And God Bless Us, Every One

So…we survived the Mayan apocalypse. 🙂 That’s terrific.

I’ve got a nice little year-end post brewing, but for now, a few thoughts about Christmas as we’re now a mere two days away.

Christmas time comes with some obvious mixed feelings this year. Not only are our hearts turned toward the Shady Hook tragedy and the folks trying to pick up the pieces after the unthinkable happened–but there were also plenty of other people hurting in other ways even before that tragedy occurred. What was meant to be a season of joy and gladness becomes more of a season of pressure and pain for a lot of people–and perhaps it’s just me, but the problem seems to be getting worse. It’s more than commercialism (though that’s an ongoing issue); it’s more about the demands and expectations associated with the holidays. The expectation to go into debt for holiday gifts when you haven’t even paid off last year’s Christmas expenses. The demands and expectations either to travel to see family or to host family, and all the work that goes into it. (I’ve known some folks whose blended families require them to attend four holiday dinners in one day.) And behind it all–there’s the pressure to be happy when you just don’t feel happy.

And then, of course, as recent events have reminded us, there’s the whole issue of observing Christmas in the face of losing a loved one, or several loved ones. Beyond losing someone at Christmas, anyone who has lost someone will tell you the aching doesn’t go away with the passage of time, and sometimes the holidays amplify that pain.

I don’t know how many people I’ve encountered for whom these pressures make it impossible for them to keep up the festive facade. Our family is keeping it simple this year because we’re staring down a deadline to finish The Director’s short film by the end of this year, and we need the flexibility to get it done. So we’re taking the holidays as they come–minimal gifts, flexible schedule, going to the movies on Christmas, and that’s about it. It’s remarkable how many people have openly said they were envious of us for the way we’re handling the holidays, because the pressures upon them to keep up with expectations basically ruin it for them. It seems a growing number of people would rather the holidays not even come around.

In seasons like this, stories like Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (one of my favorite stories) can convey fresh meaning. In our tellings of the story, we focus a lot of attention on Ebenezer Scrooge, and his “bah, humbug!” attitude toward Christmas as a waste of time. We focus on the part of the story that emphasizes his greed and his lack of Christmas spirit, and how the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future come to help give him an attitude adjustment.

But perhaps due to a lack of context, we’re missing another subtext in this story line. Charles Dickens’ stories were social commentary for his day. Reading them, you see the plight of the common man at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the hardships and inequities people faced as a normal part of life. This element is also present in A Christmas Carol. Behind the Scrooge storyline is a whole cast of underprivileged people who don’t have much for Christmas and who practically have to beg for the day off to celebrate. People in poverty and darkness, who by all accounts don’t have a lot to celebrate.

And yet…one of the key moments in the story is when the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge around to different settings to watch these people observe Christmas. Scrooge is baffled, at times, by their determination to celebrate, no matter how little they happen to have–to be joyful despite their circumstances, not because of them. Christ is not openly preached in the story, but it is apparent that there is a deeper meaning to Christmas that Scrooge has missed, that the underprivileged around him haven’t missed. The joy of Christmas is not based on our circumstances; it’s based on a greater hope. Perhaps the most poignant moment of this part of the story is Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchitt’s crippled little boy who is probably the most cheerful person in the room, melting Scrooge’s icy heart with his memorable declaration, “And God bless us, every one!”

The point of bringing this up is not to put pressure on any of us to be happy when we don’t feel happy, and certainly not to put on a good front for the sake of others. Rather, perhaps more now than at any other point in our own lives, the season serves as a reminder that there is more to life than the circumstances that surround us, no matter how bad they might be. I know that Christmas as we know it is basically a fabricated holiday–we Christians use a historic time of pagan observance to remind us of the birth of Christ, assigning Him the birthday of December 25 without really knowing. But that doesn’t change the fact that with His birth, heaven came to earth, and hope came to us all. We need to be reminded of that, now as much as ever.

So if there is nothing in your life that can bring you joy at the moment, I urge you to recall the meaning of the holiday, and remember the hope that it represents. Let the symbolism of the holiday remind you that there is a light that shines in the darkness, and be hopeful, even if you don’t feel joyful.

We are the ones who have turned Christmas into a pressure cooker. It shouldn’t be that way. In fact, we need to reclaim the true spirit of Christmas now more than ever. We need the hope it offers.

The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned….

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Is. 9: 2,6 (NIV)

Merry Christmas all. And God bless us, every one.