Advent and Christmas
The wonder of Advent and Christmas
When I was about 5 years old, I was convinced that my father was Santa Claus. So I planned to catch him in the act of placing presents in our stockings. I appropriated the sofa in the living room as my bed and brought out all my blankets and resolved to stay awake until I actually caught him in the act. Needless to say, I fell asleep.
Then, in the middle of the night, I stirred. I sleepily scanned the darkness of our living room, trying to remember what I was doing there. The darkness filled the room. And then I saw him; not my father, but another man, moving about with purpose. He was large with white hair, dressed in a deep red that, in hindsight, seem almost purple in the darkness. He was putting “things” into the stockings! He wasn’t anyone from within the household. I felt no fear; but a great sense of peace. In my mind, he was absolutely, irrefutably, Santa Claus. And I knew, for sure, that it wasn’t my father.
It would be nice of if all us, or our children could grow up to have such a wonderful memory such as this. Like an eternal ember that burns within in me, it continues to warm me with the experience of Santa Claus. The modern world challenges our experiences of this sort greatly and we all seek to find a meaning in the festivals that mean so much in our lives.
Advent
The build up to Christmas is of course Advent. Advent clearly marks the period that, from one point of view, is the official countdown to Christmas. What could Advent really mean? Like my experience, trying to catch Santa Claus, we need to prepare for Christmas and Advent helps us prepare. my experience helps get an insight into this. I prepared for the visit of Santa Claus by making sure I had a space, I was warm, and … it was dark. Yes, the focus was very much inward. In this darkness, a light was to come and show me (in my case hopefully show me that Santa was my father) something; illuminate something for me. Advent is a time of preparation; a time of preparation of oneself; a time of preparation in surrounding darkness.
The preparation of Advent spans four weeks, each corresponding to the preparation of the world; first the physical world, then the life world, followed by the world of movement or experience to culminate lastly with the ego or man. Each week allows us to focus on preparing a part of our lives for this great event. Here, wonder plays a key role as our imagination must now work to allow us to experience these events and prepare for the coming of Christ.
Christmas
We wait in anticipation and excitement for this day. Suddenly, we are filled with warmth, our heart glows happily, it spreads through our being and we feel safe, loved, and sure. We know. It may be but a fleeting moment in the midst of the daily travails and challenges; but it is there. There is the impulse to share, to bring this warmth to others. When I saw Santa Claus that night, I had never felt more safe, and loved, and sure. Something inside me told me that I knew. Thus it is not surprising that our most common image of Christmas is the family because there we experience directly this sense of security, love, and warmth. That imagination kindles and rekindles something within us all the time and actually makes us recognize Christmas.
Christmas has and is always a day of great wonder. Modern life challenges this aggressively and it is up to each of us to nurture that wonder within us. Without that wonder, the enchantment that is Christmas will cease.
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Today, my family lives very much with the memory of my Christmas adventure to catch Santa Claus. It is this memory that breathes warmly on my heart. It gives me hope, and strength, and love to meet my shortcomings, my fears and me. Christmas reminds me always of this, and fills my year with the warmth of Christ’s presence on earth and in me.
Raph
2005
posted by raph lazo @ 2:00 PM
1 Comments:
Does Christ Approve of Christmas?
IN MANY parts of the earth, Nativity scenes are common during the Christmas season. These often include near-life-size figures of the babe Jesus in a stable, along with Mary, Joseph, shepherds, Magi, and some cattle. Does Christ approve of such Christmas displays?
Actually the propriety of Nativity scenes has been heatedly debated, even being argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. Last December, Time magazine reported: “Thanks to a Supreme Court decision earlier in the year, Nativity scenes this season also adorn the public parks and buildings of some municipalities that had ceased putting them up while the issue was in dispute.”
But, in fact, the issue of whether Nativity scenes are legal on government property is still in dispute. “The Supreme Court’s ruling,” Time acknowledged, “failed to settle the matter.” Again this year, in an indecisive 4 to 4 ruling regarding the legality of a Scarsdale, New York, Nativity scene, the Supreme Court failed to give clear direction.
Promoting Christianity?
Opposers of such Nativity scenes, who include the American Civil Liberties Union, argue that Christmas displays amount to a state promotion of religion and so are in violation of the constitution. But columnist Bill Hall, writing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, protests that Christmas in no way promotes Christianity:
“Where in the world did the American Civil Liberties Union ever get the silly idea that Christmas is a Christian holiday? A walk through any shopping center in America at Christmas time would dispel that notion.
“Christmas has little to do with Christianity. Christmas is a heathen celebration of wealth, greed and gluttony.
“Christianity, by contrast, is a nearly extinct religion based on the teachings of one Jesus Christ. It was a religion that stressed generosity, love, forbearance and non-violence. . . .
“Yet the ACLU has jumped hilariously to the wild conclusion—probably because of the similarity in names—that Christmas and today’s Christian churches actually have something to do with authentic, original Christianity. . . .
