I love Christmas as much as the next guy, so it's easy to get caught up in the balls, bells, bills, and bowls of the season. You may need to read that first line again: I actually do like all the sounds, colours, touches, tastes, and smells (all five senses, by the way) that come with this festive season.
You can have Christmas without the nonsense that passes for Christmas today, but you can't have it without snow. Well, you can, but I'm writing from an emotional perspective right now: You can hear the crunch of snow underfoot, you can see the white stuff everywhere, you can certainly touch it, you can taste it (just make sure it's not yellow), but I have no idea what snow smells like. (Let me insert the smell of a freshly-cut pine tree for argument purposes.)
Perhaps my favourite set of Christmases, other than many out here in the prairies (when there is snow), was in a small village BC's interior, called 100 Mile House. Back then and there, my life for the most part was a lot simpler, the kids were a lot younger, and there was plenty of, you guessed it, snow. It was light, fluffy, and fun to play in.
Christmas has lost a lot of its simplicity for me these days, though at least if there's snow, it covers up the barrenness of the season—witty play on words intended.
One of my struggles is with the commercialization and secularization of the season. There is so much emphasis on the wrong things these days—or maybe it's just simply “things.” We tend to get mixed up in what the real season is all about: In the minds of many, Santa Claus has replaced Jesus Christ; and if he hasn't, then we just simply cross (“X”) Him out (so Christmas becomes “Xmas”).
Note, I said Santa Claus, not some alleged Dutch man that went by the name of St. Nick so many decades ago. Maybe that's where this myth started.
Whoever and whatever he was, I don't believe he resembled the fat, bearded dude that drives a chariot (thanks, Beach Boys), pulled by eight reindeer, eats cookies, kisses Mom, and runs over grandmas--and drinks Coke when the advertising agencies deem it necessary.
Before you get your collective hackles up, let me encourage you to lighten up. Yes, this is a direct yet warmhearted column, a friendly shot at one of the classic icons of this season. You see, while Christmas can be a highly-strained, expensive, and emotional time of the year for most of us, it can have its moments of peace, joy, and good will to all men (and women) at the same time.
The myth of Santa Claus is pretty well in a class all of its own, mostly because it touches a nerve with anyone who really sees clearly Whom he's imitating. You see, when I read or sing about Ole Saint Nick (thanks again, Beach Boys), I see those qualities in Someone else.
Santa is portrayed as knowing all; he is seen as being almost everywhere at the same time; and certainly has power over people. Wordsmiths and theologians would identify those traits as omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent—qualities reserved for that one Person.
My angst is that that simple birthday 2000 years ago, with incalculable and eternal ramifications, has been largely set aside. In other words, what happened outside of Bethlehem then has no resemblance to what is happening now.
Even Bible-believing Christians, like myself, are not guiltless: Never enough time, money, or energy for the things that really matter at Christmas (or so it seems). Misplaced time, money, and energy is often drained by the Christmas blitz. It's a time to slow down, but too many of us rev it up; and we end up heading back to our workplaces and regular lifestyles frustrated and frazzled, and wound up and worn out.
I'm not saying every person and not every Christmas, to be sure, but the potential is there.
“It's the birth day (space between the words is intentional) of a King,” so the song goes. No sense having a birthday party without asking the guest of honour to show up. Silly to leave him out, isn't it? He is the reason for the season, and He should be part of the celebration.
And I can guarantee you that He won't run over grandma. Have a very Merry Christmas.
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