A Modern Christian Writer’s Take on Christmas

To conclude this series of posts on our modern approach to Christmas, I wanted to share one final perspective on this topic.  It comes from Relevant magazine. 

I’ve written before that the magazine’s target demographic is young adult Christians, so I enjoy reading it but always feel a little old and particularly un-hip when I do so.  Nonetheless, I appreciate the thrust of the magazine: the struggle to make one’s Christian faith “relevant” in the modern world.  The writers and readers of the magazine don't want to live in a cloistered setting isolated with other Christians.  Instead they want to bring Christ's message of love, hope, redemption and reconciliation to humankind in order to foster joy and peace.  To me, the articles exemplify the aspiration to be “in this world, but not of this world” and to be the hands and feet of Jesus to hurting people.  I admire the passion, the reflection and the determination of the voices represented in the pages of Relevant magazine.

In that vein, the article below exemplifies a modern Christian’s struggle to find meaning in the secularized, exploited holiday that Christmas has become. 

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/blog/27662-christmas-belongs-to-the-poor

John 17:14–15

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Amish Christians and Christmas

A while back I wrote about the book Amish Values by Suzanne Woods Fisher.  In her book, Ms. Fisher mentioned a blog called “A Joyful Chaos.”  It is written by a woman mothering young children and reminiscing on her own happy childhood in a close-knit Amish family.  It a beautiful blog, which I have enjoyed tremendously.  I recommend it highly.

However, for purposes of this blog and the recent themes I’ve been exploring, I particularly wanted to recommend an account the “Joyful Chaos” blogger shared of a typical Amish Christmas from her childhood.  The link below contains that post. 

http://ajoyfulchaos.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-memories.html

Again, like the account in Little House on the Prairie, the celebration of Christmas in the blogger’s family was not just about gifts.  It was about spending time together with those you love. 

Personally, I like that emphasis.  It seems to better honor the reason we as Christ followers celebrate Christmas.  And in my opinion, the gift of time together is the best gift there is anyhow.  Happy memories last longer than material objects.

In her post, the “Joyful Chaos” blogger describes having no money such that the material gifts that were given at Christmas had to be made by hand with items already in her home.  When you have to make your own gifts, that certainly puts a limit on how many you give and how extravagant they can be.  Forcibly, material gifts become less important in that context. 

I’m not sure that our family will ever limit our gift giving entirely to handmade items.  But it is something to consider.  At the very least, giving homemade gifts is something we could incorporate more in the future.

Psalm 66:8

Bless our God, O peoples, give Him grateful thanks and make the voice of His praise be heard.

A Different Approach to Celebrating Christmas

The last few posts have focused on my disagreement with (and dismay over) the modern consumer frenzy, which the celebration of Christ’s birth has become.  I’d like to end this series of posts with different visions for how we might choose to celebrate future Christmases.  The first comes from children’s literature.

I like to read with my kids and last summer we read Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  It was a fascinating read on many levels.  I don’t think I ever read it as a child.  As an adult, it is now interesting to read a child's perspective of a white family who attempted to homestead in land set aside for Native Americans.  Though our family was shocked and taken aback by the ugly attitudes of the white homesteaders towards the Native Americans, there were many other parts of the book that we enjoyed.  We were particularly intrigued by how the Ingalls family celebrated Christmas. 

Even over a hundred years ago in a remote part of the United States, Christmas was apparently a very special occasion.  But living in an isolated prairie farm, there was no question of indulging in an orgy of materialism.  Instead, there were just a couple simple gifts, for which the Ingalls children were truly grateful.  The author describes that her few treats were almost too much and she was overwhelmed by the bounty. 

That was an amazing characterization to a modern day reader like me.  When I read it, I was thinking that most American children today (my own included) would have turned up their noses and thought themselves quite deprived if they had only received the few simple gifts the Ingalls children received at Christmas.  Nonetheless, life on a remote prairie homestead was hard; there were few diversions or treats.  The couple of simple gifts they received on Christmas were cherished.  The bulk of the day was spent enjoying each others’ company and a special meal.  Gifts were not the main focus.

 

Psalm 66:8

Bless our God, O peoples, give Him grateful thanks and make the voice of His praise be heard.

The Diane Rehm Show: “Holiday Shopping and the Economy”

As the holidays approached at the end of last year, I was at home in late November and doing some cooking for our family.  I like to have the radio on when I do housework and so I ended up catching a really fascinating episode of The Diane Rehm Show.  It was broadcast the day before Thanksgiving.  It had been a hectic semester and I was really happy to have some time at home with my family.  I had a lovely time working in the kitchen for an extended time and listening to some interesting radio—two things I don’t always have time for.

