{"id":5764,"date":"2016-12-25T18:23:24","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T00:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=5764"},"modified":"2016-12-25T18:23:24","modified_gmt":"2016-12-26T00:23:24","slug":"true-meanings-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/12\/true-meanings-christmas.html","title":{"rendered":"The “True Meanings” of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"IMG_0103\"<\/p>\n

Plural.<\/p>\n

Some years ago, I attended Catholic\u00a0mass on Christmas Day for the first time, and learned that the readings are not the standard nativity narrative you hear on Christmas Eve, but are instead the opening to John<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In the beginning was the Word,
\nand the Word was with God,
\nand the Word was God.
\nHe was in the beginning with God.
\nAll things came to be through him,
\nand without him nothing came to be.
\nWhat came to be through him was life,
\nand this life was the light of the human race;
\nthe light shines in the darkness,
\nand the darkness has not overcome it.
\nThe true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
\nHe was in the world,
\nand the world came to be through him,
\nbut the world did not know him.
\nHe came to what was his own,
\nbut his own people did not accept him.<\/p>\n

But to those who did accept him
\nhe gave power to become children of God,
\nto those who believe in his name,
\nwho were born not by natural generation
\nnor by human choice nor by a man\u2019s decision
\nbut of God.
\nAnd the Word became flesh
\nand made his dwelling among us,
\nand we saw his glory,
\nthe glory as of the Father\u2019s only Son,
\nfull of grace and truth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was, once upon a time, the \u201cLast Gospel,\u201d read every Sunday at the close of mass, prior to the Vatican II re-write. \u00a0And the priest who preached on this talked about what a profound concept the Incarnation is \u2014 that the distance between God and man is inconceivably vast (e.g., human vs. a bug), yet bridged with Christ.<\/p>\n

This is no mere matter of God giving humanity a \u201cgift\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s far deeper than that. \u00a0It\u2019s not a matter of God looking down on humanity and thinking, \u201cI think I\u2019ll give them a present.\u201d \u00a0And to say, \u201cwe give each other gifts because God gave us the gift of Jesus\u201d \u2014 if you think about it, it seems more a rationalization of the gift-giving tradition than a real explanation of the origin of the tradition.<\/p>\n

The \u201creal meaning\u201d of Christmas? \u00a0I dunno. \u00a0Seems like, from a religious perspective, the feeling Christmas should inspire is simply to be in awe.<\/p>\n

But the secular version of Christmas? \u00a0A year ago, I observed<\/a> that, shorn of any belief that Christ is indeed the Son of God, this meaning is simply impossible to hold.<\/p>\n

At the same time, reflecting a bit more, there is a genuinely meaningful \u201ctrue meaning\u201d to the secular celebration of Christmas.<\/p>\n

Not \u201cpeace on Earth\u201d \u2014 Christmas really has nothing to do with peace except for the statement of the angels. \u00a0\u201cPeace\u201d isn\u2019t a fundamental part of the Christmas story, nor\u00a0in the wider Christian story \u2014 after all, Jesus himself says<\/a> that he did not come to bring peace, but a sword. \u00a0And Christmas is certainly not the story of refugees or immigrants or the homeless, and anyone who takes the nativity narratives as proof that we should admit more refugees into the United States, or open our borders to more unskilled immigrants, or provide an amnesty for those already here, is trying to score political points that just don\u2019t belong to a religious holiday. \u00a0And don\u2019t get me started on warm-and-fuzzy messages of \u201chope in the darkness\u201d \u2014 do people really find that meaningful? \u00a0Do people really find that message in Christmas celebrations, and feel a renewed sense of hope in their lives?<\/p>\n

But the Santa Claus story? \u00a0There is within this a \u201ctrue meaning\u201d \u2014 the celebration of the virtue of generosity. \u00a0Behind the chaos of buying presents for children (and the demands of said children), and trying to find a satisfactory present for family, friends, and sometimes bare acquaintances, there is an underlying expression of the idea that giving to others is important, not just in a reciprocal fashion, but to help the less fortunate and to share from our plenty.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Santa Claus story, and the idea that we should \u201cbe Santa\u201d to others, fits in with this \u201cChristmas meaning\u201d a heck of a lot more than with the Incarnation.<\/p>\n

And this \u201cChristmas means generosity\u201d \u2014 well, you can easily transform this into \u201cDecember means generosity\u201d or consider Christmas a cultural celebration of generosity, without necessarily any connection to Christ except for the origin of the holiday, and non-Christians, by virtue of living in a country with the national \u201cculture\u201d of Christmas, can share in the celebration of generosity.<\/p>\n

But \u201ccelebrate generosity\u201d and the Incarnation are two different things entirely, and the latter meaning is disappearing except, of course, for Christmas Day mass. \u00a0How should we respond? \u00a0Do we abandon Christmas as a celebration of the Incarnation, and move that to the feast of the Annunciation instead?<\/p>\n

Readers, your thoughts?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plural. Some years ago, I attended Catholic\u00a0mass on Christmas Day for the first time, and learned that the readings are not the standard nativity narrative you hear on Christmas Eve, but are instead the opening to John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":3370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[107,512],"class_list":["post-5764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas","tag-incarnation"],"yoast_head":"\nThe "True Meanings" of Christmas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Plural. 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