ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 18, 1995 TAG: 9512180025
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JANET AQUAVELLA
CHRISTMAS has become a problem for Christians. It is too busy. It is no longer only a matter of the old complaint about taking Christ out of Christmas; things have gone beyond that. Some people today actually hate Christmas because they never have enough time to get everything done.
The root of this problem is that the modern Christmas is really a combination of two holidays, one a religious celebration of Christ's birth and the other a secular winter festival consisting of Santa Claus, Christmas trees and the like. But there is no longer enough time to hold both celebrations simultaneously.
The religious holiday has gotten edged out, and shopping and baking have become rushed. Nowadays most churches celebrate Christmas not on the day itself, but on the fourth Sunday of Advent. You couldn't get many people to turn out for a worship service on Christmas Day, and the few who do come out want to hurry back home to their presents and family gatherings.
What many Christians don't realize is that the modern Christmas celebration is also a problem for non-Christians. Children from other religious traditions naturally want to join in the fun that they see all around them. If you are Jewish, or Muslim, or Buddhist, and live in a mostly Christian community, how do you explain to your 4-year-old child that Santa won't be coming to your house? For many American Jewish families of the last generation, the entire day on Christmas was traditionally spent at a movie theater so their children wouldn't feel left out watching all the neighbors celebrating.
Non-Christian parents have sometimes wanted to put up a tree and let Santa visit for the sake of their children. But they have also feared that to celebrate Christmas, even in its purely secular aspects, would be a betrayal of their own faith and would increase the difficulty of passing on their own beliefs to the next generation.
It is ironic that all these problems are caused by practices that really have nothing to do with the birth of Christ. The religious symbolism attributed to the Christmas tree was added after the fact to what is really an old pagan custom. For the vast majority of Christians, the tree has no religious meaning whatsoever. And Santa, in spite of his original name of "Saint" Nick, not only has no religious significance, but his "naughty and nice" methods are diametrically opposed to the Christian theology of grace.
Since the simultaneous celebration of secular and sacred Christmas holidays is a problem for Christians and non-Christians alike, it has occurred to me that we might all be better off if we separated the two. I suggest that, in future years, churches and local communities ask Santa to delay his trip until New Year's Eve. (This would not be entirely unprecedented; in many cultures the three wise men bring gifts to children several days after Christmas.) This would allow Christians to celebrate Christmas as a truly religious holiday, and then everyone could join in the secular fun a week later.
For churches, this would mean being able to hold worship services, pageants and cantatas on Christmas Day without having to compete with a pile of toys at home.
For parents, it would mean having time to participate in spiritual activities such as Christmas caroling and still having a week left afterward to finish their shopping.
For young children, it would mean no longer answering the question, "What is Christmas?", with the reply, "The day that Santa Claus comes!" Christian children, having spent Christmas Day singing carols and acting in plays about baby Jesus, could then enjoy their New Year's toys without having to face accusations of having forgotten the meaning of Christmas.
All the different aspects of the traditional Christmas celebration would still be there, but some would be renamed. The Christmas tree would become the New Year's tree. Of course, Christian families would still put manger scenes under their trees as they have always done, but non-Christian families could also enjoy the tree if they wished to do so.
Santa would say, "Ho, ho, ho! Happy New Year!" Christians, meanwhile, would continue to wish each other a merry Christmas. And, for the first time in decades, they would really be talking about Christmas.
Janet Aquavella of Roanoke is a former American Baptist minister and is now a Unitarian layperson.
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