As I began to get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving and our family was about to kick off our observation of Advent, The Diane Rehm Show that day focused on the retail sector at that time of year.  The show is accessible at the following link:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-11-23/holiday-shopping-and-economy

I really encourage you to take a listen.  Alternatively, the link has an option where you can read (or just skim) the transcript.  The show was an hour long.  There were several guests with differing perspectives.  Many fascinating themes were discussed.

Author James Roberts was a guest of the show that day.  He apparently had a new book that sounded intriguing:  Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don’t Have In Search of Happiness We Can’t Buy. 

In the radio program, Mr. Roberts talked about how the advertising industry is so skilled at convincing us we need or want things we could or should do without.  Interesting point. 

I never really thought about the role of advertising until I became a parent.  Our family rarely watches TV with commercials, and when we do, we talk with our kids about what the producers of the commercials are trying to do.  My kids don’t even like commercials.  And when we watch TV programming with commercials, they get annoyed at all the interruptions.  Nonetheless, I’ve been horrified for years at the impact these commercials have on children.  Other parents have shared similar experiences with me.

First of all, some of the commercials are just inappropriate.  They have violent or sexual images that scare kids or attempt to sexualize them. 

Second, even with some parental education about what advertisements are doing, I’ve been appalled at how effective they are.  My first experience with this was when my older daughter, who is a real tomboy and hates dolls, was just a toddler.  As a treat, we turned on a Christmas special on one of the networks.  During one commercial for a Barbie product, she was staring with wide, almost unblinking eyes at the television and announced loudly that she wanted the Barbie on the screen.  She had always been repulsed by Barbies in the past, but now she was entranced because of the commercial.  The way she was just staring hard at the screen was spooky—like some sort of science fiction movie!

In The Diane Rehm Show that day, Mr. Roberts spoke of the concept of the “materialism-happiness disconnect.”  He noted that Americans now spend a lot more money than we did in the 1970s, but we’re no happier than we were at that time past.  Statistics indicate we are in fact actually more depressed, stressed and anxious about our lives than we were 40 years ago when we spent a lot less. 

As a Christian, this point rings particularly true.  Our Lord warned us about this a lot during his brief ministry on this Earth.  It is a type of slavery to be so focused on the accumulation of material things.  Those things cannot bring us happiness, but actually do quite the opposite.  We fear losing our material stuff, which is a significant type of stress. 

My husband and I have known a number of adults who were raised in upper middle class, fairly wealthy households, and their adult lives have been consumed by making money, accumulating assets and otherwise keeping up with the Joneses.  Our sense is that when you are raised in that context, it is hard to unload, pare down and do with less.  It becomes unthinkable.  Having a lot of stuff becomes a necessity.

To be clear, I’m not saying that we should all aim to be destitute and live in abject poverty.  My husband and I have also known people raised in such conditions who in adulthood are similarly consumed with the acquisition of material things.  Want and deprivation can do horrible things to people and blind them to true riches.  If you’ve experienced miserable, grinding poverty, it is understandable that you would possibly be desperate to avoid that experience again and fight hard to keep your children from going through it.

Nonetheless, in The Diane Rehm Show, Mr. Roberts made good points about understanding what our true needs are and being mindful to not go too far beyond our actual needs with our purchases.  That is hard in our culture.  It requires us to go against the grain.  We have to be willing to not keep up with the Joneses, and accept that some may actually think poorly of us as a result.  But such things are ultimately not important anyhow.

Matthew 19: 16-22

A man approached him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus said, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There’s only one who is good. If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments.”

The man said, “Which ones?”

Then Jesus said, “Don’t commit murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

The young man replied, “I’ve kept all these. What am I still missing?”

Jesus said, “If you want to be complete, go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come follow me.”

But when the young man heard this, he went away saddened, because he had many possessions.

Pattie Mallette’s Stand Against the Santa Claus Myth

This is likely to be a huge surprise to those who know me, but I think Justin Bieber is rather fascinating.  I am not an expert on his music.  And what I have heard seems fairly mediocre.  But I think his “backstory” is intriguing. 

Mr. Bieber was a white Canadian kid from a single parent family without a lot of money in a small town.  He idolized African American musicians, emulated them and through the miracle of YouTube became an international teen heart throb.  I don’t necessarily endorse or approve of his popularity, but I think his upbringing is really interesting.

And let me clarify, it is probably not Mr. Bieber himself who fascinates me so.  I’m really interested in and would love to meet his mom.  If Pattie Mallette wrote a parenting book, I’d definitely read it.  It is not that I want my own children to become celebrities.  Not at all.  However, from what I’ve read and heard in the news about Ms. Mallette, she had a lot going against her when she became pregnant with Justin.  Nonetheless, she seems to have been a rather remarkable mom.

