Christmas 2014...from my heart! Last evening, as I was driving home through the myriad of headlights and horrible drivers, which has been come to be known as the “Christmas Rush” (ironic how we use the word “Christ”mas in this description, but find it taboo to say Merry “Christ”mas. Now theres a whole other essay.....”Christ”mas Lights, “Christ”mas Cookies, “Christ”mas Tree, “Christ”mas Dinner”, you get the idea).....anyway; as I was driving I started thinking about he meaning of this celebration, and trying to relate to why “our” society has defaced yet another Spiritual Event in the history of mankind, and replaced it with pretentious, superficial, materialistic money oriented offerings to “ourselves” and each other. Lets look at that, shall we? First off, I hope we all know the tradition started loosely with the arrival in Bethlehem of the Three Kings. They came as representational “royalty”, to let the record show that this miraculous event was a gift from a higher place and even beyond the realm of their “earthly wealth”. When they arrived at the manger, they offered their gifts (gold,, frankincense and myrrh....never thought about it til now, but what a great name for a law firm... or a rock band...”Gold,Frankincense, and Myrrh, Attorneys at Greed”; or as a rock band....”Heavy Metal, Smells and Herbs”. ) Damn, there I go again....anyway, the Kings arrived and offered their gifts to the child in the manger. Their intention was not to say “hey look at us” or “we, as Kings ourselves feel youre one of the club now”. But rather to say... we humbly offer our most valued earthly possessions to this child that, as we know by being led by a miraculous star, and the glorious proclamation of the Angels, this is THE King of all Kings, and we bow before him. And, folks, and this is the part I enjoy the most this, this event is not about religion, because as you may (should) know, Christianity did not exist...yet. This is simply about Prophecy, and Gods promise to mankind. So chronologically, Bethlehem is the birthplace of Christ, and Christ (God incarnate), goes on to reveal and teach the word of God. And this whole thing about being a “king”, is hearsay from the silly Romans and the Hebrews. For you see, not once in the Bible does Christ refer to himself as a King. God does in the prophecy, the angels proclaim it , everyone else has some sort of fixation about it, but Christ never utters it, not even in his sleep. (Gee, doesnt that just make the “crown of thorns” thing later on even more impactful.) Alright , lesson over, back to the original thought. The Three Kings showed up, and offered their gifts, not to each other, not to the shepherds, or the stable boy, or the angels, but to the child. And in that moment, my whole head bursting dilemma begins. Because as I was driving in that mass of retail-brainwashed, over texted and Starbucks saturated onslaught of humanity, I began to wonder just when did this idea of over consuming gifting begin? We obviously know that save for the miraculous gift from God, and the earthly offering of the Three Kings, there were no gifts exchanged on the birth of Christ and Christmas. I sincerely doubt the proprietor of the “No Room at the Inn” Inn, bought a round on the house because a child was born in the backyard stable. Nor were the residents of Bethlehem scurrying about trying to find that last minute perfect “sandal stuffer. Nope, this one came and went without the clinking of coins and ringing of cash registers. So lets move on up the time line. We know that Christ walked the earth for thirty three years, and managed to, in that time, ruffle some feathers at an early age, and then draw more attention from a bunch of bearded guys in black robes, by teaching “blasphemous ideology” to the people. So pretty much we can determine, that due to his lack of popularity with the powers that be, no one was going to say, “hey lets celebrate this guys birthday”. Although, that wouldnt seem so out of line, (maybe), because the tradition of birthday celebrations was first observed by the Greeks in 600 B.C. Get this, the birthday cards were hand carved out of stone. Imagine the postage? In any event, there is no record in the Bible about anyone throwing a birthday party for Christ, or celebrating Christmas in those years from 0 to 33 A.D. Not even a social gathering with his 12 best friends, and family. So, lets fast forward. Records indicate: Source Quotations; The first recorded celebration of Christmas appears to have been A.D. 336: “25 Dec.: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae.” December 25th, Christ born in Bethlehem, Judea. This day, December 25, 336. In the West, the first written record we have that associates the birth of Jesus with December 25 is found in a Roman document called the Philocalian Calendar, also known as the Chronograph of 354, which is itself a collection of lists and records, something like an illustrated almanac. Its information was drawn from both civil and Christian sources, and it included, among other things, lists of Roman holidays, a table of dates for Easter, lists of Roman bishops and Christian martyrs, with their burial locations, a listing of the consuls of Rome, ... At two points in this document, December 25 was cited as the birth date of Christ Later in the fourth century, sermons and other church documents provide additional evidence that Christians were celebrating December 25 as the birth of Christ and that the practice was spreading throughout the larger church In Cappadocia, Gregory of Nyssas sermons on St. Basil (who died before 1 January, 379) and the two following, preached on St. Stephens feast (P.G., XLVI, 788; cf, 701, 721), prove that in 380 the 25th December was already celebrated there...” Okay, so time has moved forward and in those places we have small outcroppings of a mention of Christmas as a Celebration of the birth of Christ. However, I still dont see the retail/consumer binge of gift giving to each other on board yet. Lets move on. “Around the 13th century Christmas carols were introduced into the holiday celebration. And