(December 4, 2004)
Thanksgiving is nearly forgotten, Sponge Bob
Square Pants has floated off into oblivion and the Santa Maria has been
replaced by the Santa Claus. The stores are a symphony of Christmas
spirit orchestrated by the shopping elf. The presence of Christmas is,
indeed, presents. Everyone goes "buy buy." Tis the season to run up
credit card debt.
On Black Friday, the Malls became mauls as the
word SALE turned the counters into grab bags. Scraggly Santas coaxed
children onto laps while cameras clicked a remembrance of this special
occasion.
Every year, brains are racked with the annual Christmas
quandary........"who" will receive "what." How much can we afford to
spend and how much will we wind up spending. Nobody wants to appear
cheap. Don't give cash...it's tacky. Gift certificates are a suitable
subtle replacement. And, more importantly, they can be charged.
The
children, having been groomed by televisions ads, are no longer merely
requesting their "two front teeth, " but rather, they have donated their
lengthy Christmas "wish lists" to Santa's surrogates.....Mom and Dad.
Visions of X-Boxes, rather than sugar plums, dance in their heads.
Billions of dollars will be spent on gifts, wrappings, candy,
decorations, and greeting cards in the frenzied spending spree that
appears to begin earlier every year.
Christmas trees ride on
hoods of cars en route to rooms where they will be adorned, ornamented
and lit. Christmas stockings enjoy their yearly hangout by the fireplace
waiting to be stuffed.
In the midst of this manic merriment and
joy to the world, the more contemplative ponder "What is the reason for
this season?" Is it the birth of Jesus the Christ, who was born in a
manger in Bethlehem on December 25th? How did Christmas devolve into
little more than a mandatory ritual of gift exchanging done under the
guise of family togetherness and pleasing the kiddiepoos?
Nowhere
in the Bible is there any mention of the disciples singing "Happy
Birthday Dear Jesus." Nowhere in the Bible is there a command to honor
this day. The Bible is strangely silent. And yet, The American Book of
Days, George W. Douglas, p. 658, speaks loudly on the topic. "The
observance of birthdays was condemned as a heathen custom repugnant to
Christians,"
Some well placed googling reveals that the origins
of this holiday date back over 4000 years, centuries before the Christ
child was born. The twelve days of celebrating, the Yule log, the giving
of gifts and carolers going from house to house can be traced back to
the early Mesopotamians.
The Mesopotamians were polytheistic.
Their chief god was Marduk. Each year, as winter arrived, it was
believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. (I
cannot help but wonder if Marduk frequented the Palisades Mall in West
Nyack) To assist Marduk in his struggle, the Mesopotamians held a
festival for the New Year which lasted 12 days.
The ancient Persians and the Babylonians also had a similar celebration which they called Sacaea.
As
daylight grew short and the Winter Solstice approached, the early
Europeans feared that the sun would not return. Rituals were held to
lure back the "Prodigal Sun." In Scandinavia, the return of that warm
hearted orb was celebrated with a festival called Yuletide. A feast
would be served around a fire burning with a Yule log.
According
to some legends, "Christmas" was invented to compete with the pagan
celebrations in December. The 25th of December was a sacred day for both
the Romans and the Persians, whose religion was Mithraism, one of
Christianity's main rivals. The Church adopted many of the Pagan rituals
in their attempt to make the religion more attractive to converts.
Google
as one may, there is no record of the date of Christ's birth. However,
the computer of logic reveals that it is improbable if not impossible
that it would have been on December 25th. Since the Biblical account
states that the child was born when shepherds were "abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" ( Luke 2:8 ), it is
unlikely that shepherds in Israel would have been sleeping outside with
their flocks during the month of December.
It was not until 350
AD that the Bishop of Rome, Julius 1, chose December 25th as the
observance of Christmas. This was obviously influenced by the ancient
Romans year end festivities to honor Saturn, their harvest god and
Mithras, the god of light. The Roman feast of Saturnalia was a seven-day
festival in honor of the deity Saturn. It began on December 17.
Saturnalia was considered a fun and festive time for the Romans. As
Christianity spread, the Church became alarmed by the continuing
practice among its flock of indulging in customs such as this
Saturnalian feast. If you can't beat 'em ...join 'em. Slowly but surely,
the pagan ritual of using greenery to decorate homes, moved from being
prohibited as idolatry to becoming an accepted custom of the
festivities. Another tradition at the Saturnalia, involved exchanging
candles, clay dolls, and other small gifts.
Did someone say
"small?" There's an endangered word and an endangered tradition. "Small"
these days describes the size of ones bank account as the calendar
flips into January of the new year and people line up at the return
counters of their favorite stores.
"Here she goes again, Grinch Andreas"
Not
at all. Whether the reason for the season is secular or spiritual,
"giving" is a separate issue. With all due respect, however, let's not
confuse runaway materialism, avarice and gluttony with the spirit of
generosity. Gifts come in all shapes, sizes and elements and are not
necessarily located in the material. Gifts need not break the family
bank nor the family's back.
Is it difficult to imagine how the gift of time must feel to the lonely?
One
year I worked in a soup kitchen in New York City. Watching the endless
lines of hungry people coming for their small brown bags broke my heart
over and over again. And the only thing I was giving was my time.
Websites
such as Giving @ Home suggest a variety of services that provide help
for people whose cries would otherwise go unheard. A gift can be
something as simple and economical as "listening."
Holidays are
Holy Days. There are many ways that we can honor them and one another.
Perhaps a little thought might be given to how these occasions can best
be spent. A trip to Walmart need not be part of the ritual.
Copyright Judy Andreas 2004
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