Ms. Mallette was a teenager and was unmarried when she became pregnant.  She gave birth to Justin and raised him with the help of her parents.  (I’m pretty fascinated by them as well.)  Clearly, Ms. Mallette sacrificed a lot for her son.  Her life would have been a lot easier if she had not become a single mom at such a tender age.

Interestingly, Ms. Mallette is a Christ follower.  She has been quite open about that point in the press.   I first heard about her faith fairly early on in Justin’s fame.  At that time,  I barely knew who he was, but Christian radio stations I listen to began to report that Ms. Mallette had publicly asked people to pray for her son to remain grounded as his career took off.

By all accounts, it seems to me that Ms. Mallette has really embraced motherhood despite all she had to sacrifice at a young age.  She raised her son in a very thoughtful, loving way as far as I can see.  As a fellow mom, that is admirable and interesting to me.

Although I don’t tend to follow “celebrity news,” in December I did come across a “news” story about Justin Bieber that caught my eye because of my interest in his upbringing.  The link below includes an article about an interview where Justin Bieber explained why his mom was honest with him about Santa Claus and he did not grow up believing in the myth. 

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/justin-bieber-my-mom-never-let-me-believe-in-santa-claus-20111812

I applaud Ms. Mallette’s principled and courageous parenting decision.  But predictably the article takes a pretty negative spin on that decision.

The article appeared in Us Weekly, a magazine devoted to “celebrity news.”  It is a secular periodical with very typical secular values.  The article in question begins with the commentary: “Bah humbug!”  So, Ms. Mallette was being compared to Ebenezer Scrooge, the fictional heartless miser who is so tightfisted that he refuses to give any money to the destitute even at Christmas.  However, as I understand Ms. Mallette’s position, this is a really weak comparison.  She kept her son from indulging in worship of a secular myth because she was concerned that it would be an impediment in his belief in God.  The comparison to Charles Dickens’ fictional miser is just silly, but it accurately captures the secular attitude surrounding the sacred belief in the Santa myth.

The headline of the article in question is also revealing.  It screams: “Justin Bieber: My Mom Never Let Me Believe in Santa Claus!”  Although the headline is written in the first person, if you read the article, this doesn’t appear to be an actual quote from Mr. Bieber himself.  The phrase “never let me believe” sounds negative and suggests that he disagreed and was unhappy with his mom’s decision.  But in the text of the article, his actual words suggest a very different attitude.  He seems to be very respectful of her decision. 

Exodus 23:1

Don’t spread false rumors. Don’t plot with evil people to act as a lying witness.

Polar Express

To continue in the theme of the prior blog post, I wanted to write a bit about Polar Express.  The author of the book was actually one of the interviewees in the Biography episode mentioned in the prior post. 

I first became aware of the Polar Express book in the 1990s when I was an elementary school teacher.  It won the 1986 Caldecott Medal, a respected prize in children’s literature.   Like many Caldecott winners, we read the book to our students.  At the time, Polar Express was already being viewed as an emerging classic of children’s literature.   When I first read the book, it seemed fairly innocuous.  As I have mentioned, I am not a fan of the Santa Claus myth.  But Polar Express was a sweet story and didn’t emphasize materialism.

Years later, in 2004, the book was adapted by Hollywood to be a major motion picture with an accompanying cottage industry of products and services to exploit the film.  When I watched the longer, more detailed feature film adaptation with Tom Hanks a few years ago, I found it much more concerning than the original book ever had been.  Leave it to Hollywood to really bring out the worst elements in a mediocre story!

The basic plot of the book is that a young boy on Christmas Eve is transported with other kids in their PJs on the magical Polar Express train to the North Pole where they witness the elves’ send-off of Santa as he leaves to deliver gifts.  As a stand-alone, the book is ok.  I’m not wild about it because it perpetuates the Santa myth and it has nothing to do with the real reason for the observance of Christmas.  But Polar Express is a celebrated piece of children’s literature.  If for no other reason than cultural literacy, it is not a book I thought I should keep from my children’s repertoire.  Indeed, it is on our kids’ book shelf because of a gift years ago from a devout Christian relative.

However, the film version is much more objectionable to me.  To convert to a feature length film, there is a tremendous amount of Hollywood elaboration not found in the original book.  The gist of the film is that there is something admirable—perhaps even sacred—about believing in Santa Claus.  The slogan “Believe!” is used throughout the film.  I don’t understand that message.  I don’t know why it would be good to believe in something that is not true and doesn’t seem to be in any way beneficial.  I find it offensive that the film keeps lecturing us to believe when that phrase means belief in a secular myth.

Further, in the film, there is a new character that to me demonstrates one of the many cruelties of the Santa Claus myth.  The last child to board the Polar Express before heading to the North Pole is a mysterious little guy who keeps apart from the other kids for much of the film.  He literally comes from the wrong side of the tracks.  He indicates has never had luck with Santa or Christmas.  Apparently, this means that he has never received presents.  So, this little guy is portrayed in a tragic light because he doesn’t believe in Santa.  There is almost an insinuation that his moral character is lacking in some way for his lack of faith in this secular myth.