Christmas trees were common in Germany by the 16th century. It was rumored that Luther may have cut the first tree and decked it with candles to represent the stars.” Aha...its now spreading...this seemingly “be in style, in fashion” Christmas thing. Be the first one on your block to have a tree in your house in December sort of thing. But who was the first one to utter the blasphemous, spiritually deflating term, “I need to go Christmas shopping?. Okay so here it is, as written by D.K.Mukherjee; “In the 4th century, there lived a Bishop Nicholas in Myra who was renowned for his generosity and love for children, who would always receive small gifts and presents from him. And his penchant for leavings gifts anonymously in stockings is the stuff of legends. A poor widower lived with his three unmarried daughters in Myra. The impoverished father despaired of ever finding suitable grooms for his three girls. Bishop Nicholas learned of the family’s plight and deposited three bags of gold coins through the peasant’s chimney one night. As luck would have it, the bags fell into the three stockings that the girls had hung by the fireplace to dry. The story spread and started the tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace and ultimately found its way into the evolution of the popular, mythical Santa Claus. Christmas Presents Become Ingrained In The Yuletide Tradition By the 10th century, giving gifts to loved ones during Christmas had become an inseparable part of Christmas celebrations all around the world. When industrial revolution swept through the western world, it was all the impetus that was required for astute businessmen to smell vast money-earning potential in the commercialization of Christmas gifts. Earlier handmade gifts would be exchanged between close family and friends. These would usually be baked goodies or rare fruits like oranges. Industrialization led to a shift from handmade Christmas gifts to manufactured ones. The mass production made people opt for the latter as it was more easy and convenient. Gifts And A Family Christmas Get A Fillip In The Victorian Era Christmas traditions and celebrations, which had been grounded during the reign of the Puritans, revived during the Victorian era. It was during this time that Christmas really turned into a deeply significant family celebration. There was much cheering and stress on giving of gifts. Modern Day Gift-Giving Traditions By the end of the 19th century, Christmas was no longer a simple affair. Advertising blitzkrieg and widespread commercialization had ensured that Christmas became one of the biggest money-spinners of all time. Gifts could no longer be just simple, homely affairs. They had to be expensive, extravagant and something to be flaunted rather than merely cherished. Yes, the trend set by the Magi had survived the centuries but probably not in the way it was intended!” Well now, isnt that just grand. Couldnt have said it better myself. Have to wonder what they did without malls? In any event, as I sit here now, having survived the insanity of last nights “Christmas Rush 500”, and think about all the media hype and hoopla, and Starbucks driven mental and physical gymnastics that some people have voluntarily signed up for since the Black Friday Season began, I have to reflect on what it all means to me. Okay, Im only human and in the past have allowed my non conscious ego to get sucked into the retail oriented black hole of consumer spending. But this year for some reason, which is less economically based for me than the past, Im reflecting on the Christmas moments which I remember, and have special meaning. And ironically, none of them have to do with exchanging of gifts. I think about my High School Choir Concerts, and how by seasons end we were all so “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and “Hallelujah”Chorused out. But now would maybe like to go back for one more round. I think about Christmas Eve with my family and friends at my folks house. About how I would walk the 3 miles home from my girlfriends house, in a snowstorm, and even though freezing my ass off , find peace and solace as there was no one out there with me and all was quiet, and I could hear the crunch of my footsteps on the snow. I think about after my brother had gone off to college, how I would anticipate his Christmas Homecoming. In later years, I myself returning home from school was a very much anticipated event. I think about two years ago on a traditional Christmas Eve drive after church with my girlfriend, Sue, how we came across a car that had gone off the side of the mountain, and being out cell range, climbed down in my suit and tie in the snowstorm to pull them out of the car and get them warm and to safety. In the past 3 years a Christmas snowshoe with my girlfriend has become an anticipated event. But my fondest holiday memory, is really so simple. As far back as I can remember, after decorating the tree at my folks house ( I would always get yelled at for throwing the tinsel, rather than draping it), the thing I liked to do after every one else had gone to bed, was stay up and stare at this one ornament on the tree. There was chair right next to the tree, and every year I always made sure that the ornament would be hung in the same place, at eye level next to the chair. The ornament itself was old, and really very simple. It was this salmon colored gazebo looking thing, with blue tinted fins inside, and the idea was to hang it over one of the tree light bulbs, so the heat of the bulb would make the fins spin. Nothing spectacular, but for me, in the quiet of the night, it would mesmerize my soul into a deep meditation, and allow me to reflect on all that was about me. And there, in the comfort of that chair, away from the cold and blustery Cleveland winter outside, I would, in those quiet moments, understand the blessing that is Christmas in my heart. May yours be as simple and fulfilled. DF 12/21/14
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 19:29:40 +0000
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