I don't remember just when I first heard laments about how Christmas was becoming commercial, and how we need to put Christ back in Christmas. It was at least as early as 1947, maybe earlier. We still frequently hear that sentiment today, sometimes from people like myself. We have been lamenting about the way the world around us observes the Christmas season for a long time. Plainly, many widespread Christmas customs as practiced by our secular society do not contribute to an emphasis on the coming of the Christ into the world, and may seriously distract from such an emphasis. I recently purchased a small book from our pastor, called "Christmas Is Not Your Birthday." Its message clearly is to emphasize that the celebration is for Jesus's birth, not our own birthday. The book is a clear call to focus on the heart of Christmas, in spite of the ever-present competitions and distractions of the season.
In this column I am often thinking in terms of how things were "back then," and how things are "now." Often when we think of now and then we tend to think of the "back then" as the good old days, when life was supposedly better and less hectic, people were nicer, everybody went to church and Christmas was more clearly about the birth of the Christ. Actually I don't remember the "old" days as quite so ideal. During the first of the old days that I remember, the world was at war, we had thousands of soldier boys overseas on the front lines, and the huge and crucial Battle of the Bulge was going on at Christmastime in 1944 in Belgium and Luxembourg. The old days were not all peaceful and sentimentally memorable. Nor was everything about Christmas back then focused on celebrating the birthday of Jesus. Some of the still enjoyable so-called "Christmas" music was coming into vogue, like "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," "Walking In a Winter Wonderland," "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." And, of course "Jingle Bells," which is more about sleigh rides in the snow than it is about Christmas, has been popular for ages. Many of these songs are delightful and singable, and may help make the season bright, but they don't really have much to do with Christmas.
As I recall the days of World War II, I think we definitely saw less of Santa Claus than we see today. My first impression was that we weren't really supposed to "see" Santa at all, we were just to expect him to make a visit to our house on the night before Christmas, leave some presents under our tree, and then be off and away to someone else's house. Santa Claus did show up briefly at the end of our church's annual Christmas program. He would hand out small brown bags of hard candy and an orange. But I soon discovered that it was just a dressed up Santa, because his voice sounded exactly like our Sunday School superintendent. Santa may also have been in our Christmas parades -- I don't remember well. But at least we didn't see Santa in the stores, or setting up somewhere to ask all the little children what he should bring them for Christmas, and especially we didn't see Santa advertising the bargains we can find if we only shop at this store or that! I'm afraid Santa Claus these days forgets that he started out to represent the spirit of Saint Nicholas, a centuries-ago churchman who sought to bring a bit of help and kindness and joy to little children, many of whom barely had even the basic necessities of life. Some critics of the Christmas season lament because they see too much Santa and not enough Jesus. I don't see Santa as necessarily a distraction from Jesus. In fact, Saint Nicholas was very much about expressing the caring of Jesus toward the poor and the vulnerable of his time. But when we see Santa pushing this product and that, and teaching the "gimme this," "gimme that" spirit at Christmastime, things have gone radically wrong; Santa has lost his way, even with Rudolph and his nose so bright!
I have come to see "Making Christmas Christmas!" as a continuing challenge for all who give witness to the Christ Child as God's best gift for the world. I note that when Jesus was born, the world about him was busy, busy about its own things, and most people were paying no attention to what was happening that night in a little stable in Bethlehem. Those who first testified that the Christ has come lived in a world which often ignored them, or actively opposed and suppressed them. They couldn't expect the world around them to always be supportive. Yet their message has made a momentous difference in the lives of countless people, and across the years has powerfully moved the world toward better things.
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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.
Editorial on 12/23/2015