Christmas Has an Identity Crisis

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Photo: endopack - Getty Images

Santa Claus in warehouse

Here we are again at Christmas, the mother of all holidays in America. One need only venture into the malls, real and virtual, to determine that, as holidays go, this one has lost its way. It has mutated into what is largely a gluttony of gifting in which those with plenty give too much to those who already have far more than they need.

From its earliest beginnings, Christmas has suffered an identity crisis. Its origins can be traced to a pre-Christian Roman feast called Saturnalia which occurred in tandem with the Winter Solstice to celebrate the return of more daylight courtesy of an agricultural god, Saturn. In several respects, our modern version of this holiday reflects its ancient origins, for the Romans celebrated Saturnalia with gifts, feasting and lots of booze. In this sense, like today’s Christmas holiday, Saturnalia was an important part of the Roman economy. For many retailers, this time of year is a make-or-break period.

It was in the 4th century AD that the Roman Emperor Constantine decreed Saturnalia be refitted to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. As a side note, the tradition of the Christmas tree evolved from a custom of early Germanic tribes who used it as a symbol of the resurrection of their sun god (again in conjunction with the Winter Solstice) and as a fertility icon. In other words, many themes and elements of this holiday emerged from pagan rituals.

Because of its origins in nature-based spirituality, the Christmas holiday prompted some earlier Christians, such as the Puritans in colonial America, to outlaw it as “witchcraft.” In modified form, these concerns persist among some Christians today, primarily those who view the commercialization of this sacred feast as an affront to its spiritual significance.

Collective Guilt Trip?

Today, Christmas is as much an engine driving our retail economy and a collective guilt trip (i.e., “If you don’t spend, you don’t care”) as it is a religious commemoration. We’ve come a long, sad way since the days when many in my parents’ generation (from the Great Depression) delighted in a small basket of fruit or a simple wooden toy as their only Christmas gift. When you have less, a little means a lot.

Holidays are increasingly kidnapped for commercial gain, with Halloween now occupying second place in overall consumer spending. The invention of new reasons to spend (or else feel guilty) continues, creating a long list of “Must give!” commemorations covering relatives, sweethearts, bosses and even pets. In other words, many of our holidays are woven into the capitalist fabric that fuels the economy, often by persuading us to purchase and gift what Neil Young called a “piece of crap.”

Thanksgiving (bless it) continues to hold out as one of the few remaining havens where we simply get together to be with each other and enjoy simpler pleasures. Given what befalls us on many other holidays, we should be grateful for the chance to just be grateful. Thankfully, increasing numbers of individuals and families are choosing to celebrate Christmas without gifts or very few. They use this holiday as an opportunity to be with loved ones, to visit the lonely, and to give to the needy rather than the prosperous.

These good souls, standing against the onrushing tidal wave of buying and busy-ness, seek to restore both the dignity and spiritual meaning of this wayward holiday. They understand that the Christmas spirit is not wrapped in a box tied with a festive bow, and that it doesn’t come in a greeting card or a tin of decorative cookies. Rather, it resides in the act of giving, and not to those who are already drowning in stuff. It is the kind of giving that Jesus embodied in ministering to the poor, the sick, the outcast and the hopeless.

If we truly mean to honor his legacy, then we will make Christmas about doing the same.

For more, visit philipchard.com.