Merry Christmas

Let’s go ahead and get personal on this one, which is always fun. I often find myself building upon things I’ve previously discussed or written. I feel like anything worth sharing is personal in some way and I try to avoid publishing anything that I wouldn’t say in person. It’s nice that the holidays always bring about a certain amount of reflection. And in that tradition, let me reflect on what Christmas means to me.

Started working on this 👆🏼 portrait of Saint Nicholas and I'll have to finish over the holidays. The hand gesture is ->important

Let’s get right to the heart of the matter. I’m a Christian who, admittedly and willfully eschews some of the literal interpretations of the Old Testament including the core tenets from God in Exodus¹. I‘ve found myself unable to reconcile some of them and generally like to point out the literal fallacies alongside not trimming your beard or wearing multiple fabrics. I could dig deep into theological debate, but I wouldn’t find myself on the same side of the podium as the presuppositional apologetics or the modern, while mostly unaware, acolytes thereof who largely compose the new evangelicals. I’ll just say that I admittedly find myself moved by the spirit not just as intellectual exercise and there I find faith. I recently read a submitted essay in an email from my church about Advent which hit the spot.

Advent, to me, is a season of hopeful anticipation and reflection. It’s a time when I take a step back from the busy pace of life to focus on inner preparation—welcoming peace, love, and joy into my heart. Each candle on the Advent wreath symbolizes something I strive to embody more deeply, from hope and joy to love and peace. Lighting each one is a gentle reminder to let go of distractions and center myself, embracing this season with gratitude and renewed faith.

I just like the symbolism and meaning. Why yes I would like to welcome peace, love, and joy into my heart but first I gotta avoid getting wrapped up in the general malaise that is the panic to make sure we’ve got all the holiday plans in order. I find the conspicuous consumption this time of year obnoxious and of course I’m certainly guilty of buying shit I don’t need and overeating. I just find a lot of the contemporary messaging conflicting so I think that I mostly still try to frame it all inside of my pleasant memories — family gatherings, travel, pajama-laden days of toys, and food on call. My family would usually do the adjourning Sunday service but not nearly as much as egg nog on Christmas eve. I wasn’t introduced to the ritual of the midnight mass until later in life and I now will duck out of egg nog early to make it even if I haven’t seen the inside of a church for months.

There isn’t any consensus on eschatology² amongst any religion or divisions thereof, although they seem to strive for and proclaim it so. And so I also find myself at peace with Yule³, Hanukkah, Sol Invectus⁴, and Bodhi⁵ which revolve around the darkest days of the year at winter solstice. The symbolism in each of them can be just important to me as a midnight service. Since I don’t know of any group of locals people organizing worship in a heated location, I try to find my own little traditions to remind me without the cynicism of lit-up plastic baby Jesus’ ( how do I pluralize Jesus ) along the country roadsides.

I think what most people really value are the traditions themselves and what we’re really celebrating is the cyclical nature of life. It’s why folks dig out the old recipes and pull down the same decor from the attic. I mean… for a child was born. We always put up all of our old family ornaments on our tree the day after Thanksgiving. Every time I pull one out of the box, I’m immediately reminded of when I was staring at it on a tree at eye level, under four feet tall. That’s literally all it takes for me to be reminded.

I try not to get tangled up in any of the other nonsense. I didn’t make any shopping lists this year unless I count the time spent looking for a new toilet for our renovation. We always give the same gifts to everyone and this year we’re back to food baskets because they’re always a hit and perfectly symbolic of us saying ‘here, we hope you can survive the winter too ’. We pack em with our favorite things and we go out of our way to try to visit everyone we’re able which kinda makes me feel like Santa Claus.

I‘m sure like everyone else, I dig out my favorite Christmas movies and music too. I like the genre. I've had an ongoing text thread going about films and listed comedies like Mixed Nuts, Trading Places, and Planes Trains & Automobiles as my favorites. My buddy insisted we watch Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas⁶.

I'm 100% serious about the Kirk Cameron movie. It's such a wonderfully weird intersection of consumerism, evangelism and delusion. It's genuinely bizarre.  I honestly dislike all Christmas movies but I find this one entertaining

So I watched it. And while it’s a whole essay in itself, the pressing synopsis is that Jesus is the reason. Meanwhile non-Christians are still having quite a time. In China, where about 7% are Christian, it’s all about apple giving⁷. Christmas remains a time to spend with friends and family as the vast majority of the secular world also celebrates the season in some way or another. And it's not some sort of affront as Mr. Cameron teaches. Despite the kitsch, I loved the message and Kirk knew he couldn't blow it on facts given that he was inspired enough to share his filmmaking acuity.

