That's just the way it is...I had just finished arranging the garland and lights on the banister, with the original faded old fashioned garland I'd used since we moved here 30 years ago, when a troubling thought struck me while totting one more tub up the basement stairs ...if I do not believe the myth of Christianity, is it wrong to display Christian objects in my home and call the holiday Christmas?
I grew up with these symbols in my home and dutifully raised my daughters likewise. I'm attached to time honored traditions. But, as I grew older the Biblical story didn't jibe for me, and eventually I heard someone say, "God isn't what you think, and Jesus cannot save you." I was sold and gave up on Christianity completely. After dabbling in several religions I came to realize all faiths tell a similar tale of their Messiah. It's a story of comfort mostly with a little bit of damnation thrown in to keep us on our toes. Nevertheless, I never went back to Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac, Noah and the Ark, two by two by two...and of course the virgin birth... truly too much to handle... but I have treasured a few precious symbols. This tree top angel has adorned my Christmas tree my entire life. Always on my mother's tree, then a few years after I was married I found the same angel at Richter's Garden Supply. Nearly all of my 70 years it has been a symbol of the happiness of Christmas, not so much as sacred, but nostalgic.
Anyway, as I was sorting out the decorations and considering this conflict, another question came to me...was what I am doing, giving recognition to a religion I no longer believed in, any different from Southerners clinging to a symbol of their culture, the Confederate flag? Who knows why I thought of it, too much social media I suppose, and apparently liberals delight in anxiety so it's logical I'd fret about some issue! Nevertheless, just for a second, I got a glimpse of the attachment. All cultures persist in maintaining the glory of their heritage. We teach our children and our grand children what is ingrained in us. We trust it as truth. We believe it.We create heroes. God only knows religious zealots have killed and been killed forcing their ideology upon others. Similarly, the racial clash and white supremacy has ravaged our country for centuries. Neither religion nor racism has found harmony. We find ourselves idolizing actions which have brought untold suffering. Religions, Ideologies, Manifest Destiny. It's a bloody path and it's not over.
These symbols and biases...traditions... are part of who we are. As a nation and a culture we continue to kill around the world, claiming our righteousness. On a smaller scale, we resort to verbal attacks inciting fear and hatred. I find it in myself, begging, no, demanding, my point of view be validated. Hypothetically we profess to change the world one step at a time. We cling to it, although it's not been proven , it seems self evident ...humans killing humans is inhumane! Or maybe not, some might say... It's always been done that way.
What is the answer? How do we put the happy in Happy Holidays?
Head in sand?
Buy a bunch of crap?
Continue along our Merry way, singing Joy to the World?
It's beyond troubling, no matter whose telling it, the age old story of Peace on Earth Good Will Toward Men, ain't happenin', not right now, not in my lifetime.
To keep from pulling the covers over my head, a long time ago, I swapped out one tradition for another, putting my faith in Santa...and a beautifully trimmed Christmas tree, kookie brittle, poppy seed bread and presents under the tree...activism, intellect, perseverance, the environment & consciousnesses rising....family & friends...a great meal once in a while and Cabernet more often. For now it's all I can do. So, Merry Christmas to All! I hope it's enough because the kids are counting on me. They are counting on all of us, aren't they, because everyone believes in Santa Claus. jb
PS. I owned a Confederate flag once. I was newly married and had just moved from Nebraska (via Michigan) to North Carolina in 1965. It was a symbol of the South. I had no clue. Thankfully it's no longer in my possession...but I do have the nativity set, which I let the little girls play with. They set up the figures and create their own stories...things do change.
(I think I just wrote my Xmas letter. Besides the ranting, how am I doing?...I'm good.)
