What Christmas Means to Me

Christmas is such a multi-faceted holiday, so wrapped up in matters sacred and secular, it's hard to pin down my own Christmas experience.

Yes, it's a religious holiday.  I offer no assertion as to the historic nature of the Nativity, as presented (or not presented) in the Gospels, let alone the timing in the annual calendar. But I find meaning in the nature of the holiday as it now stands — tied to the changing of the seasons, the rising of the light away from the solstice's dark, and the gathering of friend and family (and even stranger) about the fire in shelter from the cold. From the melded Gospel tale I take inspiration from the mundane nature of the folks swept up into something both wonderful and (literally) grounded, the birth of God in the most humble and human of settings, as creation celebrates around.

There's the current secular / commercial nature of Christmas, where the urge to spend, to go into debt, to hit every store and find every bargain becomes an obsessive frenzy that drives out all other motivations. I try to steer clear of that meaning, though it's not easy.

On the other hand, there's the roots of that commercialism, the desire to give to others. I love buying gifts for people, to give them something they want, to bring a smile to their face at some (material) gain they would not have had otherwise. I spend a lot of time (and a lot of money) in pursuit of that, not to keep up with the Joneses or to play status games, but because I love to give in that way.

There's the Christmas-as-proxy-for-cultural-battle thing. I find it appalling that for some Christmas has become a club handshake, a secret rite, a way of knowing Who's Naughty and Who's Nice based on what salutation they give or whether they support a creche down at City Hall. I don't see any sign in the Bible that the birth of Jesus was meant as a power play, as a way of demonstrating cultural hegemony over others.  If you are trying to force a public display of Jesus' birth as proof that your side is superior, I suggest You Are Doing It Wrong.

There's the music. Ah, the music.  Carols. Handel's Messiah. Such amazing music, in multiple parts, known and shared by so many.  It warms my heart, it does, and inflames my senses, and causes me to belt out tunes that others don't mind my belting out.

But to me, most of all (even if supported by other aspects of the holiday), Christmas is a time of fellowship, of being with family and friends, of exchanging gifts and singing songs and eating food and drinking drink and being one with those close to me, in festivity and joy.  It's not about getting stuff (though getting stuff is nice), and it's not about being culturally dominant (though it's nice to know that others are doing something similar), but it's gathering at table, or around the tree, or wherever, and just being with those close to us, with a candy cane or a cup of egg nog or a gift or a meal or all of the above. It's a time when we can be close un-self-consciously, and simply enjoy our fellow humans. Whether it's driven by a religious tale of universal redemption, or a human defiance of the dark and cold of winter, or simply the desire to be together, that togetherness is what Christmas means to me.

Which lets me say, without concern about (ir)religious sensibilities, Merry Christmas to all … and to all, a good night.

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