Should we give up on Christmas?

http://www.globalpulsemagazine.com/news/lets-drop-christmas/2370
 
In years past, the Starbucks chain of coffee shops used paper cups at year-end that were decorated with snowflakes, fir trees, wreathes, snowmen and such. This year’s cups are plain red, without any decoration.
In response, some Christians in the United States called for a boycott of the chain because of its supposedly anti-Christmas stance. The connection between snowmen and the birth of the Messiah escapes me, but apparently for some people snowflakes are an essential Christian symbol and their absence is a denial of, or even attack upon, Christianity.
One year, I was flabbergasted to find that during an Advent Mass, the hymn during the preparation of the gifts was “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” Those Catholics dreaming of Christmas snow just like they “used to know” came, in fact, from a snowless tropical country. I made it a point from then on to always check the hymn list before the liturgy started.
A lay missionary I met in an almost totally non-Christian country thought an important part of his mission was to ride around the city on his motorbike on Christmas Day while dressed in a Santa Claus costume. I don’t know what the locals thought of his display, but I doubt that Jesus Christ was the first thing that came to their minds.
A Protestant church in the United States reportedly does not have services on Christmas because doing so would interfere with what should be primarily a “family day.”
Obviously, campaigns to remind us that “Jesus is the reason for the season” are not very effective even among Christians.
Of course, Jesus never was the reason for the season. The winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the reason for the season. It has been a special time ever since paleolithic people realized that the sun had stopped its decline in the sky and was beginning to return north, bringing longer days and warmth.
So far as scholars can tell, the church originally celebrated three feasts: Resurrection, Pentecost and Epiphany (manifestation). Epiphany celebrated several major manifestations of Jesus, including his birth, the adoration of the magi, his baptism by John and his first miracle at the wedding in Cana. What all those events have in common is that they were “introductions” of Jesus to the world.
The Western church later marked the feast in three parts, now celebrated as Christmas, Epiphany (limited to the magi) and the baptism of the Lord. Eastern churches have, for the most part, retained the ancient multifaceted aspect and a date different from Dec. 25.
We do not, of course, know the birthday of Jesus. In fact, Jesus himself might not have known — there are many cultures where birth dates are not remembered or celebrated. In any case, the celebration of his birth need not be tied to any particular date such as Dec. 25. Though in ancient times his birth was marked on various dates (in some places, it was in the spring), eventually the already festive time of the solstice became the time to mark Jesus’ birth.
So, Western Christianity in some ways co-opted a more ancient festival. The two celebrations have coexisted uneasily ever since. Churches are decorated with pagan Teutonic trees symbolizing fertility and wreathes that evoke the sun god. Those trees were not even a big part of celebrations in Rome until they were introduced by Pope John Paul II. Meanwhile, people celebrating the seasonal holiday, including nonbelievers, are attacked by some Christians for not including Christian elements in their decorations, celebrations and greetings.
Nowadays, it appears more and more that the solstice festivities are crowding out the Nativity ones. In effect, paganism is reclaiming its own.
Perhaps it is time for the church to withdraw from the competition and leave the solstice to be celebrated without guilty feelings about ignoring Christ and without crusading Christians trying to get Hindus, Jews and Muslims to erect stables and say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.”
We could re-adopt the ancient multifaceted feast of Epiphany. Or, we could just move the celebration of the Nativity to some other point on the calendar. Ideally, perhaps, such a change should be made ecumenically, but the fact that the Eastern and Western churches manage to coexist with different feasts shows that uniformity is not essential. The Orthodox churches that celebrate according to the Julian calendar in January manage to avoid the conflict altogether. The celebration of Jesus’ birth might even take place at different times in different cultures.
Unfortunately, nothing like that is likely to happen. And so, two festivals, Christmas and Yule, will continue their uneasy coexistence on the calendar.
However, that need not mean an uneasy coexistence in the hearts of Christians. We can put up our holiday trees and sing about white Christmases (though not in the liturgy, please). At the same time, but separately in our minds and hearts, we can celebrate the manifestation of Jesus, whose coming shows God’s decision to be part of the world’s celebrations and pains, its joys and woes.
Recognizing that we are involved in two celebrations should make possible joyful coexistence with those who celebrate only one or the other.
 
Father William Grimm, M.M., is publisher of ucanews.com and based in Tokyo.