There Should Be Some Grinch in all Believers
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If I were Pope, I would get together with other Christian
leaders and try to change the date of the Christian Christmas, conceding Dec.
25 to the Walmarts, Amazons and Macys. They could proceed with their sales and
promotions and we could quietly celebrate the birth of Jesus at another time.
Am I the “Grinch who Stole Christmas?” I don’t
think so. I dislike this time of the year not because I’m against the joy of
Christmas expressed in gift-giving and reunions of family and friends or
because I dislike the happiness brought to some of our children. I would like
Christmas trees and the decorations if they all went up a few days before
Christmas and if they were truly meaningful. To me, it’s not the Grinch but commercialism
and consumerism that stole Christmas.
Each year the holiday seems to slip further and further away
from its meaning. It is a thoroughly secular and commercial holiday pretending
to be religious, presided over by a fictitious, fat man with a beard who is
said to bring piles of unneeded stuff to kids who believe that’s what
Christmas is about.
Christians Are Complicit
The irony is that we Christians are complicit in this
mockery. We enthusiastically join in. Jews, Muslims and non-Christians may feel
envious about all the attention on Christmas. They may not see that the feast
of Jesus’ birth has been so thoroughly sabotaged that its true celebration must
seek refuge in churches along with the immigrants we’re so eager to be rid of.
Is it because our perception is that it’s one of those
issues, like nuclear war and global warming, over which we have no control? Or
is it that our ties to societal norms are much stronger than our religious
ties? Or, maybe it’s a more fundamental problem.
After all, the “true meaning of Christmas” is among the most
unbelievable of our beliefs, perceived by many as absolutely absurd. Yet the
most awe it produces from many believers is a good yawn.
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Christmas is about the author of life, the creator, the God
who is said to be in us, around us and “stretching” to beyond the ends of the
universe, becoming one of us and doing so in the most astonishing way.
Maybe the way the event is described in the Bible is a
problem for modern people. Most scripture scholars – including Catholics and
other Christians – agree that the “infancy narratives,” as they describe the Bible’s
stories of Jesus’ birth and early childhood, are mostly mythical. The gospel
authors weren’t witness to the events.
So the authors used stories, some of which were also part of
other cultures and religions of the time, to describe events surrounding Jesus’
birth. In other words, they used folk traditions, the only means available to
them, to teach that Jesus’ birth was an event of cosmic proportions.
The authors of the four gospels aren’t “on the same page” in
this regard, either. Mark and John ignore Jesus’ infancy, beginning his story
when he is an adult. Before his infancy narrative, Mathew starts with a
stylized genealogy to show Jesus’ ancestral connections before moving on to
Jesus’ birth. Luke has the longest of infancy narratives and is the most
detailed.
Not Disturbing
The fact that much of the infancy narratives are mythical or
that the authors of the gospels don’t agree on the details of Jesus’ birth and
childhood should not disturb us. The authors weren’t trying to fool anybody. They
were passing along what they heard from their sources, much like we do with
family stories.
The authors couldn’t use the Internet to check their
sources’ accuracy either, but no harm because, like in those family stories, the
details don’t matter. Through the genealogy, the story of the virgin birth and
the beautiful story about the manger amid the shepherds, they were trying to
express the awesomeness of what happened, something that seems lost on many of
us.
Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit” because he is
Emmanuel, “God with Us.” To me, that is what’s hard to grasp, that God would do
such a thing, that because of Jesus’s birth, we can call God “Father.” That is,
indeed, incredible and well worth celebrating.
And that’s what should upset us about Christmas. “Grandma
Got Run Over By a Reindeer” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” just don’t cut
it.
I've been feeling so grumpy in the run up to Christmas this year but found it hard to articulate why. Thanks for putting my feelings into words. It does feel as if it gets worse every year, completely unconnected from what we are supposed to be celebrating, but almost impossible to step out of. MM
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the title that NCR gave to your post: "Why Christians should hate Christmas".
ReplyDeleteAnd even "Grinch" title misses the big point.
We should "re-Christianize" everything there is about Christmas, beginning by living Advent in a grandly spiritual way.
We should live Advent so well, that the positive air coming out of every breath of ours leaving Advent would "clean up" Christmas, the air of course being the Holy Spirit.
More prayer, more quiet sacrifice (Advent is a penitential season), more hidden acts of charity, more cheer especially when the things are going tough or badly. More presence of God in our hearts, work, words, smile.
No, we shouldn't hate it...we should love it like we (supposedly) love Our Lord and His mother.
Given the recent attention to the abuse of women in our culture, it occurred to me there is one more reason to "hate Christmas." It's a fundamental flaw in the Christmas story. The question we should ask is this: Why are we celebrating someone who got his own mother pregnant?
ReplyDeleteHere's a beautiful story by a Jew about why he loves Christmas.
ReplyDeleteUplifting and not cynical.
http://thefederalist.com/2017/12/18/turned-coworker-hr-gave-christmas-card-changed-heart/