(My posts are merely thought experiments and not to be taken as if I firmly believe or think what it is I am writing. It is an experiment. I reach no conclusions.)
When you grow up in the Southern Baptist religion Christmas is a very important time of year. Add to that the commercialization of the holiday based on 'the spirit of giving', and the prominent figure "Santa Claus' which is based in "what gifts do you want for Christmas?", and the coming home of everybody to have a feast together, or many feasts, parties, and shopping, and you have a lot of things to attend to in order to have a successful Christmas. Maybe it's better to put it like this...
- The Religious Celebration of the birth of Jesus.
- The Giving of Gifts to others
- Santa Claus and the idea of making wishes come true.
- Shopping to buy presents.
- Families coming together to rekindle a close 'harmony'.
- Shopping for groceries.
- Cooking huge feasts
- Friends, Co-workers, Organizations, creating parties to celebrate the season.
- Charity drives.
- Music concerts, special events for community celebration.
To put it in a nutshell...it's A LOT!
I have pretty much managed to miss most of it this year. My parents have died, I am not married and have no children, I am no longer working in an organization, and I don't belong to a church.
For me as a child Christmas was full of wonder and warmth. The visions of sugar plums dancing in my head, the close identification of being a baby like Jesus and how poor they were that Jesus was born in a barn, and that there were angels and wise men all gathered around Him. There was Santa Claus and the 'waiting', listening and watching for Rudolf and the Reindeer to land on your house's roof. It was great fun.
Back then my family would all pack up and go to visit my father's family and we would stay at "The Wynn House" where the entire family would come to visit on Christmas Day either as part of the dinner or in the aftermath. It was a pretty big deal with a lot of relatives around. For me, it was the only time I got to see my cousins, aunts, and uncles so we didn't really know them very well.
When I was working as a singer, involved with churches and theaters, Christmas meant a lot of extra performances either in choir or as a soloist. Christmas week opera performances were usually sold out and featured the greatest pieces of the repertoire in opera and operetta. In Germany of course you have the gigantic Christmas Markets which are so beautiful and fun...German Christmas is awesome.
When I was married of course the big challenge was getting my wife gifts that were special. It is one of the things that my father was terrible at and so I doubt if I was very good at it either. It was quite stressful because, as gift giving for me is, nothing you could get would possibly be good enough for them. I can't read minds. I don't know what other people want. Heck, I don't know what I want, so if someone were to read my mind they'd get nothing from it.
So all of this combined usually mean there is a lot to do and most of it was done by my mother. She made Christmas happen. Dad was responsible for putting up the tree and the lights and all, but everything else fell on my mom and she was also working full time ... at the church where Christmas is a huge production.
Mom planned Christmas, she bought all of the presents, she wrapped all of the presents, she helped Santa Claus with his duties, and she cooked the meal, packed everything for the trip to Sturgis, and basically held the whole thing together. Dad made the money, well most of it, and Mom managed it and spent it. This she was a master at. We didn't have a lot of money growing up but we always had enough and that was mostly because of Mom.
I think of Christmas in two ways: 1 is the Christmas in the home and 2 is Christmas outside the home.
Christmas within the home was good but it could be very stressful as well. One thing my brother and I did on Christmas morning for a couple of years is serve Mom breakfast in bed. She really liked that. For many years we would have the gift opening on Christmas morning in Sturgis meaning we would go a couple of days before Christmas to help set it all up. But, later Mom was really wanting to have Christmas morning at home, have breakfast and then drive up to Sturgis for Christmas dinner. Back then much of the trip was on 2 lane back roads and it would take over 3 hours to get there. This wasn't the best arrangement but I did like having Christmas morning at home plus it was a lot less to pack up and move around.
All of that is gone for me now. Right now my Christmas is rather simple yet the stress of gifts is still there. I've just sort of resigned myself to the fact that I don't know what people want so I do the best I can. As for myself, I don't want nor do I expect any gifts from anyone. I don't need anything and I don't want anything. I have more than I can get rid of as it is. This doesn't mean I don't really appreciate them it is just that nobody needs to do it for me. I do like getting cards or greetings through the various mediums available to us today.
"Today the baby Jesus was born."
One of my theories about life is that the stories we experience in our own lives and the stories told to us from the past have in common one thing and that is "meaning". Regardless of what the story is the result of them is the meaning. Jesus told stories to convey meaning. These are called parables. So, by telling a story Jesus conveyed meaning but it wasn't one to one meaning, the meaning was to open the mind to the spirit of the story so that we would live by feel and not so much by definition.
So, if the story of Jesus birth, Jesus himself, God, or any type of spiritual teaching is real or not it doesn't really matter. What matters is what it means, what it is telling us. As Eckhart Tolle wrote in his book "The Power of Now", a finger pointing at the moon isn't the moon ,nor is the word water written on paper drinkable. The figures of our deities aren't God, but rather a finger pointing towards it. We aren't supposed to believe in God, we are supposed to act in a way that if there was one would be acceptable to it. That is really the proof of our spirituality, it isn't what we believe but how we act in life based on our beliefs that makes it important. What good is knowing the speed limit if you have no intention on following it? None.
I have been thinking about the birth of Jesus and what is important about it in today's world. What is the message it is sending?
My thoughts on the subject right now is this...Babies are being born every day all over the world. Many are born into poverty, will live a childhood of neglect and hunger. Many will be orphaned or die because of poor sanitation. Many babies will be abused by mentally ill grown ups and left with deep emotional scars. Some of those babies will grow up to be leaders in the world. But, what is the question that comes to mind when we think about a baby being born? What can we do to make the birth of every baby on earth as free of turmoil and hunger as possible? Part of that equation is to help the parents of these babies be capable of being able to provide their babies with the necessary tranquility to be protected from the ills of life so they aren't psychologically damaged before the age of 5. How can we protect women from abuse so they can become women who have children under good circumstances. What do we have to do to cure the mental illness in men to stop the abuse some do to women? These are all topics that the story of Jesus is telling us to address.
Punishment is not an effective deterrent. If it worked then it would stop. The answer must lie in the spreading of ideals which encourage correct behavior. The hearts and souls of people everywhere need to be guided with love, compassion, empathy, and good will in order to create a world where suffering ends. Forgiveness, redemption, and the ability to start a new life free from the guilt of the past is what Jesus taught in His life and to me you can argue all you want about the validity of the Christian religion, God, or spirituality in general, these principles are the only real ticket to a better world.
Every child has the right to be born into peace and tranquility. Babies are born without ideologies, without political opinions, without sexuality, but are pure beings 100% vulnerable in the world. We should protect them because we are them.