Some thoughts on Christmas

Some thoughts on Christmas

I’ve commenced to thinking lately (admittedly a dangerous enterprise these days) about this business of Christmas in the 21st Century. The thought police seem to be out and about this time of the year with the pro and con about the use of the word Christmas. It appears that the mention of anything having to do with Christ, Jesus and Christianity and certainly terms like mangers, Son of God, Christ child and the birthday of Jesus are no longer “nice” words to use in public, lest we offend someone who may not be sympathetic to Christianity, or who may be an atheist, or a Hindu or of Jewish extraction.

It seems (or have I just gotten a wrong impression of the trend?) that we can only use references to anything to do with Christianity in conjunction with, and on an equal basis with all the other religious ideas that may be out there in our so-called pluralistic society.

Somehow, it seems to this observer, our society has evolved into an era that demands that no one must be offended. No one must be allowed to hear a dissonant voice. If the voice is dissonant and contrary, it must be silenced or, at best, laid alongside all the rest on an absolutely equal basis. It is not alright to claim that one viewpoint is better, or superior to another. Equality reigns as the supreme religion. Debate is out. Dissonance must not be allowed to resonate.

Thus, if this is the way it is, then why have a holiday at all. There seems to be no reason for the season. If the story of Word becoming flesh, the Word being God and Creator of all things, the Word passing through the human gate of birth into the world to bring sight to the blind, freedom to the captive, health to the sick and life to the spiritually dead is so alarming and so offensive to those who do not choose to believe it and, in imposed fairness, must be kept silent and not mentioned in greetings, in songs and advertisements, then why even have the season with the red and green bows and decorated evergreens? What now motivates us running around excitedly buying gifts for others?

It all becomes hollow and meaningless when motivation is gone and the guilt that drives this kind of giving fades and the façade of something good and noble about spending and giving is toppled over. Revealed is the motivator of money, money generated by the selling of goods, goods for the most part that are unnecessary, but purchased by reason of guilt, driven by motion picture stories, made-for-television spectaculars, ads and media hype.

But, if the greatest gift of all, the gift of life provided and offered for the receiving by the Father God, cannot be mentioned so as not to offend, then the guilt-driven money machine we used to call Christmas and now refer to as Happy Holidays will, in the not too distant future, grind to a halt. I’m not sure that’ll be all that bad. In the meantime, I believe in a God so powerful and so wonderful and so loving that He gave us the gift of Himself and made it possible for every one who will to become His child and call Him Father.

Worth mentioning here is the fact that there have always been those of us who did not fully buy into the commercialism and the gaudiness of “the season” knowing that the date and many of the trappings like trees and reindeer had nothing to do with what happened as recorded in scripture in the city of Bethlehem a long time ago. But I think I will continue to say Merry Christmas when the occasion presents itself.

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