Since 85% of non-Christians celebrate Christmas⁸, it’s as much a cultural holiday as a religious one. The 70% of American’s who are Christian seem to go all in on some of the least religious parts. I certainly can’t can blame them… it’s gotta be more fun than celebrating Saint Nicholas’ miracle of resurrecting pickled children⁹. And since Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine, so I couldn't recommend refraining. Persecution is not something anyone should espouse and even the most staunch atheists like Nietzsche and Marx thought it beneficial that folks celebrate on¹⁰.

Burl Ives might have something to say about this given his close association with the holiday and communism¹¹. For me, mostly because of my age, Ives’ narration of Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer embodies the secular holiday. Aside from the fact that it was commissioned by Macy’s, it was written by a non-christian who celebrated contemporary humanism. A Christmas Carol was based on Dickens’ political pamphlet An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man's Child¹². He thought it a more effective approach to reform the working conditions of 1843 England. It’s a Wonderful Life is based on it. I watched a Simpsons Christmas special recently where a hypnotist convinces Homer that he is Santa Clause which appears to be directly based on Miracle on 34th Street. Springfield believing Homer is Santa Clause puts everyone in the spirit and it’s a direct take on the central theme of a lot of popular Christmas films — faith is about belief.

The legal case for Santa Clause in Miracle on 34th Street was altered between the 1947 and 1994 versions¹³. The latter uses ‘In God We Trust’ on a dollar bill to argue that if US Treasury can make a declaration of faith without physical evidence, then by a similar act of faith, we can declare that Santa Claus exist. And therein lies, what I believe and based on its popularity, is at the heart of the magic of Christmas of what most folks really cherish.

I think twelve days of celebration should happen several more times during the year¹⁴. The magic is in the seasons and stories themselves. Magic is from magi, the fellas bearing gifts on the twelfth night and not a gateway drug to demonic possession¹⁵. I don’t need to celebrate the circumcision instead of the new year¹⁶. And despite the legacy of the council of Nicaea¹⁷, what we’re also celebrating throughout the holiday is life itself. Epiphany¹⁸ is supernatural and it’s the perfect time to reflect and remember. And I believe that it should be a joyous occasion for everyone.

I have a couple favorite Christmas songs. The first isn’t exactly obvious as a Christmas tune. About 14 years ago I posted a version of this song¹⁹ on social media during the holidays, but I don’t think anyone picked up on it. Bob Dylan wrote and recorded Ring Them Bells²⁰ in New Orleans in 1989²¹. It’s largely based on the Gospel of Matthew which begins with the birth of Christ and so for me, it’s very much a Christmas tune. Dylan wrote that he struggled with the last line regarding the ambiguity of right and wrong. He said “I don’t adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I’ve learned more from the songs than I’ve learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe in the songs”. Along the lines of the religious iconography, It’s an ageless call bringing folks together to uplift the world along the lines of every spiritual hymn ever written for Christmas.

My other favorite is Lou Rawls singing Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas²². Although some may go by some more croony’er versions by Bing or Frank, I think Lou does it classier and the big band sound has more punch. It’s so declarative — not an “I hope” or ‘I’m dreaming’ and the second line insist that our hearts are good.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

And If I could put just one wish on everyone’s list along the usual suspects of charity, kindness, and peace and it'd go something like this. My wish to you other folks out there is to just make an effort to focus on the small things that bring you and others around you joy. Peace in our own hearts is how we find goodwill. Go forth, have some nuts, drink some egg nog, buy some stuff, share some gifts, and most importantly just give it your best effort to be merry this Christmas.

Let your heart be light,
David

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Footnotes

1. The Book of Exodus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Exodus ↩

2. eschatology - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschatology ↩

3. Yule - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule ↩

4. Sol Invictus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus ↩

5. Bodhi - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Day ↩

6. Saving Christmas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Christmas ↩

7. In China, nothing says Merry Christmas like ... an apple?- https://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-christmas-china-apple-20131225-story.html ↩

8. Christmas also celebrated by many non-Christians - https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/12/23/christmas-also-celebrated-by-many-non-christians ↩

9. Saint Nicholas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas ↩

10. How Marx and Engels spent their Christmas - https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/hold-how-marx-and-engels-spent-their-christmas ↩

11. Burl Ives - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burl_Ives ↩

12. A Christas Carol - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol ↩

13. Miracle on 34th Street - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_34th_Street ↩

14. Twelve Days of Christmas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas ↩

15. Magi - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi ↩

16. Feast of the Circumcision of Christ- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Circumcision_of_Christ ↩

17. First Council of Nicaea - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea ↩

18. Epiphany - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(feeling) ↩

19. Ring Them Bells - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvXgndQRzC0 ↩

20. Ring Them Bells - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Them_Bells_(song) ↩

21. Ring Them Bells - Bob Dylan Live at The Supper Club, New York Nov 1993 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAR0IykhinQ ↩

22. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Lou Rawls - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEoQO2_ZZ6I ↩