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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Think how the pagans must feel at Christmas ’Tis the season for Christian clergy to issue jeremiads about the paganization of Christmas and reminding anyone who will listen that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” In fact, a good case can be made for saying the opposite is true. We do not know when Jesus was born, though it was probably sometime between 7 and 4 BC. The 6th-century monk who gave us our BC-AD designation, Dionysius Exiguus, got the math wrong. He also cemented in place an earlier, though not universal, custom that placed the celebration of Jesus’ birth at the winter solstice, which is when the steadily shortening days turn around and the faintest hope of spring appears with the gradually lengthening daylight. The idea was that the hope to be found in nature symbolized the hope to be found in the birth of Jesus. The winter solstice was a major celebration long before Christianity reached Europe. So, in a sense, it was the Christians who co-opted the holiday season. At the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, there were some Protestants who rejected the celebration of Christmas because of that pagan pedigree. Their descendants (a minority among Protestants) still refuse to celebrate the feast. But I say more power to the pagans. Christmas trees whose midwinter greenery proclaims the triumph of life, wreathes that symbolize the sun, eggnog, caroling, lights, family visits, feasting, gift-giving and gift-getting — that all belongs to Yule, the older festival. We would all be poorer without them, because even in our electrified world, winter gloom needs brightening. Yule is the pagans’ festival, and I wish them luck in trying to hang on to it. However, I worry that they might not succeed. They are taking a beating, but not from Christianity. Yule and Christmas coexisted for more than a millennium and a half without much tension. The assault on Yule comes from commercialization, and the odds of withstanding that assault seem slim. Most of the materialism that just about everyone bemoans has not been an assault on Christmas. It is Yule that has been the victim. In fact, Christmas is being more and more excluded, isolated and insulated from the general seasonal celebration. The word itself is disappearing, except in the churches where, perhaps, it should have stayed in the first place. So, Christmas seems increasingly safe from economic exploitation. Santa Claus is a symbol of the struggle that faces Yule and those who wish to celebrate it. At one time, he was a sort of bridge between Yule and Christmas. Based on legends about St Nicolas of Myra, a fourth-century bishop in what is now Turkey, Santa combined the good spirits and generosity of Yule with the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus. In fact, one of his nicknames, Kris Kringle, comes from the fact that he used to travel with the Christ child (the “Christkindlein” in German). But, ever since he became a shill for Coca-Cola in the ’30s, Santa Claus has increasingly become the pitchman for an orgy of consuming rather than giving.Why should a celebrator of Christmas be concerned about the threat to Yule? Shouldn’t we rejoice over the discomfiture of pagan influences that bothered those 16th-century reformers? We could just give the season back to the pagans and let them fight the commercialization on their own. But if for no other reason than that most of us Christians celebrate Yule along with Christmas, we have a vested interest in maintaining the integrity of the old festival. Besides, after partnering with Yule for so long, it would be a betrayal of an old friendship for us to abandon it when it is under siege. Is there some way that Christians can help Yule, a payback for our use of the season for more than 15 centuries? Since we celebrate Yule along with Christmas, usually without even separating them in our minds, perhaps we could do it more consciously, intentionally and attentively. One way would be to avoid superlatives — the most gifts, the most expensive gewgaws, the most faddish and up-to-date thingamajigs, the biggest party, the worst hangover in Roppongi — all of which fill commercial coffers at the expense of a real celebration of Yule. We can make our celebration an opportunity to really relax with family and friends, to rejoice not in possessions, but in fellowship. Though I plan this year to celebrate Yule along with Christmas as I always do with a Christmas service (in Roppongi!), I also plan to keep clear in my heart and mind that I am actually celebrating two festivals that differ in origin and intent. Christmas will shape the way I celebrate Yule. And what of those who want to celebrate Yule, but also feel an attraction to the message of peace that is a part of the Christmas proclamation? Welcome! Even if you cannot join us believers in what we say about that birth — whenever it was — everyone benefits if you and we commit ourselves to living more peaceably, more selflessly, more simply. So, a Cool Yule and a Merry Christmas to all! William Grimm is a Maryknoll priest in Tokyo and the editor of Japan’s Catholic Weekly More commentaries by William Grimm 'Da Vinci Code' a wake-up call for Christians Don't blame God for tsunami Japan Today Discussion Great article. pachisuro Click here to see all messages by pachisuro Click here to see member profile (Dec 17 2006 - 15:08) Rate | Report Christmas is about getting the most presents and giving as little as possible. Keep your worst presents from last year and give them to people you have to give presents to this year, so you spend as little money as possible. If you do this intelligently, no one will notice and still give you what you want. People are especially gullible at Yuletide. And Christmas is about getting drunk. Really, filthily, soul-wastingly, brain-bendingly drunk.
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#1. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
(Edited)
I pissed off the weekend coffee barrista at Theo's near the Harry and David order entry site during lunch. She had the audacity to play Christmas Music in a place full off pagans and Christmas capitalism haters. I went to the counter and asked of she was actually playing Christmas music and started an animated interactive conversation fueled by the pent up smoldering resentment held by many there that had been held in only by a desire not to rock the boat. I tend to be a spark plug in the gasoline air mix of a room full of people who need someone to speak up first. She put jazz on, the turned it up to make conversation harder as we continued to talk about how being hostage to that music from Halloween until New Years Day sucks. I looked back when I left to go back to work and caught the look. She hates me. I love it when a good relationship like that blossoms.
There are plenty of pagan holiday songs. I hear them while shopping, like "Santa Baby" or "Frosty the Snowman". Handel's Messiah and the truly religious Christmas carols are not played in the malls that I shop in. But, I don't expect them to.
#16. To: robin (#15)
Not a Christmas tune.... http://www.cyberhymnal.or g/htm/b/h/bhymnotr.htm , but one I like to keep in remembrance, and He who laughs last [ http://www.bluelette rbible.org/kjv/Psa/Psa002.html#4 ], laughs best.
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