So, the daily thrust of life has kept me from blogging for awhile. With a toddler, a 7-year-old, a full-time job and a chronic disease, one doesn't get as much time as one would like to devote to blogging. However, I really wanted to get out a blog about Christmas, but since I was suffering a family bout of the bubonic plague during Christmas, I'm just getting to it now.
Let me start by saying, I love me some Christmas. I mean, I'm decking the halls by November 10th. And for a few years, I really had a mental debate going on in my head as to whether or not it was ok for me to love Christmas so much, what with me being an atheist and all. But over the past few years, I've come to peace with my merry ways.
I realized that I'm not really celebrating the religious Christmas holiday, but rather the cultural one. Christmas trees, presents, lights, and all that good stuff I love about Christmas were never really a part of the celebration of Jesus' birth until the church decided to co-op them for their own uses. Most of the traditions we celebrate every year actually have pagan origins, and the church wisely predicted that if they could integrate these things with their religion somehow, it would persuade more people to convert since they wouldn't have to give up their beloved traditions.
We have no idea when Jesus was born (if he even really existed), so celebrating his birth on December 25th is really rather arbitrary. Hence the reason we don't set up a nativity scene in our house. For me, Christmas is a lot more about being close to your family, enjoying good food, giving freely to other people, and getting some sort of warm break from the cold winter.
I always laugh when I hear people decry the "war on Christmas." As if Christmas in America is just suddenly going to be bombed into oblivion. We love Christmas. It's part of our cultural heritage. Would I like to see the "Christ" taken out of Christmas? Certainly. But that doesn't mean I want to quit celebrating it. I just want to celebrate the things that really matter about the season, like the happy-dance my children do when they open a particularly good present, our once-a-year cheesy egg bake that reminds me of my grandma, and watching the "A Christmas Story" marathon on TNT. Is that really so wrong?
I couldn't agree more. Happy holidays and a promising new year full of adventures and love!
ReplyDeleteOn the slim off-chance that you haven't heard Tim Minchin's "White Wine in the Sun", I highly recommend it. It's about how he loves Christmas despite his atheism. It chokes me up every time.
Oh yeah, I'm right there with ya--it's most definitely a cultural, not religious, holiday in this country. Aren't we lucky that capitalism took the christ out of Christmas for us so we didn't have to? Yay!
ReplyDeleteI hope yours was merry, despite the plague!
I just heard "White Wine in the Sun" for the first time this Christmas, actually. It describe my feelings pretty well. I'm hoping next Christmas goes much more smoothly than this one did. ER trips due to dehydration just don't help make my spirit bright.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I am glad you love Christmas and you celebrate the season in your own way. I am also thankful that having an opposite point of view, we can celebrate our Christian holiday as we choose, the birth of Christ. We live in a country that should allow us to celebrate our own way, this is what liberty is about! Happy holidays to you and yours, I got you a card and then realized I don't have your most recent address! Could you e-mail it to me? Love to you. Marsha
ReplyDeleteAs an heiress of the Puritan tradition, I applaud your efforts to take back the pagan holiday! Put the Sol back in Solstice!
ReplyDeleteAmong the many reasons that the Puritans did not celebrate Christmas-- it isn't biblical, Christ didn't command it, it's too "Roman,"-- was a genuine social concern. In the 17th century, there was no such thing as a paid holiday. The mandatory celebration of Christmas (in Britain) meant that day laborers were forbidden from making an income on that day. The rich feasted while the poor went hungry. It offended them that this was done (ostensibly) in Christ's name. Just a little note from your church geek friend!