“What day is it? Christmas Day!” Ever since I heard this question from film Scrooge with a young boy’s answer, the question and retort have been a Christmas habit: “What day is it, children?” “Christmas Day!”
Thank you, Charles Dickens.
Ignorant people assume Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is “non-Christian,” because Scrooge is not converted to Christianity in the story. Of course, this is because Scrooge is already a Christian. At the end of the tale, he goes to church. The Carol is an attack on materialism, the belief that matter is all that matters, and Scrooge has fallen back from his childhood faith to functional atheism. The spirits of the Past, Present, and Future show Scrooge his folly and just about the first thing he does is go back to Church.
When? Christmas Day!
At the end of his haunting, Scrooge wakes up and wonders the day:
Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious. Glorious!
“What’s to-day?” cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.
“Eh?” returned the boy, with all his might of wonder.
“What’s to-day, my fine fellow?” said Scrooge.
“To-day?” replied the boy. “Why, Christmas Day.”
“It’s Christmas Day!” said Scrooge to himself. “I haven’t missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one night. They can do anything they like. Of course they can. Of course they can. Hallo, my fine fellow!”
Given the good news, Scrooge sets off to church and present buying. He is happy and the proper response to happiness is jollification. Pity the pagans, they must fit merrymaking into one day, but the Church gives you twelve days of Christmas! The Advent fast is over and now we can give gifts to the poor and food to the hungry. We can spend twelve days cheering up the world best we can and in doing so make merry ourselves.
What day is it? Christmas Day!
The Church collects wisdom on parties for centuries and has given us something to say once we know it is Christmas Day. We can shout out with joy like a shepherd seeing a baby King: “Christ is born!” And then our friends can respond: “Glorify Him!”
This jolly phrase is ancient and a good reminder that jollification begins in glorification of God. Why? Because seeing God is tapping into the source of glory. If God shows up, rocks want to shout and people will cheer! Glorifying God is like loving God. We give glory and He dumps glorification on us. We give love and He pours love through us.
It is then we discover the glory we give is from Him. The love we give is from Him.
He does not mind if we venerate our parents, honor our flag, and love everyone . . . even our enemies, because the more we love, the more we are as He is. Christmas Day is like this. . . when we know it is Christmas, we come into contact with the Day of the Lord, the Day that is the source of all Days: the Holy Day. We gain an eternal perspective, because this day is His day.
What day is it?
Christmas Day!
Christ is born!
Glorify Him!
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