I don't celebrate birthdays any more due to the age that I would be if I did celebrate them. It's nice though, when people acknowledge this day but where did this idea of the celebration begin? I have found some interesting things that I want to share today.
Some say that celebration of birthdays began as a pagan ritual. They felt like evil spirits would visit on this special day so the gathering of family and friends would protect them from those spirits. Even blowing out candles was believed to be related to the pagan celebration.
Some said that only royalty has big celebrated birthdays that is why when you do genealogy research you can see a lot of records for royalty. Also, that is where the idea of birthday crowns came in.
It has been said that the Germans started birthday celebrations for kids in the 1700's. I also read that Christians didn't actually celebrate birthdays because they were a pagan celebration. There aren't too many records in the scriptures mentioning birthday celebrations so I'm not sure when it became a thing for everyone, but it's all pretty interesting.
http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com/birthday-history.html
Celebrations are good for people. We like to celebrate holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc, face it, people like to party. We feel good when we celebrate great occasions. We surround ourselves with those we love and that helps us feel the joy of the celebration.
As you probably guessed today is the day I was born. I use to think America celebrated my birthday because there would be a big celebration in DC, I finally figured out that it was for the Presidential Inauguration...bummer.
Oh well, a few years ago I decided to not have any more birthdays so I would lose track of how old I was getting. Unfortunately, everyone else remembered. This past Friday, my colleagues at work celebrated by serving a cake and bringing me my favorite flower, the Tulip. It was all very nice and I appreciated their kindness. I shared with them that I do not celebrate my birthday any longer. One team member said well then its your celebration of life. I liked that!
I started reflecting on that idea. I thought of the Savior and how we love to celebrate His life and all that he did for us. I also thought that I could learn to love this celebration if I could look at all the good that we do in this world. Our acts of service and words of kindness throughout that year can be a good reason to celebrate life. So that is what I will be celebrating from now on as I reflect in all the good that I have done and all that I can do the next year.
Celebration of life, I like it...just as long as we don't put a number with it. :)
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