Not that you asked, but what I hate most about the Christmas season is the rushed mindlessness of it all. The enforced belief that everyone must be happy, that everyone must bankrupt themselves to buy fripperies for other people as a testament of love, that now one must smile and embrace the myth of universal goodwill or be branded with that most horrible of epithets: grumpy
I suppose I'm at the age where I can raise my cane and shout that the true meaning of Christmas has been forgotten, that commercialism runs rampant. But I think that commercialism is the true meaning of Christmas, and has been for a very long time. It isn't about caring for one another--it's about showing how each of us can out-do the other. I find it amusing that a celebration of Christ's birthday--a man who preached tolerance, hung out with people of all classes, and flipped the tables of businessmen when he found them on the temple grounds--has become the focal religious point for many people who sneer at anyone different from them and who judge others solely on how much money they earn. It's irony on a level that would not be possible without the smoke of book burnings and the spittle of righteous indignation.
Go back to the pagan roots of this celebration, and the real reason people like to get drunk and hang out with each other was to take their minds off the dark. Off the cold. And to that end, I love that aspect of it. But the dark isn't just seasonal, and we should be doing our best to help others feel less alone. All the time. Not just when the malls are playing songs sung by dead men about times that never were.
2 comments:
It's okay to be a grumpy old guy at Christmas - it's what I do best this time of year. Even as a kid, the best thing about Christmas was just hanging around with people for no other reason that you wanted to hang around with them. But I always wondered why that couldn't be a year-round thing - having friends and family come to the house, sharing a meal, just enjoying the moment.
I still feel that way, although anymore it seems like no one has the time or inclination for stopping time and being in each other's company while the cold winds blow outside. Buying crap - for yourself and others - is the point of it all these days, and I truly hate it. It feels like we're all supposed to be out there scavenging - wide-eyed and frantic - just accumulating shit we don't need. But god help you if you present a 'Christmas list' to help me scavenge more effectively.
I don't exactly know where I'm going with all this, other than to say I that my only Christmas wish is to eat, drink, and be merry with the people that matter to me - gifts not included and no assembly required.
I like the Christmas list, it saves time thinking about shit I don't want to spend time buying. Ditto to everything else though. Hey, turns out kids love the pagan rituals and ideas about bringing light and life into the house. The presents are like plants growing under the tree (more life). I think it's catching on.
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