Santa getting ready for Christmas
I live with Santa. Tell the children, he is real and he’s watching out for them.
Surprisingly, perhaps, I have not had much interest in Christmas for many years. The commercialism and pressure to make the holiday into a big deal has turned me off.
This September, when I walked into one of the large hardware stores and saw the decorations already up and the lights twinkling, I vowed that I would not purchase one holiday item from that store this year. I have kept that promise, even when I needed battery-powered holiday lights for my kayak so I could enjoy a Christmas boat parade.
I haven’t purchased many holiday items at any store this year. My 2 and 4 year old grandchildren received books and a CD because they live far away and I can’t spend the holidays with them. Their mother (my daughter) received equipment so we can Skype together. My 14 year old son received a camp experience that he wanted very much. I have not given any additional gifts.
Santa and I haven’t decided what we will do Christmas Day. Last year we were able to be with my daughter and grandchildren. This year it wasn’t possible. The year before, Santa and I went on a desert back road exploration. Spending time together has been the focus, not holiday gifts.
Tonight, we will be driving down from our mountain home to attend Christmas Eve services at our closest Unitarian Universalist church. While Santa isn’t (yet?) a devout UU, I am and have been for more than 20 years. As a UU, I feel strongly about the importance of celebrating the spirit of Christmas—-as embodied by Santa Claus’ spirit of joy, music and fun, the lights, the rebirth of the sun, and the hope for peace on earth, if not the literal birth of Christ. And it is important to me to share this with my friends in our church community.
Because of the depth of my feelings about this holiday, pro and con, I was taken aback by the vitriol and pain expressed by a writer whom I admire. Garrison Keillor’s “Don’t Mess with Christmas” on Salon.com on December 15, 2009 singled out Unitarian Universalists as “wrong, wrong, wrong” for re-writing a standard Christmas Carol for their own purposes. He said, “This is spiritual piracy and cultural elitism and we Christians have stood for it long enough.” He then went on to say, “Christmas is a Christian holiday — if you’re not in the club, then buzz off.”
Not only is this ironic, it is just sad. I believe it is easily possible to claim Christianity as the ultimate in spiritual piracy. Why is Christmas celebrated on December 25? Not because of any real historical claim to this date as Jesus of Nazareth’s actual birth, but because of a pagan holiday previously celebrated at this time. There are many more examples of Christianity’s use of other traditions’ spiritual symbols for it’s own purposes.
The Christmas holiday has a checkered past. It has been banned and celebration has been forbidden by staunch Christians. It’s re-invention owes much to a Unitarian’s story of the Christmas Spirit(s)—–Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. And people who are decidedly not Christian are happy to take the day off as a federal holiday in the United States, put up a holiday tree, light candles and feast with friends and neighbors.
While I can’t defend the level of materialism and crass consumerism that is currently part of the holiday, I will defend Santa and light, peace and hope for the world. I will also wish anyone who wants the gift, my hopes for your very Merry Christmas, no matter if you are Christian, Unitarian Universalist, Taoist, Buddhist, Muslim, Shinto or practice an unnamed brand of spiritual connection. Please go in peace and respect each other!
