Things Will Get Better Now

Last week, it snowed here.  We took advantage of the wintery atmosphere to put up and decorate our Christmas tree.  It seemed like a good opportunity to get this annual ritual done. Red balls were hung on the tree.  Denee’s collection of Santa figures were brought out although we didn’t yet know where all of them will be placed.  The collection of poodle ornaments was found and they will find themselves being displayed on the tree and elsewhere. While we’re working, we listen to Christmas music in the form of “White Christmas” and “Jingle Bells”.  On the other hand, while I was starting to write this, I listened to a Christmas oratorio by Bach.  My favourite Christmas music is on a CD titled “Venetian Christmas” and features music written by Venetian composers in the 1400 and 1500s for Christmas celebrations at Venice’s St. Mark’s Cathedral.  It is such a relaxed musical experience that it invites you to quiet contemplation.

We are too often reminded that how we celebrate Christmas in this day and age is because it derived from an ancient pagan ritual associated with the winter solstice and the arrival of the lengthening of the days after that event.  Those pagans undoubtedly said, as the days started to get longer, “Things will get better now.” In Scotland, this ritual is still perpetuated in the form of Hogmanay, the welcoming in of the New Year.  In the beginning of the Presbyterian movement, John Knox, the founder and strict Calvinist, declared that there would be no celebration of religious holidays by his flock.  Thus, there was no celebration of Christmas or Easter.  Hence until about the time of World War 2, Scots only celebrated Hogmanay, not Christmas.  In England, there was only a holiday on Christmas, not New Year.  So the celebration of both days in the British Isles is a relatively recent thing.

One of the sets of ornaments that also get displayed in our house brings forth the reason why the day is called Christmas; a nativity scene.  We actually have no idea what time of year Jesus was born.  It could have been winter when farmers would not be tending their fields, but it could also have been spring, summer or fall.  But perhaps the coincidence of the date to the pagan ritual could make sense if you consider that the early followers of Jesus, after absorbing his teachings, could have said, “Things will get better now.”

As we try to fulfill the children’s toy wishes and fret over what to buy a spouse or friend, it would do us well to think about that phrase, “Things will get better now.”  There is no doubt that the world seems to be in a crisis right now, but the world has been in some form of crisis or another since time immemorial.  Jesus’ world was in crisis when He was born and preached.  Roman occupation, the encroachment of Greek cultural practices and schisms in the Jewish world were all features of that time.  So let’s not get so arrogant as to think that ours is the only generation that has ever faced a crisis. 

 

There is one growing trend however that must be addressed in his message.  There seems to be a growing movement of anti-Semitism arising. A note, Semites include both Jews and Arabs, so to accuse Arabs of anti-Semitism is kind of ridiculous.  However, at this time of year, we Christians must remember one thing when we are tempted by this movement; Jesus was born a Jew and died a Jew.  He never turned his back on his own religion and probably never contemplated that a new religion would grow from his teachings.  He preached to Jews and his aim seemed to be to protest and correct some of the worst characteristics that were practiced by Judaism at that time.

Having said that, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas festivities and I’m not ashamed to greet people with “Merry Christmas”.  When it’s appropriate, I would also greet Muslims with “Happy Eid” or Jews with “Happy Hanukkah.”  I like turkey dinner, gift giving (and gift getting) and the camaraderie that goes with this holiday.  But I also like to spend time contemplating:  contemplating my present situation; contemplating the future; and trying to figure out what to do next. And of course, a week later, there is the fine Scottish tradition of Hogmanay; New Year to you poor souls who are not Scottish.  At that time, I can say to myself, “Things will get better now.”