Friday, December 23, 2005
Christmas meaning
Christmas - meaning and reality
There are now less than thirty hours before Christmas Day and I thought that I would try and express my thoughts about the meaning and the reality of this (still) religious festival.
We mark Christmas in this country by joining in with Christian communities around the world to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a celebration engrained in our history and culture since before the time of the arrival of St. Augustine on British shores, and Christianity itself has been woven into the fabric of our society through our laws, politics, and monarchy. The occasion should be seen in it's religious and historical context as a time to think of rebirth, renewal, and reason for new hope. When we talk of things like "the joy of Christmas" or "peace and goodwill towards all men", then we should always think back to the biblical tale of the birth of Christ, that we learned at school or in church, and try and put those quotes into a modern context. The faithfull saw the birth of our Lord as an occasion bringing great joy to the world and offering a chance of peace in a region embroiled in political and military turmoil, toiling under the oppressive yolk of the Romans. Corruption was rife, the Jews (God's chosen people) were once again in the position of being persecuted and there seemed little hope of light at the end of the tunnel. Whether Christ was seen by his peers as a saviour, a political leader, a regional activist, or even the heir to David's throne is neither here nor there now. What we do know is that his life, death, and resurrection offered a new hope, a new beginning, and a change in the way that some people lived their lives. Before long Roman provincial governors were being converted to Christianity, shortly followed by tribal chieftans, monarchs, and heads of states. A new religion had been born which would alter social developments, family and social relationships, political, judicial, and legislative histories for many centuries to come. A religious movement, which in this country may have wained and weakened a little over the last few decades, that continues to dominate mainland Europe, North and South America, and Australasia.
Indeed leaders of both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church expect a substantial rise in the number of people attending Christmas Mass this year in th U.K.
This message of a religion offering new hope and a new life, is to me the real message of Christmas, a message which currently struggles to be heard above the noise of consumerism, and more recently the attacks of the secular "politically correct."
There is no shame in offering gifts at Christmas, there is no shame in displaying a Christmas Tree, there is no shame in sharing the joy of Christmas and offering peace and goodwill to all men of all religions.
However, there is shame in damning the occasion and all but banning it's celebration. I am totally in agreement with Trevor Philips, the Chairman of the Commission for racial Equality, in his assertion that we should all join together to celebrate Christmas, he says;
"I am baffled after reading about the recent "bans on Christmas" by companies and local authorities across the country.
Whether it's the traditional Christmas tree getting the chop, the school Nativity, or the town centre's festive lights, these decisions are nonsense and do nothing to nurture good race relations and bring all Britain's communities together.
Celebrating each other's festivals and faiths is the best way to create better understanding between different groups of people.
The more we understand each other, the more we're likely to live together peacefully.
A ban on Christmas isn't just silly and offensive to those who profess to be Christians. Most people of other faiths are bemused that we should even question it.
Nor do we want to turn the holiday into a celebration of crass consumerism where the only thing being worshipped is the latest Playstation game. Christmas should be about families, friendship and communities."
This is the other shame of the reality of Christmas in western societies, consumerism has succeeded in breeding greed and materialism into the hearts of our young, it has succeeded in creating a mammoth spending frenzy which each year sees thousands of tonnes of food wasted in this country. We see the grotesque images of families filling two or three shopping trollies on Christmas Eve, buying enough food to last a month when it is patently not necessary. A third of this food will not get get consumed, some will rot and become unfit to eat, most of it will end in the dustbin. At a time when there are still many homeless and hungry in this country, this excess of selfish consumerism is beyond the pail. It is one of the great shames of "consumer Christmas", so many of us think only of ourselves and think nought of others.
There are others too that we fail to think of at this time of year, when too many of us enjoy an overlong break that damages British industry. Do we think of the shopworkers who don't enjoy the luxury of this long holiday? No - we expect them to be there for us whenever it pleases us. Do we think of the doctors, nurses, porters, ambulance crew, policemen, fire fighters, t.v. and radio crews or all of the others that work over the Christmas and New Year? No - we just expect them to be there for us whenever it pleases us. Do we think of the hard pressed members of our armed services working on our behalf and working for peace in foreign lands? No - we just expect them to be there for us whenever it pleases us.
In short, consumerism and materialism has made selfish beasts of us! Of course there are many that are and always will be like this - I will think of them this Christmas!
It is time for us all to begin to think about each other, Christmas is a good time to make a new start, to introduce new hope of a better way of living and a more tolerant society. However, like puppies, these things are for life, not just for Christmas.
It is unlikely that this blog will be updated in the next few days as I spend some very rewarding and quality time with my family and friends, this year the opportunity has to be taken, it may be the last for one in our midst. I wish all of my readers all of the joys of the season, and shamelessly I wish you all a very Happy Christmas.
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