I’m not a big fan, if I’m honest. I’m not Christian for a start, so the religious aspect is rather lost on me. I’m just about scraping by financially so the commercial aspect is not one I can indulge in, and even if I could, I don’t really have much of a family to speak of, not that I am on speaking terms with anyway, being a bit isolationist so I don’t really have anyone to buy things for, and the whole family coming together thing doesn’t really happen for me. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not particularly grumpy about Christmas, it just isn’t that important to me. If other people want to decorate their houses from top to bottom, if they want to go out to lavish office parties, or spend time in contemplation and praise of the birth of their saviour, or if they just want to spend a few days devoted to having quality family time that is absolutely fine with me. In fact I applaud them for it, as I applaud anyone with the get up and go to engage with the wider World.
Of course what this does mean is that I get to have a quiet giggle about the whole commercialization of a religious festival arguments, which is always fun. Christians being labeled killjoys for wanting to keep consumerism out of the celebration of the birth of their Lord, fans of presents pointing out the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh brought by the wise men, Christians retorting that these are allegorical presents denoting the life and more importantly the death of Jesus, thereby being prophetically integral to the biblical story. Ah, but what about the shepherds bringing their lambs? Those are allegorical too apparently, and so it goes on, often for many hours. For me it is just a bit of fun but they take it all rather seriously, as though it actually mattered. I can’t see the Christian God as I vaguely understand him giving two hoots what people get up to in terms of gift giving. Didn’t he give us free will to sort that out in our own heads? Still, makes it all a bit more jolly Ho Ho Ho!
And on that subject, we come to the hero, or villain of the piece depending on your point of view and bank balance, the Jolly fat man himself, Father Christmas or St. Nicholas or possibly Odin in drag or King Wenceslas from the carol or the Holly King of Celtic mythology or the Coca-Cola advertising campaign if you want to be really cynical, but whoever and whatever he is, this chap brings presents to all the good little boys and girls, and nothing to those who have been naughty, although I’m pretty certain a little naughtiness is usually acceptable. I mean we aren’t talking arson or manslaughter here right? Just a bit of petty thievery perhaps? So that’s fine. Now there are some who argue that the whole concept is just more pressure heaped onto already overburdened parents to buy yet more junk for their offspring in the hope that they won’t get bullied too much at school for having last seasons trainers or whatever it might be. There are others who say that allowing a little magic into childrens lives helps to spark creativity and allows the child to develop a sense of theatre and drama.
Whatever your personal take on Christmas, Yule, Hannuka, Saturnalia whatever you or your forefathers chose to call the time around the winter solstice, stay safe, stay as happy as you can, eat well and try not to stress too much. It is seldom worth it in the long run….
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