Christmas: A Debate

Posted on December 10, 2003 in Crosstalk Festivals Myths & Mysticism

I’m staying out of this, but the discussion is worth reading from both ends. First, Pen of The Gutless Pacifist criticizes the choice of the day for the celebration, Santa Claus, and the practice of running yourself ragged to make sure that all your relations and friends have received a present:

I am sure we would all agree that our celebrations of Christmas are odd, over indulgent and at times misrepresented. I am afraid Jesus would feel a little out of place at our Christmas celebrations — especially if he had to elbow Santa, Rudolph, and those darn elves out of his seat at the table!

Then Camassia summarizes Pen’s attitude as “Bah Humbug!” and accuses him of throwing out his new born daughter with the bathwater — wait — that’s not what she meant. She does affirm that consumerism drives many of us to the edge every year as we storm the malls and trample each other for the sake of $29 DVD players. But not celebrate?:

I don’t think that should slip into a puritanical distrust of anybody having a good time. The pastor at my former church pointed out that Jesus loved going to weddings, which in ancient Judea were huge wingdings with lots of eating, drinking and dancing that could go on for days. You might call it wasteful, but Jesus didn’t seem to see it that way. In fact, his most notable act at a wedding was to replenish the booze.

We keep our Christmases simple in these parts, mostly because we are not blessed with children. I don’t know how long we would last keeping the feast Stoic if we have children and, knowing that this is Pen’s first Christmas with a new baby girl, I wonder if his attitude will last through her second, third, etc. Many parents give in to the wonder in their child’s eye and the whines that come after teachers have their classes compile letters to Santa and lists of what they want to be delivered to their parents.

The hard season is in front of us all. The best thing, I aver, is to get out and get as much sun as possible so seasonal affective disorder doesn’t cloud our thinking as we prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ in the darkest time of the year.