text: I like to give thanks for the seasons, a natural interplay of forces that are more powerful than any human from any time.  The Winter Solstice (on Dec 21) marks the 'return of light' as the earth follows its path around the sun.  Indigenous people used to bring evergreen boughs into their lodges in a symbolic act to 'attract the sun's return', so they ascribed natural processes to natural forces.  No need to set up one human as a supernatural being.  The actual date of Jesus' birth is disputed since his parents went to Judea to register for a Roman census which were not conducted during cold rainy winters ...