December 22, 2004
"kiddocentric"
I think I like that word. I saw it over at Mr. Noz Esq's site. It gets to the heart of Christmas in America for me. The good Esquire has opened up some more thinking about Christmas and I wanted to throw my two cents in.
Now, let me state something before I rant. I have never had an Evil Christmas Experience. My family has always, even in the midst of difficulty, tried to make Christmas a time of generosity and family. As a child. I always looked forward to Christmas with great anticipation. I would get stuff. We would eat stuff. We would see family. We would get more stuff. There was love, food and glorious stuff. It was great. I like it. Would like to continue it. Not a complaint to be had.
Then I started to take Christianity seriously. Now I take it so seriously that I am a Professional Christian! Who knew? I am a Baptist minister. I serve as a hospital chaplain and as one of three pastors in a church start in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Most who read this blog know these things. Someone who links from Noz's site might not...thus the bio.
And the bio is important to reiterate to the rest of you. You see, Jesus was never, at least not that I recall, in any aspect of our family Christmas observance. We would put a Santa on the top of the tree. I would wait expectantly for Rudolph and the other Christmas specials to come on television. I remember playing with my smurfs under the Christmas tree. I do not think we ever read Luke on a Christmas morn. I am certain that we never went to a Christmas service. So now as a Christian, I am finding I have to reinterpret all of the symbols with a new meaning.
This should be exciting work, but it is not. Again, not because I have some bad associations about Christmas trees (e.g. The tree fell on my younger brother, lit the couch on fire and burned up all our stuff...that would be bad. That did not happen.) or anything, but it all begins to seem somewhat silly. Christmas shows up in October. It's popular meaning is unclear. I engage this stuff and wonder why...Why are we doing this? Is it really because we recognise collectively that the Incarnation is the only reason why we have any relationship with God at all? Or is it that our economy needs it, we like ham and that Rankin-Bass did great work with puppets? As incredibly silly as it may seem, as obsessive as it may seem, I do have trouble with it.
Now, I am not all about Christians "rescuing" Christmas from secularism. When a tradition adopts the symbols from another tradition, we should expect conflation, confusion and even ignorance of why we do the things we do. So, I don't want to reclaim anything. And, to be honest, I am trying to find ways to get past my own hang-up's so I can enjoy my first Christmas as a Married Guy. My wife and I have an 8' tree up in the livingroom. We have decorated it to within an inch of our cats' lives. There are stockings hung. I have purchased gifts for her and other family. I have been singing happy Victorian songs about Jesus and Father Christmas. I am in the Christmas zone.
And yet.
We still don't talk about Jesus. Not really. It is still not a habit and when I try to talk about Jesus in the midst of this holiday, I find the decorations ostentatious. I find it all misplaced somehow. Not really sure why. But there it is. Somehow Jesus does not belong in Christmas. How the frick frack did that happen?!
I'll do some more thinking about this and blog again. In the meanwhile: Merry Christmas. Play with your kids. It is a kiddocentric holiday! Drink the Nog. Hang stockings. Wrap gifts. Have fun. When I figure out how Jesus fits in, I'll get back to you.
So, strange to me. But then my memories of Christmas include Christmas Eve Candlelight service, and no Santa Clause. My father being German we were told the story of St. Nicholas, and when my father would remember we would do something special on that day. Then from my Swedish mother and (still at that) time ethnicaly Swedish Evangelical Covenant Chruch, there was the story of Santa Lucia. So, to say the least the consumerist secularized version of these symbols were not central to Christmas still isn't.
Then too, we had an advents wreath that went up after thanks giving not a Christmas tree. We waited as long as possible before getting a tree. Though the only reason it went up before Christmas even was that if you wait that long you don't get much of a tree. I was told that we put up a tree because of Martin Luther (I don't know if that is true), ah yes good Lutheran pietists. I guess all that to say if its a kiddocentric holiday then it ain't about Jesus, it was never about me as a child and I knew that. I don't know if it helps, but I say all this to say it is possible to live into the symbols as a Christian and not as an American.
You played with Smurfs? Wow.
Posted by: Reverend Ref at December 23, 2004 10:43 PM