Editor's note: This column was originally published in 2019.
I noticed on television last week that Rick Steves, who is known for his shows about travels to various places around the world, has a series coming up about Christmas customs and observances in the old countries of Europe. That is of interest to me, because many of our own American traditions of Christmas come from those old countries, brought here when people from those places immigrated to this country in the years gone by.
Christians have been celebrating Christmas for more than 1,600 years, and it is of interest to me to learn more about how Christmas has been celebrated by the faithful in the different places and different times. Obviously in the old days in the old countries they didn't have the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, or the story of Mr. Grinch, or the story of Jacob Marlow (Old Scrooge), and they didn't sing "Jingle Bells," or "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," or "Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly."
Christians seem always to struggle with competition in their societies which tend to reorient the season in other directions rather than keeping it as a celebration of the birth of the Christ. The Christmas celebration, or Christ Mass, originated in the Christian church partly as a way of attracting their populations away from earlier seasonal pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. We don't actually know when Jesus was born, and the Christmas celebration doesn't attempt to determine the time of year his birth occurred. Christians celebrate that Christ was born, not when he was born.
I recently noticed that one of our well-known insurance companies is promoting what they are calling "Twelve Days of Deals." The inspiration for the idea of Twelve Days comes, I think, from the Twelve Days of Christmas, which have been observed for centuries by the church. We have a right popular song by the title, "Twelve Days of Christmas," which preserves the idea of a 12-day celebration, even though in our society, and even in many Christian churches, the 12-day celebration is less likely to be observed. This has allowed secular concerns to step in and utilize the idea of 12 days to sell stuff, and to offer "great deals" even though Christmas time is not supposed to be about stuff or about getting stuff at bargain prices.
I think it was a year ago that one of our local companies was advertising a "Twelve Days of Christmas" sale, only they set their 12 days as the 12 days leading up to Christmas day, and the sale was over as soon as Christmas arrived. For the Christian church, the 12 days of Christmas don't come before Christmas day, rather, they begin with Christmas day and continue through Jan. 5. For the church, the season before Christmas is Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas. Advent involves the four Sundays before Christmas day, and is a time for lifting up the Biblical prophesies which led to the anticipation of the coming of the Savior, the Messiah. Advent observes the expected coming of the Christ, anticipates the celebration of his birth and anticipates his coming again.
It seems to me that one of our problems as Americans is that we can't wait for Christmas to get here and then as Christmas Day arrives, we can't wait for Christmas to be over. Our society wants to set up for Christmas even before Thanksgiving, and to have Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays, and all sorts of promotions that are somewhat related to Christmas, but not really. We are strangely obsessed these days, with saving money, supposedly getting stuff at bargain prices. It is seemingly not enough to obtain something that we need, beyond that it is important to "get a good deal." One fellow braves the crowds of crazy shoppers and supposedly saves hundreds on buying his Christmas stuff. But his neighbor buys himself a new pickup and "saves thousands."
Another fellow looks online and finds a car he likes, but then asks himself, "But how do I know if I am getting a good deal?" OK, so there's a smart phone app for that. TruCar can tell him if he is about to get a good deal. So, Christmas becomes, not a real celebration of something great for the lives of all people, but a time to save more than your neighbor saves, and to be sure you are getting a good deal and avoiding the guilt and embarrassment of over-paying.
All indications are that we need to take a break from our competitions with the Jones and our pursuit of great deals, and really start to prepare for a celebration of Christ at Christmas.
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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge and an award-winning columnist, was vice president of Pea Ridge Historical Society.