It is, once again, that time of the year. Many of us celebrate Christmas but many others of us may celebrate Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan or may not observe any of these during this time of the year or around it. But if you live in the free world, you probably are affected by the onslaught of TV programming, media coverage, commercials, music, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas decorations and designs on the packaging on numerous products and much more, which cry out to all of us that this season has begun. Much of this is designed to lure us into stores to do Christmas shopping as all these things supposedly get in in the frame of mind for this. This is assuming, of course, that we have the finances for such shopping.
I will not use this blog to deplore the commercialism of these holidays or to tell anyone how it should be observed. Voices abound that are doing one or both and I don't need to add to them. Even if we don't make a conscious effort to listen to them, voices and the actions of those around us declare the wonders, the fun, the attractiveness and the uniqueness of the features of these holidays: its rich foods that it's assumed virtually all of us will eat at this time of the year, the trimmings and decorations we will use or should use, how we'll spend much of our time or should spend it in preparing for it, and how we will our should be, with great expectation, anticipating this one day of the year and "making great preparations fot it," because, after all, it's "the most wonderful time of the year." Often we may hear or may ourselves say, "Christmas is for the children." We hear these things from the voices which hold that Santa Claus is the reason for this season.
However, we are also flooded with images, music and special events and worship services which remind us to "Keep Christ in Christmas" and that "Jesus is the reason for the season." Many of these commendable efforts mainly focus on Christ in the form of the baby Jesus in the manger and on His mother Mary, his stepfather, Joseph, the Wise Men (there is no evidence that there were only three of them), the Shepherds and the others players of this stupendous all -time event in our human history. Christmas is actually the story of God becoming man and living, at an actual time in human history, among us in our world, living our life (but without ANY trace of sin in thought, word or deed), and willingly becoming the ultimate crime and murder victim of all time, dying our death in our place. To confirm the total all-sufficiency of His Son's life and death, God raised Him to life. Christmas is meant to focus on what we call His Incarnation, becoming human to rescue us humans from sin, making peace between us and Himself and to being peace in the world through our being at peace with each other. Thus the word peace is often used to refer to this season.
The original historical person, who inspired the character of Santa Claus, was NOT a legend. It was an openly Christian missionary, St. Nicholas, who is behind the concept of Santa Claus. St. Nicholas, a dedicated Christian who openly shared his faith in Christ in the face of persecution, cared much about the poor and the desitute, especially children. So he reached out to those in need, especially children, giving gifts. But as Christmas became more and more commercialized, the concept of Santa Claus evolved, taken from the life of St. Nicholas according to tradition. At the end of this post, I will include an entire website devoted to the person of St. Nicholas and including many resources and much gudance and iformation to make the most of the holidays, keeping Christ in them while having fun with the festivities. The site is Catholic-owned and operated but don't let that keep the many non-Catholics among us from exploring it.
My own experience is that when my siblings and I were growing up, we absorbed the concept of Santa Claus and that he was the reason for the season. This being so, the day after Christmas was a huge letdown. On Christmas Eve, I remember that, as children, we were required to attend the late-night Christmas Eve service, having to get all dressed up for the occasion. This, like much of my childhood, is now a blur. I do remember that, each Christmas morning, we woke up to Christmas presents under the tree, which our parents funded through their heavy use of credit cards. For our parents, like so many others, believed that Santa Claus is the reason for these holidays (this was pre-recession times). Even then, we saw the emptiness and lack of sense of buying presents which, a year from that particular day, we would pay no attention to. It was not until after my 10th birthday that my late grandmother broke the news to me that Santa Claus did not exist and that, "Chistmas is the time of giving, not receiving." Yes, I was disappointed at this news but this was by no means among the most scarring or devastating disappointments of my life!
As for the way so many of us typically celebrate Christmas or our other forms of this holiday season, I know that there are many who do not even necessarily enjoy or may even dread this time of the year! For example, many with sensory-processing disorders or who have autism or Asperger's Syndrome, grow overwhelmed by being surrounded by lots of people, the rich food that many of us cannot tolerate, and the bright lights and trimmings. At my age, I can no longer tolerate the rich textures and tastes of most holiday foods or the lights and sounds, one reason, in all honesty, I no longer look forward to Christmas Day and have not done so for much of my adult life. But it seems to get worse every passing year. Also, many among us, including I, deal with seasonal depression and struggle with depression spells that gget much worse during the winter months. And then there are the many individuals and families, who have suffered losses of many different kinds, which may make the idea of focusing on Santa Claus and many of the festivities ring hollow and shallow.
It is for many reasons like the ones above, which are why it was not I who have told our daughter about Santa Claus but have let her dad and her grandparents (my parents) do that. As parents, My husband and I have been hit much harder by the current recession than my parents were when I was growing up, so it was relatively easy for us to avoid any instilling of the idea that Santa is the reason for these holidays. An advantage to not putting all our expectations on one day of the year is that we do not have the "Christmas letdown" or the "post-holiday blues"!
Actually, if we believe that the first Christmas Day was the day of Jesus" birth on Earth as a human, the God-Man, December 25 is probably not even the actual day that He was born. As I have read in a few places, His birth actually took place ealier in the year, like probably in the Fall but not in the winter. It is people who have set Christmas to December 25. But I don't think the actual date matters. What matters is why we observe the holiday season and our focus, whether we make Santa Claus a major part of the holidays or not. If we see exchanging gifts as in keeping with the spirit of focusing on the spirit of giving and to remind us about the meaning of this holiday, then it seems that this is a good thing. If we have financial resources, we have numerous opportunities for giving: Witness the numerous charities and places of worship which ask for donations to keep their missions afoot. But we can give in countless different ways without darkening the door of any store, buying gifts or wrapping them. Even the simple act of sending geeting cards that share the Good News of Christ and God's love enable us to give to people the gift of our shared faith. Then, we can always give the gift of ourselves in countless ways, including making gifts for loved ones by hand.
Santa Claus is for children. Christ is for people of all ages.
Santa Claus tells us not to show emotion. Christ is close to the brokenhearted.
Santa Claus comes just once a year. Christ comes to us every day.
Santa Claus tells us to be good or else he won't give us anything. Christs' love for us is based on Who He is, not on who we are.
Santa Claus is a fantasy. Christ is reality.
Here is the comprehensive website about St. Nicholas; it informs us about him, how he exemplifies the spirit of Christmas, the many different ways it is celebrated in different parts of the world, and includes a section for children and many other resources and ideas for observing the holidays. It is for all of us, though it is Catholic-owned and Catholic-operated. It can be found right here:
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/.
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