyramids were made of wood
and would be decorated with evergreens and candles if wood was in short supply.
It is however Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer, who is said to have
been the first to add lighted candles as decoration to a tree based on his
inspiration from the brilliant light of twinkling stars that shone through
evergreen trees as he walked home one winter evening.
As the legend goes, Martin Luther placed a tree in a primary room of his
house and placed wires with small, lighted candles around the branches of the
tree. And that is how, as the tale goes, the Christmas tree as known today, was
started.

Christmas Trivia Quiz

Christmas Quiz

1. Which Christmas tree fact is NOT true?
A. Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones every year since 1991.
B. Nova Scotia leads the world in exporting Christmas trees.
c. Franklin Pierce was the first president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree.
D. The Christmas tree was chosen to represent this holy holiday because it's shape points the way to heaven.

1. Which Christmas tree fact is NOT true?
D. The Christmas tree was chosen to represent this holy holiday because it's shape points the way to heaven.
QQ: OK, so maybe it's true, but the QuizQueen can't prove that fact, as reasonable as it sounds, because it wasn't in any of the literature she dug up for this quiz.

2. Can you name the popular Christmas song that was actually written for Thanksgiving?
A. Jingle Bells
B. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
C. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
D. Away in the Manger

2. Can you name the popular Christmas song that was actually written for Thanksgiving?
A. Jingle Bells
QQ: The song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called One Horse Open Sleigh.  When you think about the words make a lot more sense that way…

3. Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in what year?
A. 1865
B. 1895
C. 1905
D. 1932

B. 1895
QQ: American Ralph E. Morris had the bright idea that electric Christmas lights would be safer than using candles.

4. Good King Wenceslas was king of what country?
A. Bohemia
B. England
C. Germany
D. Morocco

4. A. Bohemia.
QQ: Who knows why those Bohemians always get such a bad rep? Although, history has it that Wenceslas, who lived in the 10th century, was only a Duke, not a King at all.

5. In 8971, the New York Sun newspaper wrote a famous response to a little girl's question: "Yes, _______, there is a Santa Claus."  Can you name that girl?
A. Mary
B. Charlotte
C. Vidalia
D. Virginia

5. In 8971, the New York Sun newspaper wrote a famous response to a little girl's question: "Yes, _______, there is a Santa Claus."  Can you name that girl?
D. Virginia
QQ: Virginia O'Hanlon to be exact! Shame on you, if you missed it.

6. Can you name Scrooge's dead business partner from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol?"
A. Jacob Marley
B. Tiny Tim
C. Bob Cratchett
D. Old William

6. Can you name Scrooge's dead business partner from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol?"
A. Jacob Marley
QQ: The first of four spirits to appear to Scrooge that fateful Christmas Eve was that of Jacob Marley, his old business partner.

7. One of the pagan traditions that Christians have incorporated into their Christmas celebration includes hanging mistletoe.  Which of these is NOT a former pagan belief?
A. Ancient Europeans believed that the mistletoe plant held magical powers to bestow life and fertility as well as protect against disease.
B. French girls used to slip branches of mistletoe beneath their pillows to dream of their future husbands.
C. The Celts believed mistetoe brought about peace and goodwill.
D. Northern Europeans associated mistletoe with the Norse goddess of love, Freya and developed the custom of kissing underneath mistletoe branches.

7. One of the pagan traditions that Christians have incorporated into their Christmas celebration includes hanging mistletoe.  Which of these is NOT a former pagan belief?
B. French girls used to slip branches of mistletoe beneath their pillows to dream of their future husbands.
QQ: That was a tough one, wasn't it?  The QuizQueen is soooo clever…

8. While today the Christmas tree is an enduring symbol of the season, it wasn't always a holiday tradition.  Which historical fact is NOT true?
A. According to legend, Martin Luther, the founder of German protestantism, while walking through the forest on Christmas Eve was so moved by the starlit fir trees he brought one indoors and decorated it with candles to remind his children of God's creation.
B. In 1841, Prince Albert of Germany gave his wife, Queen Victoria of England, a gift of a Christmas tree. This was reputedly the first Christmas tree in England, but the custom quickly spread.
C. German immigrants brought the Christmas tree to Europe, the United States and Canada, where it soon became a popular tradition.
D. On a bet, 11-year-old P.T. Barnum started hawking trees in Connecticut in 1821, telling his marks they were all the rage.  Soon the fashion spread throughout the country and it became tradition, thus establishing his maxim "There is a sucker born every minute."

