Christmas is a week away.
Given the way I feel about the state of our nation, the only way to enjoy Christmas this year is to live into any and all of the myth making that surrounds it and makes it a magical season.
Christmas was born in a manger story the church told to give Christians something to celebrate at a time when pagan festivals celebrated the winter solstice.
It was all fantasy at the time since the birth of Jesus was never thought to be in December, but, as happens, things have a way of taking on a life of their own.
Christmas today is the rest of the story, so to speak, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction.
Harder still is trying to keep the hardness of life from pushing its way into the season. It has always been that way.
In fact, I think Christmas this year is not unlike the realities facing Christians of past centuries when they celebrated it.
Once Christendom had emerged as the Roman Empire declined, religious and secular authorities rose to power and were in constant conflict to control lands and kingdoms, sharing in common the fact they served their own interests at the expense of the people they ruled.
Sound familiar, what with the decline of America, the rise of Trumpism, the bankruptcy of evangelical Christianity and its Republican Party counter-part?
In this caldron of corruption and unrest Christmas 2017 is about to be celebrated, and it took all I had in me to resist writing about how that caldron is being stirred.
But I knew that being able to observe it at all meant I could not give in to that urge.
Embracing the spirit of Christmas requires you to listen to the story of Joseph and Mary, Shepherds in the field, a baby in a manger among cattle in a barn, and astrologers traveling from the East (wherever that was) to see “what had come to pass” and forget about the real world for a moment.
The tax bill, exacerbated economic inequity, the Russia investigation, the threat of nuclear war with N. Korea, the deepening divisions in the country, and the daily tweets arising from a President stuck in permanent adolescence don’t make make-believing easy.
But make believe we must just to keep our wits about us.
So during this week before Christmas I am determined to listen to bad Christmas music, watch hokey Hallmark Christmas movies, do the necessary last minute shopping I hate to do that is required to avoid being labeled ‘humbug,” and enjoy eggnog I get only once a year.
The urgency of the problems we are facing individually and as a nation, the weight of the issues we face, will not disappear just because it’s Christmas for Christians.
Indeed, because the major players in the American tragedy we are living will be the same, the New Year will surely yield as much angst as this passing year has.
But focusing on this special season, even for non-Christians, can and does hold all of it at bay, if only for a while.
So for now it seems right and good just to send to all of you and to the world wishes for a Merry Christmas, a happy Chanukuk, and holidays filled with wonder and joy.
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A very “tacky” and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
You, too, Loren.
Very good. I find it hard to do but I am determined to do it!! Thanks Jan! Becky
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We are on the same page, Becky. Thanks for commenting.
I am sad and angry too, but at the same time God calls me to love, so…I am trying to love all those around me, and to pray for this nation and the entire world. May you find blessings this Christmas, Jan!
You, too, Coleen. Don’t give up or in to the forces of destruction loose in the country, and neither will I.
Thank you, all of you, for keeping the flame of hope alive. I lived in New York for two years as a student. With a group of foreign students I travelled around the US staying with host families affiliated through various churches each for a couple of days. People were extremely hospitable and we were very grateful. I could have stayed in the US as I was offered a very good job. However even then, end of the sixties/early seventies, it became clear to me during that round trip, which way the country was heading, thinking the American way was the only God given way and that we, all from various countries across the world, all came from less civilised and almost barbarian countries, which was nonsense.
I am still in contact with the hostess from one of the host families. She shared your post with me.
So, wishing all of you, all the best for the coming difficult period. Keep your heads and hearts up!
Thank you for taking the time to write a comment. If we Americans could see ourselves the way the rest of the world sees us, we would be a better country.
Fortunately amidst the ugliness we find hope, joy and strength to go on in our families and friends. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you, Joy and your family.
And also to you and Pat and the family, Wilbur. Hope to see you in 2018.
Thanks for sharing this, Jan. Good & necessary reminders as we prep for 2018.
Thanks, Charlie. Merry Christmas to you and Pen.
We will concentrate on the children, and find humor in various family stories. Gotta take time to see the world through the little one’s eyes to maintain some sanity. Although that eggnog idea, with a couple ounces of Cognac, is real tempting also! Merry Christmas to you and yours, Jan 🙂
Yes, the children. They can make us smile in the worst of times. Thanks for the reminder, Bob.
My feelings exactly.
Merry Christmas, Jan, to you and your family. It is a magical season and the snow has been falling throughout the day, the ground is lightly covered with the purity of white. I look back to many happy Christmases and hope for many more for us all. Cheerz!
And to you and your family, too, Gene. Thank you for following my blog and sharing your thoughtful comments.