“The ACLU makes the common mistake of assuming that Christmas is essentially a Christian celebration which American heathens also celebrate. The reverse is true. The vast majority of those celebrating Christmas are people who don’t go to church. It is essentially a heathen revel.”
Christmas “a heathen revel”? Could that be true? Isn’t Christmas the birthday of Christ?
Whose Birthday?
No, it is not Christ’s birthday. “The day of Christ’s birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source,” explains the Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. One thing is certain, Christ was not born on December 25th. At his birth shepherds were in the fields at night tending their flocks, which they would not have been doing during the cold nights of December.—Luke 2:6-8.
Furthermore, Lutheran minister John C. McCollister wrote in his recent book The Christian Book of Why: “It was the feeling at that time by all Christians that the celebration of all birthdays (even the Lord’s) was a custom of the pagans. In an effort to divorce themselves from all pagan practices, the early Christians refused to set aside a date marking Jesus’ birth.”
Where, then, did the Christmas celebration of December 25th originate? The book Celebrations—The Complete Book of American Holidays by Robert J. Myers answers: “Prior to the celebration of Christmas, December 25 in the Roman world was the Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. This feast, which took place just after the winter solstice of the Julian calendar, was in honor of the Sun God, Mithras.”
“Besides the Mithraic influence,” Myers continues, “other pagan forces were at work.” The Romans celebrated the licentious festival of the Saturnalia during the latter part of December, and, as Myers explains: “The clergy eventually brought the upside-down world of the Saturnalia into the Church itself.” No wonder the book Christmas Customs Around the World reports: “The Puritans showed their disdain for this pagan festival by planning hard work for the day and passing a law forbidding the celebration of Christmas”!
Does Christ Approve?
‘But the Puritans were too rigid,’ some may object, ‘and so were early Christians. Now Christmas honors Christ.’ Does it really? Christ always stood for truth, but Christmas fosters untruths. (John 14:6) ‘It is Christ’s birthday,’ even schoolteachers and clergymen say. But it is not! ‘Santa Claus will bring you presents if you are good.’ But that is not true! Consider, too, the Nativity scenes.
Many of these show the Magi, or astrologers, with Jesus when he was born. Yet the Bible says that by the time the astrologers arrived, Jesus was no longer a baby but was a child living in a house. (Matthew 2:7-11) Do you really believe that Christ approves of a celebration that so misrepresents the truth?
Even more serious, however, is the false impression given by Christmas that Christ is simply a helpless baby. A little girl viewing a Nativity scene was heard to ask her mother: “Did Jesus ever grow up?” Why did she ask? “Well,” she responded, “he hasn’t grown at all since I saw him last year!” And the impression left at Christmas is just that, that Christ is a helpless babe, not the ruling King that he is, one who will soon rid the earth of all unrighteousness.—Psalm 2:9, 12; 110:1, 2; Revelation 12:5; 19:15, 16.
When you consider what goes on at Christmas, really how could Christ approve? “Alcoholics and their families have an especially rough time of it because the Christmas spirit so often comes in bottles,” Time reported. “And the lipstick worn home from the office party disturbs untold millions more.” Yes, Christmas has not changed from its licentiousness of earlier days.
The book Curiosities of Popular Customs, by William S. Walsh, observes: “In spite of the condemnation of the wise and the sane, Christmas in the early days frequently reproduced all the worst orgies, the debaucheries and indecencies, of the Bacchanalia and the Saturnalia. . . . The wild revels, indeed, of the Christmas period in olden times almost stagger belief.”
When you think about it, perhaps you will concur with the opinion voiced last December in The Sunday Express, a newspaper of South Africa. “It’s that time of year again,” the article began, “when the festive spirit comes to the fore and religious people say: ‘Let’s put Christ back into Christmas.’
“Since Christ was not there in the beginning, it would be far more appropriate to remove any reference to Him altogether and call Christmas by some other name.
“Why besmirch Christ’s name with all the associations of commercialism, excessive eating and drinking and revelry?”
What Will You Do?
Surely, Christ does not approve of Christmas. It dishonors him and his teachings. So what will you do at this season of the year?
The above-quoted South African newspaper suggested: “Let’s rather be honest and turn Christmas back into the pagan feast that it was in the beginning and relax and enjoy ourselves in partying and jollifications with all the trappings of yule-logs and wild feasting—without pretending that we’re celebrating Christ’s birth.”
True, that may be unhypocritical, yet Christ does not approve of licentious pagan feasts, whether they are carried on in his name or not. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) So if you truly desire Christ’s approval, what will you do? The columnist Bill Hall, quoted earlier, answers: “Any genuine Christian—assuming there actually are a few of them left—would shun any association with the worldly, modern celebration known as Christmas.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses everywhere do that very thing. They take no part in the celebration of Christmas because they are truly trying to win the favor of their heavenly King, Jesus Christ. And they seek to live in accord with his teachings, not just on special occasions but every day of the year. If that also is your desire, Jehovah’s Witnesses will be delighted to help you fulfill it.
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