this is the time of year when we hear phrases like "jesus is the reason for the season" or "keep christ in christmas" or "it's ok to say 'merry christmas.' " this obsession with christmas as a religious holiday is offensive. there are millions for whom jesus is not the reason for the season and for whom "happy holidays" is a far more appropriate sentiment than "merry christmas." even most christians don't really celebrate christmas as a religious holiday. if they did, they'd avoid the commercialism that is the season's most striking feature, they'd eschew decorating their homes weeks or even days before christmas eve, and christmas would be celebrated until the day of ephiphany, rather than ending abruptly on december 26.
as far as i'm concerned, the christmas season has become, and ought to be, a time that is primarily secular. i can't subscribe to the mythology that is part and parcel of observing christmas as a religious holiday. it's likely that the historical jesus was not born in december. the vision of angels in the sky proclaiming good news and extending wishes of peace to judean shepherds is lovely, but unlikely. wise men traveling from the east as they follow a star to a barn where a holy child lies in a manger is fun to sing about, but that's probably a fiction as well. that a virgin could give birth to a member of the godhead is a myth appended to the story to elevate jesus from a man to a god.
we can try to " honour Christmas in [our] heart[s], and try to keep it all the year" as dickens has scrooge saying in a christmas carol. "peace on earth and goodwill to men" is an admirable wish that we would do well to recall during this season and throughout our lives. reverence for the poor, as the holy family certainly was, is a worthy lesson to take away from the scene in the cattle stall, and the elevation of the status of a young jewish woman can serve as a call to address the ill treatment of women everywhere. there is much to learn from the christmas story, but to insist that the story in the bible is literally true diminishes the larger truths that are the reasons for the story.
christmas is a universal holiday, not just a christian one. it is a part of the traditions found in many faiths in many parts of the world that look to the light in the darkest time of the year. these celebrations of light are a sign that the human race has hope that darkness is a temporary state, that the light will return, that the cold will be replaced by warmth that nourishes life, that love will triumph over hate, and that, as martin luther king said (paraphrasing theordore parker), "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." this, for me, is the message of christmas, rather than the narrowly christian view that the season belongs only to christians who espouse orthodox theological beliefs.
may we keep christmas in our hearts, as dickens would have us do. may we not worry about how to properly celebrate the season, but rather may we take joy in the prospect of peace on earth and goodwill to all. may we not worry about whether jesus is the reason for the season or about keeping christ in christmas. may we instead kindle the spirit of the loving jesus in our hearts and extend that love to all. shalom.
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