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Tis the Season…For a jolly old elf in a bright red suit who brings presents to children whose parents can afford them. So sad, sometimes Santa can’t find where the poor children live, to bring nice gifts to them. Sympathetic folks cooking up big dinners for the homeless and deprived… but only for a day. Christmas Day, of course. How many times would I have gladly given a $5. bill to a ‘Santa” in front of a store with a big pot, ringing a bell until shoppers want to scream? One time I actually did that. I offered one of the Santas $5. just to stop ringing that clanging bell for one minute! And she did! God bless her for being there, but on inquiry I learned that she was not a volunteer but received a minimum hourly wage for this work.
Tis the season for political people to get into the act, not wanting Christian displays of the manger scene in public. And Christians getting irate because of it. Getting all up in arms because Jesus can’t be displayed with snowmen and Santa and reindeer. Camels and reindeer parading across lawns at the same time. Does it seem a little ludicrous to me alone? What kind of message are children getting from all this… to give Jesus merely a token of recognition and still call Him the reason for the season?
Even when I was an adolescent it seemed to me that all the rehearsals and costumes for the story about the birth of Jesus at the local church were but the preparation for Santa Claus to come ho-ho-hoing from behind a big brightly decked tree, handing out bags of fruit and candy to the children gathered ‘round. That was the real reason many of the neighborhood kids flocked in, wasn’t it? For the free goodies from Santa Claus?
And now, with access to the Information Superhighway, (In this instance http://www.christiancommunitychurch.us/dovenet/hisdateb.htm) I can learn that Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary the chosen virgin, was actually born in the Fall, around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, and nowhere near December 25th. It was said to be a time when shepherds could live in the fields with the sheep that were in their care. The sheep were not in a cozy sheepfold someplace to keep them out of the cold. They were in the fields… and the shepherds slept out there with them to protect them. Snow? Santa Claus? Ho-ho-ho!
Tis the season for Christmas trees? Well, okay. Have your Christmas trees. Deck your halls, and rooftops, and fences and gates, and hang wreaths all over your house… but hey… don’t try to fool anyone into thinking you’re celebrating the birthday of Jesus, okay? Here! Have some wassail! Be jolly! Pass the homemade goodies and the antacids too! Maybe Jesus really doesn’t mind you having your merry little Christmas… only why call it a celebration of Him when it really is not? |
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