My Annual Christmas Complaint

November 17, 2024

In one corner, we have Saint Nicolaus, the story of a nice old man handing out oranges and apples to poor children in the town where he lived. This is not part of my complaint.

Unfortunately. some people got the idea to exploit this story and pervert it into a story of an obese but jolly old elf dedicated to materialism:

“1. b: a doctrine that the only or the highest values or objectives lie in material well-being and in the furtherance of material progress…

2: a: preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things… (MerriamWevster.com)

“We can make tons of money off of this version of Christmas!” the merchandisers and Corporatists envisioned…

I grew up in that grand and happy fantasy, but when I grew up, I began to see its destructive dynamics to both individuals and Societies in general.

Haven’t you?

Christmas… again a dictionary definition — “a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Christ {Jesus}.” — ibid. It is supposed to be a festival celebrating Jesus’ birth who was the Promised Savior of the entire world who distributes spiritual gifts year round. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. — Galatians 5:22, ibid.

Still, the best gift He brought was reconciliation with God, the offer to give us forgiveness for the hurts and harm we have done in our lives.

Jesus is quoted as saying, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” — John 10:10, ibid. That is an offer for us to recieve the gift of “a rich and satisfying life” as the New Living Translation expresses it.

My conclusion is that it is up to individuals which form of Christmas they will celebrate this year, and the next, and the next…

Oh, yes oh yes, celebration is fun. There are designated celebrations throughout the Bible. At the same time, who we celebrate is much more important than what we celebrate.