Well, it is time for my annual rant about putting Christ
back into Christmas.
Not that I want you to, rather, I want people to stop saying
we should.
I mean, really, what part of Christmas and the real world we
live in do you really think is bad? Do the people that are worried about the
way we celebrate the season dislike the light shows on people’s houses which
bring such joy and wonder? Are we all complaining that the music on the radio
and in the mall is about giving, and loving, and sleigh rides, and visiting
family and all of those dangerous ideals? What about this whole giving gifts to
other people and showing our appreciation, surely that is the slippery slope to
moral bankruptcy.
Sorry, I let a little sarcasm slip in there. The thing is,
there is nothing about the season of Christmas as it has been adopted by our
culture that goes against anything I believe in. Although, I should point out
that if you really feel you need to buy someone a car for Christmas, or a
thousand dollar piece of jewelry then you might have a problem recognizing
limits; and for the record I would like an orange Jeep.
But at its heart everything about this time of year is good,
and reflects values that we all want, that we all need, and that are in keeping
with every single religious point of view; including secular humanism. We are
talking about recognizing value, we are talking about giving gifts, we are
talking about family time, and we are talking about feasts and parties… all
good things.
The other thing we tend to forget is that the ways of the
world influence our way of understanding our faith, and that is not a bad
thing. Take the curious story of Santa Clause.
Way back in the early church there was a Bishop, Nicolaus,
who was the patron saint of the poor and of Sailors. His Saint Day is December
6th and he was known throughout history as the one who brought
presents and filled stockings. But Christmas was no big deal in the church; just
another Sunday service with readings about the Virgin Birth.
Then some American Poets got a hold of the idea of Saint
Nicholas… then Coca Cola one upped them and invented him as the jolly old elf
in red fur who brings presents, particularly a case of Coke… and it caught the
public’s attention. Santa Clause became the centre of Christmas and Christmas
became a bigger and bigger deal.
I am of course condensing history into a paragraph so you
know it is slightly distorted, but consider this, before the poem “The Night
Before Christmas” no one thought Santa brought gifts. Before Coca Cola and The
New York Times and Norman Rockwell, no one knew what Santa looked like. Santa
has evolved from Saint Nicholas because of the corporate, secular, advertising
world…. But what they did was make Christmas popular… and the churches needed
to get on the bandwagon.
So here is the rub, post 1930, churches started upping the
ante, adding things to their celebration of Christmas. The protestant mainline
churches never had a Christmas Eve service until the 50’s sometimes not until
the 60’s for example…
So because the world started Christmas shopping, the
churches started celebrating Christ’s birth.
The thing is, there is this feeling out there, no matter who
you are and what you are talking about, that the world is us and them. It never
is. Everything is tied together in unexpected ways. EVERYTHING. And when we
spend our energy trying to convince people they aare doing the right thing for
the wrong reasons, we are fighting a losing battle for no reason.
So put up your silly Holiday trees, wish everyone compliments
of the season, whatever you want to do… it doesn’t matter to me because I am
with Dickens on this one…
“There are many things from which I might have derived good,
by which I have not profited, I dare say… Christmas among the rest. But I am
sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round… as a good
time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in
the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open
their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they
really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures
bound on other journeys… I believe that it has done me good, and will do me
good; and I say, God bless it!”
