Prompt: Encouraged by a friend of mine to write about my bitter feelings for the holiday spirit (or lack there of), I want to put in words what my heart craves and why it is not getting what it needs from Christmas.
Being called a "Scrooge" implies that you lack the Christmas spirit, the jovial, deep-bellied laughs of the ever generous Santa Claus. It means that you bring down the spirit of others around you and avoid the festivities of the season. I have been called a Scrooge and have often called myself one this year. It isn't the Christmas season that bothers me and causes me to crawl under my rock to wait it by. The problem is that I do not see the Christmas spirit anywhere to be jovial about. I see grumbling, entitled people pushing their way through line, fighting over meaningless objects in department stores, and demanding sales or freebies in the name of "Christmas spirit." The roads are packed with honking, impatient dirty cars, every store has a line with mothers tapping their toes glaring at you if you hold a conversation for too long with the cashier, and tacky figurines of the nativity in every yard next to blowups of Santa and images of materialism at every corner. I think we have forgotten what Christmas is really about.
Christmas does not have to be only about the baby in a manger or pious thoughts all day long. I do choose to associate Christmas with the remembrance of Christ's birth, but I don't need a holiday to remind me about that every year. Christmas can also be for the secular as well, which does not only have to be about the large spending and millions of presents under a overly decorated tree. My religious definition of the Christmas spirit is a celebration in the midst of a cold dark winter with the hope of spring. It signifies the hope in the midst of a cold dark life with the coming of Christ. The secular Christmas spirit is the enjoyment of the beauty of winter surrounded by family, friends, or even strangers. All over, it is the generosity of those with to give to those without.
Christmas should be about community. When the winter meant potential starvation and death by freezing, the community of the village would work together, giving to those in need, sharing their homes, etc. Huge feasts would be held in the town hall, stories would be shared and songs sung together to pass the winter boredom. All that has been lost with the individualism of America and we have to be persuaded, bribed, or scheduled to give to the community around us. Sharing does not come easily when the entire year we have been living for ourselves. I think Christmas is a reflection of that sharing within the community in the past with the gifts that we give to one another, gathered around a Christmas tree and a fireplace. Warmth and community.
I have struggled with the urge to follow the flow of our culture to buy buy buy gifts and want want want useless clutters of objects. Giving is hard. Giving without expecting anything in return is harder. This is what my heart craves. Snowflakes on the tongue, hot chocolates, delicate lights and the smell of garland everywhere, holding mittened hands with a loved one, sharing stories with friends around a fireplace, and helping people along the road.
My favorite example of Christmas giving is in the story of
Little Women.
Video Clip.
Merry Christmas!
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