John Grisham wrote a book called SKIPPING CHRISTMAS. amazon.com
reports: “John Grisham takes a satirical look at the exaggerated
ritual of the festive holiday season, and the result is Jumping
Christmas, a modest but fun novel about the tyranny of
December 25th….”
My friend Dessa Byrd Reed, author of the poetry books THE BUTTERFLY TOUCH and SEVEN BRIDGES, prefers non-traditional parties. She wrote in THE WILDERNESS WOMAN that she, as a widow, often spends time with friends during the holidays, takes trips, or just goes out to eat at Christmas (not necessarily turkey). It’s easy to see why, especially if she grew up with traditional Christmas expectations of warmth, family, and generally expressions of faith. Christmas is under attack in this country. I think it was my high school AP Government class that asked us about cases involving the removal of nativity scenes from public places. At the risk of giving away my ripe age of 32, that was in 1990.
First we had the tendency to say Christmas for Christmas. After
Christmas sales started long before Halloween. Now him
the holiday season is more about partying, binge eating and drinking,
and commercialism than to express spirituality, in particular
and especially the Christian faith.
Secularists don’t like the church very much, either because of
parents who used religion as an excuse to be too strict
disciplines (or hatreds and prejudices), drug trips in the 60s, or fanaticism (never mind that Christ welcomed everyone). This secularist attitude was given a wonderful treatment in a recent episode of “Jack & Bobby” co-created by Brad Meltzer, bestselling author and friend.
When we try to get Christ out of a party that bears his name, our
society has a problem.
What has been the result of using the euphemism “vacation” and
Ban the Nativity? Congress may not be making any laws about
free expression of religion, but elite brain trust is
acting like the Church of England expelling the Puritans.
What’s the score? Clash over religion. Holiday depression.
Loneliness around the holidays, especially in nursing homes.
Suicide.
What is lost along the way? The spirit of giving warmth and
compassion. Communion with family, friends and neighbors. Y
yes, that annoying expression of faith of the secularists in the distant
moaning to the left. Have you ever noticed that when it comes to your free
expression of faith or lack thereof, shout “racism” or
“[fill in the blank] phobia” whenever Bill O’Reilly or anyone
otherwise dare to pray or remind them that there is a God
Beyond your ideology? They accuse Christians of proselytizing
but feel free to lecture about what is and what is not
offensive today. They mock President George Bush for his faith,
and Senator John Kerry, a Roman Catholic, seems to have his
Usual difficulty sticking to one point on thorny social issues.
No wonder the conventional wisdom has always been not to argue
religion and politics, and for God’s sake, don’t mix
both of us (even though it happens over and over again), and we’re going to
they all get along and sing Christmas carols.
It seems that the people are revolting. The success of “Passion of
the Christ”, the Da Vinci Code and the Left Behind series, such as
as well as “Juana de Arcadia”, “7mo Cielo” and “Touched by a
Angel” indicates a movement in popular culture.
Instead of skipping Christmas, let’s get Christmas back in our
homes and families. Unless your family and friends are
Orthodox Jews or Muslims, you can celebrate Christmas with them.
After all, Judaism and Islam recognize Jesus Christ as a
prophet. Every religion celebrates the spirit of giving, from
Kabbalah to Hinduism. We all agree that we also have too much stuff.
too much food (as our overweight society proves), too much alcohol,
very little kindness, patience and respect. We all want
connection, love, belonging and a place in eating.
Top ten tips to get Christmas back:
1) Make homemade gifts. Skip the malls. you do not have to be
Martha Stewart to give something from the heart.
2) Invite friends or family over for dinner instead of trying to give out expensive gifts that no one uses anyway.
3) Don’t roll your eyes when someone says, “Peace on earth, goodwill to men.” And for God’s sake, don’t use the “men” part to launch an anti-male rant.
4) Whatever your faith, speak up and say that criticizing Christians (or criticizing Christians of any kind) offends you, especially during the holiday season.
5) Get together with friends and family and make care packages for homeless shelters, nursing homes, etc. Let that be your gift to each other.
6) Call those friends or relatives you usually avoid talking to.
Hearing about your old college roommate’s third marriage might
doesn’t excite you, especially since you can’t say a word in
ingenious, but it’s a good way to give of your time, something that
we all feel like we don’t have enough but we make friends anyway.
7) If you’re dying to cook that turkey dinner but your parents or mother-in-law insist on doing it THEIR way, give up. This is not a “me me me” moment.
8) Rent or watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Linus’ recitation of the Bible and the gang’s rendition of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” could make even Scrooge smile. And even Lucy van Pelt admits: “Charlie Brown is a fool, but he got a good tree.”
9) Take some quiet time to think, meditate and yes, pray. Think of it as a mental vacation to Tahiti that you can’t take because the family has camped out at your house.
10) Appreciate gifts from your children, especially homemade macaroni decorations. The first Christmas present was a
little boy.
We have reclaimed our streets. We have recovered the night.
Let’s all get Christmas back, and we won’t have to skip it.
But if you feel like skipping Christmas to restore your
faith, do it. The gift of a less stressed grump
around the holidays is priceless.
