Which holiday are you celebrating this December 25th? One is a quiet day, full of prayer, lit by a candle or two, or perhaps a small electric bulb, with the hymns being both soft and solemn. The other is this huge, bombastic ever-more loud orgy of capitalist consumerism where "the spirit of the season" is measured by others, judging by the amount of lights covering the entire house, the inflatable deer cropping snow-covered grass on the front lawn, and the volume of "carols" blasting from speakers. Of course all that is prelude to the non-stop spending; our love for others is guaged by how deeper in to debt we are willing to put ourselves for them.
The personification of the first is a small baby, unremarkable, poor beyond our comprehension, destined for an ignominious death. The personification of the second is a fat, loud second-story man who is the personification of our collective ejacualtion of green across America, a veritable release of economic tension as we all sigh deeply once it's all over.
The first is a time to remember the very human Jesus who is God with us. The second is a time to be nostalgic for Peanuts' cartoons and Red Rider BB Guns. The first is represented by clergy leading congregations in prayer. The second is represented by those who wear Santa hats out shopping, with a piece of fake holly or misteltoe stuck in the brim, mistaking giddiness for joy, and spending for love and thoughtfulness.
Our family has opted to celebrate the former, while around us, in an ever-more-nauseating swirl spins the second. Which one will you celebrate?
