14 December 2023
It's the end of an era, in many ways.
This is for the community. I woke up in the wee hours this morning with a burden on my heart. Normally I would have been rushing to send out a bunch of Christmas cards by now. This year I felt it was pointless. Of course, it's no secret that I've long regarded Christmas as a fabrication. It's not Jesus' birthday.
In the Hebrew culture, and across the Ancient Near East in general, no one paid much attention to your birthday. A king's biggest annual celebration was his coronation day, not the day of his birth -- though they called it his "birthday". For our Savior, that would be the Day of Resurrection. To celebrate one's birthday is a western thing.
Further, we are quite certain Jesus was not born in the winter, but in spring, or perhaps early fall. It depends on whom you ask. Jesus is not the reason for the season. We have strong evidence that the celebration of His birthday was nailed over the top of a pagan winter celebration as the excuse for Constantine to keep his idolatrous practices intact. He cynically used the Christian religion to help unify the population of his empire, but refused baptism and communion until on his deathbed. He worshiped Sol Invictus until the day he died. That was how shallow his commitment was.
For folks from northern European backgrounds, whose traditions were born in colder climates, we needed a way of giving everyone a little relief from the dreary winters. It's a way of surviving, of reminding ourselves that the long nights and short days of deep snow won't last forever. Our ancestors had big celebrations long before Christian missionaries showed up.
In America, Christmas has been regarded as a mere cultural celebration for a very long time. It's all about the commerce, the sales pitch. All of our holidays have been hijacked, and corporations have devised several more out of nothing. I don't resent it by any means, and I'm not being cheap, either. I've donated a tidy sum this year because of the cultural tradition. This is what we do in America. I still sing Christmas carols that are meaningful to me.
In previous years, when I belonged to an organized church, I would send a big stack of cards through the organization. We had a program where folks could donate to some annual Christmas charity for missions, with the kiddos doing the delivery instead of giving the money to the US Postal System. I'm not part of a church like that any more; they ran me off.
In the past few years, I've received very few cards. My earthly family stopped sending them years ago. The only reason I tried to revive the custom was to keep open an alternative means of communication in case the Net went down. However, over the past year in particular, the USPS has been coming apart. A few cards I've sent in the past never made it. There are numerous complaints that the USPS is giving all their effort to keep up contracts with the likes of Amazon, and the regular mail can wait. Postal revenue is way down, and the system is scrambling to stay alive. The Internet appears to be outlasting snail mail.
So, I'm not sending cards this year. I'm not calling for anyone to embrace my choice; send them if you feel so moved. I'm not a grinch. I've told all of you that I love you in various ways, and I would sacrifice my life for my spiritual family. I'm here for you; I'll walk the Valley of the Shadow of Death with you all year long. I'll send you anything you ask for, if I have it. I'm one of those people who Paul described as celebrating no particular day above the rest. That's ingrained in my personal character; it's how I'm wired. I typically have no idea what day of the week it is without a computer displaying it somewhere.
For a lot of reasons, the Christmas card is dead for me. On the other hand, I may well keep posting right through Christmas day, if the Spirit moves me. People who know me realize that I don't love them any less for dropping this small cultural observance. The unreliability of the USPS was the deal breaker for me. If I had sent the cards a week ago, to the few addresses I still have, some would still not arrive until after Christmas Day.
Those who have my phone number, feel free to call me during this time of year at your convenience. Even if I'm out somewhere during the day, I'll take your call. There is no intrusion, only the risk that I can't hear you that well if there's background noise. Maybe I'll call you. If a voice call tickles your fancy, you can ask for my number privately. I'm not posting it here, for obvious reasons.
There you go: Merry Christmas!
Comments
Dan D.
At first, I was entirely cool with this take. And for the most part I still am. Then today I was listening to Handel's Messiah and what occured to me is that in Luke 2:14 an angelic messenger was dispatched to declare to humanity "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." in announcing the birth of our saviour.
So ignoring the date and understanding the outcome of this amazing rescue mission I think it is entirely fine to offer glory to God who initiated it.
Let us recast it not in capitalistic terms but in those that mimic what the angel was sent to express to us. Perhaps daily, as we awake. "Glory to God in the highest!"
CatRez
It's for sure there's a lot we can do to proclaim His glory without wasting time and resources with cultural customs like sending ornate greeting cards. I suppose if they were hand made, it would have significance.
This document is public domain; spread the message.