The Reason for the Season

We are now in Advent, the church's season of waiting and preparation for the birth of Jesus and Christmas is approaching. Each year at this time my inbox gathers various & sundry emails about those terrible people who don't say Merry Christmas, who want to call it a holiday tree and not a Christmas tree, who want to take the Christ out of Christmas! Instead of worrying about what the other thinks and does, it behooves us to look at just what each of us is celebrating, personally. If we are honest with ourselves, I think we just might be surprised!

As I listen to the Christmas/seasonal songs on the media and in the malls, I find myself asking myself the question: Just how many different things are we celebrating on December 25? Because I do think there is more than one celebration, probably more than two or three for most of us. Oh yes, we may say we are celebrating Christmas, because it is the birth of Jesus but is that really all….. or is it even one of the main celebrations?

So just what do we celebrate (and how) here in North America? Here is the beginning of a list. I’m sure there are many more, as many more as there are people celebrating.

The birth of Jesus
Family traditions
Friendships
Our economic ability to be consumers
A primeval need to celebrate and drive away the darkness
Winter holiday
A time to make businesses profitable

None of these are bad! I suspect we all celebrate a number of them, as well as others, at this time of year. However what I do find disturbing is that we try to pretend that what WE are really celebrating is the birth of Jesus and nothing else..

“Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the deity Saturn, held on 17 December and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves…The popularity of Saturnalia continued into the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, and as the Roman Empire came under Christian rule, many of its customs were recast into or at least influenced the seasonal celebrations surrounding Christmas and the New Year.” [Wikipedia] So we might say that what we know as Christmas actually began with the Romans! It has morphed over time to what we now today.

Before you become too critical of how others in our communities are celebrating [or not] this Christmas season, I’m asking you to consider how many of the above celebrations you are part of this year, and how many others as well the aren’t even on the list. Think about your calendar and your to-do list. Where is the major portion of your time and money being spent in the next 4/5 weeks? That is what you are mainly celebrating!

Again, whatever you are celebrating not a bad thing …. as long as you are aware of what it is.

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