Christmas

Christmas has the reputation of being one of the most difficult times of year for a lot of people. This was obvious when I was with Karidat and other social services before that experience. It is the time of year when people are supposed to be happy and thankful. It is a time of nostalgia for blessed childhoods, loving families and good times.  It is a time of celebration in church and in the community. However, if you had a childhood marked by abuse, alcoholic parents and devastating poverty, there is little over which to be nostalgic. If you are struggling to make ends meet, the gift giving binge weighs heavy on you, as you can’t afford to buy many presents.  In fact, you can’t afford to buy any presents, which makes you feel guilty and inadequate. If your relationships with family are strained, you feel the strain more severely during this time of year. The result is a sense of loneliness, a touch of depression and a desire for something that seems to be missing but you aren’t exactly sure what that missing thing is. Add to this seasonal strain, the political circus that is featured on television constantly and the strain grows even more burdensome.

Sometimes people will try to escape from this down feeling buy spending and partying. The spending gets them more depressed, as they get deeper in debt. The partying leaves them with a hangover. Neither of which is much of a cure for this depressed feeling. It seems to me that we have invested too much cultural baggage and expectations on the Christmas season and have lost sight of its spiritual meaning.

I’ll confess that I’m not much of a fan of the Christmas season. I usually get in the Christmas spirit on Christmas eve listening to carols in church. The shopping, incessant TV specials, secular holiday songs about Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus serve more to irritate me than to get me in the Christmas spirit. I’ll watch Dicken’s “The Christmas Carol” and find it easier to identify with Ebenezer Scrooge.

Scrooge was a cynic who had been burnt too many times and lost hope. His lack of hope made it difficult for him to empathize with the suffering of others. He was so caught up in his own pain, that he failed to see the pain that others endured. Without the light of hope or compassion, Scrooge was lost in a spiritual darkness that turned him bitter. When speaking of Christmas, he would say, “Bah humbug!” and mean it from the depth of his heart. It was only when he was forced to see the suffering of others and the hope that brought comfort and strength to them that the light of hope began to be rekindled in his heart. It was that hope and compassion that transformed Scrooge from bitter hopelessness to a joyful and compassionate man.

The advent readings stress the darkness that enveloped Israel in the first century. It wasn’t a literal darkness but a darkness of the soul.  It was a sense of hopelessness. It was into that darkness of the soul that Christ brought the light of hope.  It wasn’t an overpowering light. It was more like a single candle in a vast darkness. But in darkness, even a small candle can light up a great deal.