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| 05 December 2013 |
Merry Christmas and other greetings
I have to say that I like the Christmas season with its
cheer and colour, the Carols that sound on the radio and in the stores, the
decorating of the house and the lovely smell of a tree brought in from the
cold, the friendly Merry Christmas from a stranger or a friend, the inundation
of cards from people far and near, the surprise of a thoughtful gift on
Christmas morning, the late night service at our church, the whole milieu of
customs that I grew up with in a small town and those of the cities that I
rarely got into. I do not mind the saying
of Holiday Greetings, or Happy Hanukah, or whatever the saying that might be
given to me as a sharing of this time of the year. I am thankful that you can be yourself
whoever you are and enjoy this winter festival with an outpouring of love and
sharing and acceptance. For the
Christ-in-Christmas among you, you have to remember that the season of the
winter solstice has been celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of
years by innumerable races, cultures, and beliefs and that the early European
Christians simply modified many of those celebrations into a Holy celebration
of the birth of Christ. No one knows when
He was born for certain not even unto the year but most historians agree that
it was somewhat around what today we call 4 BC. There is no way to identify the season let
alone the day. Suffice unto itself is
your faith and that faith should be the only concern. If I do
have any reservations of this celebration in our time it is in the madness of
selling at all costs, in spending at all costs, in being overwhelmed by
advertising for unending weeks, and in the lessening of the meaning of what we
are enjoying by the sudden crash after the day itself – the influx of after-sales,
of mark-downs as if there was no real value in that item except as a must-have
for the must-moment and then it is worthless for another year. Decorations down, trees down, gift wrap by
the ton tossed into the garbage, gifts themselves being stowed away into some
drawer or storage space and forgotten. And
this in turn is metaphor for believer. If you are a Christmas celebrant then
remember that the Christmas season is from Christmas eve till some twelve days
later – this is the meaning of Christmas for Christians, in the awareness of
what that day signifies, being reflected upon and acted upon in some meaningful
manner for more than an orgiastic twenty minutes or so of ripping open
festooned gifts and thinking what junk is this.
Even the incrusted hearts (ahh Roger, Roger) of the non-believers seem
to experience an uplifting sense of gladness from the basic goodness of this
time of year and enjoy then at least a love of fellow man, and a giving of self
to others for a real peace on earth. Men
can and have many times risen above the brutishness of the what’s-in-it-for-me
approach to life that is particularly in fashion in today’s world and the
Christmas Season reminds us of this in a visceral way every year even while we
are being pummeled by the mundane.
So, Merry Christmas, Happy
Hanukah, Season’s Greetings, or simply love and wishes for the best to you and all
where ever you are and whatever you believe.
Stephen
The Morning News
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| 04 December 2013 |
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