Twelve Days

This time of year puts me somewhat at odds with my neighbors.

My feelings about Christmas are complicated. On the one hand, I am fully aware that our current “Christmas” celebration is a conglomeration of various midwinter celebrations, dating back from before the time of Christ, and that historians and biblical scholars doubt that the actual birthday of Jesus was anywhere near December 25. On the other hand, I see no harm, and some benefit, in celebrating what has become a “traditional” Christmas.

With these underlying beliefs, I have little sympathy for those at either extreme of what has been referred to as “The War on Christmas”. The fact is that in our current society, Christmas is not an exclusively religious holiday … and when you get right down to it, it probably has NEVER been an exclusively religious holiday. Still, I see no harm in public nativity scenes, or in school children singing traditional carols about the birth of Jesus. When I was in school, we sang songs from various religions and cultures. If YOU choose to be offended by Christmas displays, then that is YOUR choice. At the same time, if YOU argue that the Christmas season is exclusively about the Christian religion, then you are historically inaccurate.

Perhaps too many of my beliefs about Christmas come from my two favorite recurring Christmas TV specials, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, often broadcast back-to-back in days gone by. Interestingly, while both preach against commercialization and materialism, the Grinch story carefully avoids any mention of the birth of Jesus, while one of the highlights of the Charlie Brown tale is a recitation straight from the Bible. These two views do not have to be in opposition to each other. In my humble opinion, Christmas can and should be a season of joy, peace, and goodwill, with or without any specific religious underpinnings.

In practice, Christmas has become the most important shopping season of the year, crucial to many businesses. While I do not begrudge peoples’ need to make a living, or the tradition of exchanging gifts, the focus on shopping does interfere somewhat with experiencing a time of peace and love. There is also the problem of Christmas travel, and the preparation for that travel. For many of us, Christmas has become a stressed, frenzied period, with little time for peace and goodwill.

With the emphasis on Christmas as a commercial event, Christmas Day, or even Christmas Eve, marks the end of the Christmas season. After that, Christmas items are moved to “clearance” displays, Christmas decorations are removed, and Christmas music is no longer played. It is not uncommon to see Christmas trees disposed of ON Christmas Day. Many of my favorite public Christmas displays are taken down on the day after Christmas. At the latest, displays remain up through New Years Day, since the two celebrations, Christmas and New Year’s, have become intertwined in our culture.

My personal partial solution to the problems of a harried Christmas is to return to the old idea of celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas. Marketers would have you believe that this phrase refers to the twelve days leading up to Christmas, but in fact the tradition refers to the twelve days BEGINNING with Christmas. Since the emphasis on “last-minute” shopping is over, during the “Twelve Days” I am free to concentrate on the non-material aspects of Christmas -- a season of joy, peace, goodwill, and whatever other traditional “Christmas” concepts that come to mind.

This approach is not without obstacles. Many people are hurrying to get back to “normal”. The Christmas decorations are gone or vanishing, only a few of us are still playing Christmas music, and people tend to be a bit puzzled when I am still wishing them a “Merry Christmas” on January 6 -- the traditional “end” of the Christmas Season. I suspect that my neighbors view the fact that my Christmas decorations are still up and lit as more of a sign of laziness than a deeply-held spiritual conviction … which in turn makes me feel somewhat militant, which is the opposite of the feeling I am striving for.

Truth is complicated.

Merry Christmas, everyone!