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emeraldembersPretty much all of you know that I am, in my own funny little way, a Christian. I talk about it from time to time but I'm not generally a WOAH HEY WOO YEAH IN YOUR FACE WOOOOOO Christian for a few reasons; first, I think to do so would be a bit dickish, and I don't like being dickish. Second, I write blasphemous porn - I don't really get to claim the moral high ground. Third, I'm a firm believer in "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words" because St Francis of Assisi rocked.
I don't particularly believe we own this holiday - with Yule and Hanukkah and about fifty other holidays coinciding with midwinter, and with most anyone knowing full well that Jesus wouldn't have actually been born at this time of year, it'd be outright daft to claim ownership. Claiming ownership of a midwinter festival is about as silly as claiming ownership of all beer, or ownership of particularly nice sunsets. And in all fairness, modern Christmas is more a combination of all the best bits from the various holidays - getting together with people you love (or are at least supposed to love), putting up a tree and decorations, dancing and getting absolutely bungalowed at parties, kissing under mistletoe, hanging up stockings, exchanging cards and presents and messages of love and peace and goodwill.
Christmas, I will admit, I love just as much religiously as I do secularly. Strimming out the extras - the virgin birth borrowed from one religion, the journey borrowed to fit better with certain prophecies etc - down to the basics, Christmas as a religious holiday is basically celebrating the idea that some few thousand years ago a baby was born who would later grow up to say that actually, God loves everyone, yes, even you, that one over there in the corner going >:(. That's the religious side of it for me, and I love that it's one of the few Christian holidays that is focused on hope and not on "And then this guy/girl suffered for you/God/God and you. Suffered like woah. Cherish your Guiiiiiilt". This is a holiday that basically has a spirit of "Things are pretty okay! Anyone for scrabble later?".
Secularly, I love presents. I love receiving them, I love giving them, I love that I get to spend today wearing brand new socks (and I am a firm believer there are few better simple pleasures than new socks, even if some people think they're a silly gift). I love making other people happy, too; even if they don't know it was me who did it. And I love it when people make each other happy, even if they probably aren't aware that they're doing so; when you overhear a hilarious conversation on the train, or you spot an old couple holding hands, or you see someone just generally being decent to someone else. It makes you feel a little bit warmer, a little bit fuzzier, and a little bit lighter.
I love the Christmas holidays because they're just about the one time of year in the western world where everyone tries to love everyone else, by and large. And Charles Dickens, that great advocate of all things Christmassy, did say that no one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else. As much as it's "just a holiday", and it's ridiculously over-commercialised, there's still a fundamental search for joy, a fundamental desire for everyone to be happier and more at peace running underneath all the silliness, and that's what I celebrate Christmas for.
Well. That and the free socks.
I don't particularly believe we own this holiday - with Yule and Hanukkah and about fifty other holidays coinciding with midwinter, and with most anyone knowing full well that Jesus wouldn't have actually been born at this time of year, it'd be outright daft to claim ownership. Claiming ownership of a midwinter festival is about as silly as claiming ownership of all beer, or ownership of particularly nice sunsets. And in all fairness, modern Christmas is more a combination of all the best bits from the various holidays - getting together with people you love (or are at least supposed to love), putting up a tree and decorations, dancing and getting absolutely bungalowed at parties, kissing under mistletoe, hanging up stockings, exchanging cards and presents and messages of love and peace and goodwill.
Christmas, I will admit, I love just as much religiously as I do secularly. Strimming out the extras - the virgin birth borrowed from one religion, the journey borrowed to fit better with certain prophecies etc - down to the basics, Christmas as a religious holiday is basically celebrating the idea that some few thousand years ago a baby was born who would later grow up to say that actually, God loves everyone, yes, even you, that one over there in the corner going >:(. That's the religious side of it for me, and I love that it's one of the few Christian holidays that is focused on hope and not on "And then this guy/girl suffered for you/God/God and you. Suffered like woah. Cherish your Guiiiiiilt". This is a holiday that basically has a spirit of "Things are pretty okay! Anyone for scrabble later?".
Secularly, I love presents. I love receiving them, I love giving them, I love that I get to spend today wearing brand new socks (and I am a firm believer there are few better simple pleasures than new socks, even if some people think they're a silly gift). I love making other people happy, too; even if they don't know it was me who did it. And I love it when people make each other happy, even if they probably aren't aware that they're doing so; when you overhear a hilarious conversation on the train, or you spot an old couple holding hands, or you see someone just generally being decent to someone else. It makes you feel a little bit warmer, a little bit fuzzier, and a little bit lighter.
I love the Christmas holidays because they're just about the one time of year in the western world where everyone tries to love everyone else, by and large. And Charles Dickens, that great advocate of all things Christmassy, did say that no one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else. As much as it's "just a holiday", and it's ridiculously over-commercialised, there's still a fundamental search for joy, a fundamental desire for everyone to be happier and more at peace running underneath all the silliness, and that's what I celebrate Christmas for.
Well. That and the free socks.