8. While today the Christmas tree is an enduring symbol of the season, it wasn't always a holiday tradition.  Which historical fact is NOT true?
D. On a bet, 11-year-old P.T. Barnum started hawking trees in Connecticut in 1821, telling his marks they were all the rage.  Soon the fashion spread throughout the country and it became tradition, thus establishing his maxim "There is a sucker born every minute."
QQ: Good 'ole P.T. Barnum did try to sell just about everything, and may in fact have sold Christmas trees, but I doubt he sold them at that age!

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9. Many people are familiar with the term "The Twelve Days of Christmas," but not everyone knows where it originated. Can you pick out the right explanation?
A. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the number of days Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem.
B. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the length of time that the three wise men from the East traveled to reach Baby Jesus after his birth.
C. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the number of reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh.
D. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the length of time required to celebrate Good King Wenceslas' birthday.

9. Many people are familiar with the term "The Twelve Days of Christmas," but not everyone knows where it originated. Can you pick out the right explanation?
B. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the length of time that the three wise men from the East traveled to reach Baby Jesus after his birth.
QQ: And you thought you didn't learn anything practical in Sunday school?

10. Who hasn't wondered what "wassail" is and why people would request it at Christmas. Let's see if you can guess…
A. Wassail comes from the Old Norse "Ves Heill" and means "to be of good health," so when neighbors would visit on Christmas Eve they would drink to each other's health.
B. Wassail comes from the Old German "Ves Heill" and means "to avoid Hell," so loved ones would share this sentiment with each other on Christmas Eve in preparation for the birth of Christ.
C. Wassail comes from the Old Celtic "Ves Heill" and means "drink up" so is naturally associated with all party occasions.
D. Wassail comes from the Old English "Ves Heill" and means drink of the angels and eventually became associated with Christmas.

10. Who hasn't wondered what "wassail" is and why people would request it at Christmas. Let's see if you can guess…
A. Wassail comes from the Old Norse "Ves Heill" and means "to be of good health," so when neighbors would visit on Christmas Eve they would drink to each other's health.
QQ: Sometimes The QuizQueen can be very, very silly.

11. Everyone loves to receive them, but dreads performing the annual holiday ritual of sending Christmas cards. So who do we NOT have to thank/blame?
A. Medieval Europeans who exchanged wood prints of religious themes for Christmas.
B. English illustrator John Calcott Horsley who created the first modern Christmas card in 1843 that depicted a family celebration with the caption "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You."
C. German-American printer Louis Prang who made advances in color lithography allowing him to mass produce colorful Christmas cards in 1875.
D. Desmond Hallmark who had a surplus of cards left over from Arbor Day depicting a fir tree and decided to unload them by the box by simply printing Merry Christmas across the trees in red ink.

11. Everyone loves to receive them, but dreads performing the annual holiday ritual of sending Christmas cards. So who do we NOT have to thank/blame?
D. Desmond Hallmark who had a surplus of cards left over from Arbor Day depicting a fir tree and decided to unload them by the box by simply printing Merry Christmas across the trees in red ink.
QQ: While all except poor Desmond can be held responsible, The QuizQueen truly blames Louis!

12. Remember that fuscia sweater Aunt Edna knitted for your Christmas present last year? Don't blame Aunt Edna, she's not the one who started the Christmas gift giving tradition, so who is?
A. Those three wise men who visited the stable where Jesus was born.
B. The ancient Romans who exchanged gifts to bring good fortune for the new year.
C. Mark Antony who was always looking for new ways to please Cleopatra.
D. The ancient Greeks who sought to placate the gods on Mount Olympus.

12. Remember that fuscia sweater Aunt Edna knitted for your Christmas present last year? Don't blame Aunt Edna, she's not the one who started the Christmas gift giving tradition, so who is?
B. The ancient Romans who exchanged gifts to bring good fortune for the new year.
QQ: Of course, Aunt Edna is to blame for choosing that color. You can't blame the Romans for that.