There’s a lot going on this time of year. There’s a lot happening. There are events and food and lights and music and traveling and feelings and all kinds of stuff.
There’s a lot to unpack here. So, let’s unwrap it. Like a Christmas present.
First, the facts:
Christmas was invented over 1600 years ago. It will most likely continue for another 1600 years. If the human race can survive that long.
Why was it invented? The Christian church appropriated an earlier pagan festival. Surprise, surprise.
Also, it’s abbreviated as Xmas. Some Christians claim the purpose of the X is to remove Christ, but the X actually stands for Christ. I’d rather write Xmas.
It’s continued this long because people have made it a tradition and those people love it so much, they’ll never let it die. Neither will the companies and corporations.
Second, the feelings:
Some folks have strong positive feelings about Xmas. They speak of warm hearts, bright lights, joy, peace, and love. Some people focus on giving, because they claim it makes them feel good to be generous.
Since Christians have dominated the holiday, they inject their values into every aspect of Xmas. Since the wise men gave Jesus gifts, we have to give each other gifts. Jesus gave his love to the world, so we all need to love one another. He was a light in the darkness, so his followers need to be a beacon of shining truth in a dark, evil world.
This is why you’ll hear the faithful preach about the “True meaning of Christmas” and the “Reason for the season.” Church leaders love to tell the congregation they need to put more in the plate and donate to the homeless while they spend lavishly on Xmas decorations, trees, musical performances and condemn the commercialization of their most sacred and holy season.
There are others with a less than positive view about Xmas. They’re either sad, because they don’t have anyone to spend time with, or angry about how much the holiday has changed since they were young. Most of these folks turn to alcohol or some other substance during this time of year because of their negative feelings.
There’s also been a long standing myth that more people commit suicide during the holidays because of negative feelings. Pretty sure it’s been de-bunked.
Santa Claus
As I sit here, half-watching Elf, I’m reminded about all the lore surrounding Santa Claus, his generosity and jolly-ness.
A large old man with a white beard and red pajamas flies across the world, slipping down chimneys and delivering toys to the children who have been good all year. A tale so tall, only a child would believe it.
“To have the Christmas spirit, you have to believe!” they say. “Better be good, otherwise, you’ll be on the naughty list!” they say.
The fact is, St. Nicholas was born in 280 and made its way into popular American culture in 1773. Ever since, millions of people have had strong feelings about the old fat man. They’ve kept the legend alive for centuries. Why? Some say it’s because of that Christmas cheer. Some say it’s for the leverage over their children.
Santa will never die. He’s as eternal as god himself.
Scrooge
Here’s a story about a greedy, old rich man with no heart who is visited by 3 ghosts that scare him into changing his ways to be a generous person instead.
Why was this story written? Because Dickens knew about human nature. He knew that people can be very greedy sometimes. He was trying to get greedy people to change their ways. And the story repeats every year to remind everyone to do this. Repeatedly. Because humans need to be reminded. Will they forget on Dec 26th? Probably.
My thoughts
What was Xmas like for me as a kid? I looked forward to it. I have memories of toys and family gatherings.
I have a specific memory of one Xmas in 1993…? Maybe…? I taped the Addams Family, Batman Returns and the Batman: The Animated Series episode called Christmas with the Joker on one VHS cassette. I was still in high school, on winter break, up late on Christmas Eve night, watching these movies and shows, alone. I watch Batman Returns every year, and sometimes the animated episode. When I think of Xmas, I think of a city at night, with snow covered streets, and tall buildings on the skyline. I hear music by Danny Elfman in my head. I think of staying up late, by myself, eagerly awaiting Xmas morning.
I don’t look forward to Xmas like I used to.
As an adult, the joy, cheer, peace, happiness, and everything else gets less and less until it’s gone. None of it matters because we all know the truth. The world is going to go right back its old ways after the season is over. And those ways will probably be worse than the year before.
We all know how selfish and greedy people can be. We all know how mean and nasty they are all year, and sometimes even more so around the holidays. Rushing to the store to buy the food for a big Xmas family dinner. Battling traffic to shop for all the family members. We disillusion ourselves every holiday season by watching the Xmas movies, singing the songs, dressing the fancy clothes for the annual candlelight service, knowing full well it won’t last. The season of giving is short, but the season of greed is everlasting.
Each year, the companies and corporations find new ways to take more for themselves and leave less for us. They try to sell, sell, sell – suckering the American people into spending that which they don’t have to impress people they don’t like. The evil corporate assholes know about the human condition as well, and they leverage it, manipulating, exploiting and influencing weak-willed, hard-working people into making themselves poorer so the wealthy get wealthier.
Every year, the salesmen, the advertisers, the hustlers, the swindlers, the liars, the cheats, and the thieves take and take and keep taking until the penniless, dead public are all used up so the new blood can take their place. The cycle never ends.
They will always pull on our heartstrings. They will never cease to use our own nostalgia against us. But as an adult, I can look back at my 8 year old self, staying up late on Christmas Eve night, wishing for Santa Claus to bring me that new toy and know that it was all a lie. It was a hunk of plastic that Hasbro made to steal $9.99 out my dad’s wallet. It was cheap, manufactured joy with as much substance as cotton candy. It was building a mentality of desire, thirst and addiction for unnecessary material possessions. It was setting up a procedure that would infect my children, and it will infect their children and all future generations to come. All in the name of tradition.
This is why I hate Xmas. I hate what it’s become. I hate why it came to be. And I hate who it’s made me out to be.
