A man might then behold
At Christmas in each hall
Good fires to curb the cold,
And meat for great and small.
The neighbors were friendly bidden,
And all had welcome true,
The poor from the gates were not chidden
When this old cap was new.
- Washington Irving, "Old Song"
An old friend has been mulling over Christmas and Jesus. I respect his argument as a Christian. Especially because he seems like an uber-Christian, one genuinely trying to make intelligent sense of his religious views.
However, his posting got me thinking again about my own hangups/issues with Christmas. I think that my conclusion today/this hour is . . . shocker . . . that Jesus does not necessarily belong in Christmas. Perhaps that's what feels so odd about it. It's never been a snug fit actually. The merriment of a party in winter does not really align itself very well with the birth of a prophet in the Middle East sometime in the spring.
Jesus wasn't born at Christmas. Science and history know this. What was attempted was the merging of a celebration of that birth with the feast of Isis in ancient Babylonia. Um. Not a lot of commonality there. Raucous partying and celebrating don't seem to mesh too well with the birth of a to-be-executed religious ascetic.
In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them. -from PageWise
Now Easter? That's a holiday for Christians. Go for it. Have at it. Remember all that sacrifice and eat your ham and mashed potatoes and sing somber songs and wear bright funny hats and itchy dress clothes and sermonize to your heart's content. That's a Christian holiday.
I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I just don't think Christmas necessarily needs to be Christian. Of course, that sounds odd I know, considering the name of the holiday, but maybe we need to call it something else - a Yule celebration or a winter solstice celebration. It makes sense to party around the longest night of the year in hopes of all that is to come. It makes sense to reflect back on a year past and prepare for the new year. This calls for feasting and celebration, and fantastic good spirits.
I'm not a wiccan or a pagan, and I'm not trying to take Christmas away from the Christians. Everyone can continue to celebrate in the way they see fit - I'm just saying, perhaps some of this dis-ease with the holidays comes from the misalignment of two holidays that don't quite fit together. Ah, perhaps there's the rub - perhaps Christmas has always been a square peg trying to fit in a round hole.
Why, for that matter, does every major holiday have to be religious? Christians can celebrate the ending of one year and the coming of the next, or the joyfulness evidenced by these ancient pagan rites without undoing their Christian faith. There is a segment of Christianity that strikes me as incredibly cowardly or stingy - all holidays have to somehow align with their particular world view or they're not appropriate. Heaven forbid someone actually had fun in a way that had nothing to do with the Lord!
This putting Christ back in Christmas is nothing new - I've heard it all my life. Certainly, the commercialization has gotten worse, and more crass, but that's just capitalism run amuck. As it does with everything. The one holiday that seems to stay a little pristine is Easter - perhaps that should tell Christians something. I know that on Easter in my house growing up, it wasn't about the Easter bunny. Sure, we got baskets of chocolate and colored eggs, but we also got something religious, along with a new outfit for church.
Christmas, though, was very different. It was candy canes, and Santa Claus, and generous gifts, and stockings overflowing, and holiday specials, and Christmas services at church that were not boring or long where we wore our pajamas and sang carols. And I think that's okay - because the Christmas season does not simply encompass the story of Christ. It has more ancient roots - and perhaps we feel this a little as a culture. The need to celebrate in winter, to believe that the days will grow shorter, that the sun will return, crops grow, water flow, and that we'll all get along and have peace.
I say, in the big picture, that's not so bad. Perhaps the concentration needs not to be on getting Christ back in Christmas, but in keeping the holiday season in general out of the hands of advertising, the media, and all the other incredible hackneyed and pathetic ways people attempt to make money by taking advantage.
Enjoy your holiday, however you celebrate it.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
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Well, I have been following the analysis of the Christmas holiday about the web, including here and at Tripp's blog. I find it all very interesting. I see validity on all sides while not necessarily feeling the same as anyone.
Yet, I wanted to add my 2cents, which extends beyond the Christmas argument itself. (And, I shall post it here since I am not theologically savvy enough to try to do so in Tripp's blog.)
As a Christian (that is, I have accepted Christ as Savior, along with all the beliefs that come with that), I often find myself reminding people there is a distinction between a Christian (capital "C" - as defined above) and a christian (small "c" - as in, someone who is not Jewish, Muslim, atheist, etc., probably believes in God, may even go to church, and is probably fairly conservative).
I think, particularly in this year of W and in this season, we hear a lot about and from people I would more likely consider christians. Those are the people who I think sometimes try to force things together in a way that is unnatural somehow. Those are people, like many members of my family, who don't touch their religion much except around holidays, then it seems weird. I think, for my way of thinking, these are the people who fuel a lot of discontent because they try too hard. These are the people, as Sunni suggests, should probably just celebrate the solstice or what have you along with all the other non-Christians, because it would be easier.
Then, those of us left, the Christians, can reconcile the secular and religious how we choose. For instance, in my house we totally teach that Jesus was not born at Christmas, but it happens to be a good time for a holiday. We add a religious spin on many of the traditions, and seem to easily, as a family, see Jesus in lots of places this time of year (and no, I don't mean in ceramic nativity scenes). I find, as a Christian, I am challenged to revive myself spiritually. We read more scripture together. We sing more religious songs (and secular ones for that matter). We also talk about how our beliefs are different than our good friends around the block who are Jewish. It's a good, healthy time as a family to examine where we are in our relationship with Christ. I think we do this much more now that we have had 5 Christmases with our daughter than we did as a married couple. Perhaps, even from a Christian standpoint, Christmas is for kids in many way.
I think I might be an anonmaly on this (as I so often seem to be on other issues) because I consider myself a social liberal in most areas, conservative in terms of many religious beliefs, and yet somehow the two for me go together just fine (but that is a long discussion for another time).
Just something to ponder.....
Hey guys, this is great. I thought a little more on my blog. Thanks for continuing the conversation.
Given what has become of Christmas, I would think that true believers in the divinity of Jesus would want to completely abandon the holiday altogether. As Sunni correctly points out, there is no evidence that Jesus was born during this time of the year (nor, incidentally, is there any evidence supporting any of Christmas story as told by the Matthew and Luke gospels). Since the date was chosen arbitrarily, why not just pick another date and start over? How about the third Sunday in September, after the children are back in school but before everyone is thinking about Haloween? Set it aside as a somber day of thought and reflection and vigorously oppose any attempt to commercialize it.
As for Christmas, how about we give it a name that is more fitting for what it has become? How about "Presents Day", "Gimme day", "Keep our ecconomy going day", or "See how well advertising works day"?
Ah, D - you have always been so sentimental about the holidays.
Would it not be so logistically difficult, observing Christmas on another day is not such a bad idea.
Short of an easy way to do that, true Christians should make every effort to use this season in a way that would glorify Christ, and a spirit of giving is a good way to do that. (And, by giving, I don't necessarily mean with store bough presents. We do lots of making and baking around here.)
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