But the reality is that like this unfortunate character in the film many kids don’t receive presents because their parents cannot afford the splurge.  There is unfortunately no jolly elf making the rounds to lavish us all with gifts. 

Further, kids who don’t get a magical visit from Santa--and have few or no gifts on Christmas morning--feel extremely deprived and embarrassed because of the situation.  As adults, we may discount and not appreciate how real that hurt is.  As an adult in middle age, Oprah Winfrey still remembered vividly the sting of such experiences from her own childhood.  Such heartbreak spurred her philanthropy in South Africa.  She hated to think of other kids going through that same deprivation and shame. 

But per the Santa myth, when kids don’t get presents, it is because they were naughty and didn’t deserve them.  How incredibly cruel is that??!  It is really hitting human beings at a very vulnerable point in their lives when they are already down.  

The Santa myth plants the seed that those who don’t get visited by Santa are undeserving of treats that pop culture says everyone enjoys at that time of year.  The Santa myth instead sends the message that such kids are deserving of their misfortunate.   

I find such a tradition to be neither quaint nor harmless.  In fact, I want nothing to do with it.  To me, it does more than just ignore the real reason for the celebration of Christmas.  The Santa myth distracts otherwise good people from spiritual values and towards materialistic consumption.  It also is cruel and hurtful to some of the most vulnerable in our society.  None of these things are compatible with Christianity in my opinion.

Job 31:24

I have never trusted in riches.
I never said even to pure gold, “You are my hope.”

Biography: Santa Claus

The holidays have passed, but I wanted to share a program I watched in December with my daughters.  I haven’t watched the series in years, but generally I have enjoyed Biography because I love history and learning about people’s back stories is fascinating to me.  I rented the DVD of the Biography episode on Santa Claus from 2005.  If you are interested, here is a link to the DVD on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Biography-Santa-Claus/dp/B000AABL0S.

The episode was fascinating.  It traced the Santa Claus myth from the real life Turkish Christian, popularly known as St. Nicholas, to the modern pop culture and commercialization icon in the United States. 

Nicholas of Myrna was a fascinating man.  He pragmatically used his resources to save women in his community who lacked a dowry from a life of slavery and/or prostitution.  He gave gifts of money to help them marry so they could avoid a life of exploitation and misery.  That type of pragmatic giving is certainly a great role model to follow. 

But as a modern Christian, it makes me sad that the example set by Nicholas has been so twisted.  It is now used as a justification for all kinds of unhealthy splurging that racks up tremendous debt for many.  Moreover, it also takes our focus from things of lasting importance towards emphasis on worldly diversions that can amuse us only a relatively short while before they break, wear out, get lost and/or lose their attractiveness.

The Biography episode describes how the real life St. Nicholas was transformed in the United States by the rich and by merchants for their own purposes.  What a fascinating transformation!

The episode first explains that in the 1800s the rich in New York disliked the imported European custom of recent immigrants to call on the homes of the well-to-do at Christmas to be served food and presents.  In the age of the robber barons, the rich propagated a new tradition of “Santa Claus,” who brought the goodies to each family’s home.  They liked the notion of the poor waiting in their own homes instead of imposing on the hospitality of the more affluent in the community.

The Biography episode also describes how the Santa Claus myth proved to be an unparalleled marketing boom for merchants.  It was popular with children, and thus spurred retail spending by their adult relatives.  Indeed, the episode noted how the Santa Claus figure seems to contradictorily encourage buying while the myth features a giver of gifts, who explicitly avoids commercial venues and actually makes all of his own gifts in order to give them away for free.  I thought that was an interesting paradox.

The Biography episode interviewed a number of people from authors, who have researched and written about the Santa Claus phenomenon, to people in the entertainment industry, which has exploited and greatly enhanced our modern view of the Santa myth.  It was fascinating to hear the perspective of all these people, none of whom I could discern were practicing Christians. 

As some interviewees pointed out, though Santa Claus is linked intimately with Christmas, he bears absolutely no relation whatsoever to the original reason for observing Christmas.  The Santa Claus myth does not in any way reflect the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  There is nothing at all religious about the character of Santa Claus.  Very odd if you think about it.  To me, this is a quite offensive aspect of the Santa myth.  It is evidence of the secularization of an important religious celebration.  As a Christ-follower and a parent, I don’t appreciate that distraction.

Fascinatingly, it was also noted by one of the interviewees that Santa Claus is viewed in our pop culture as a sort of “deity.”  (That was his wording, not mine.)  One interviewee even described that the role of Santa is equivalent for children to the role of God for adults.  What an eye-opening (and terrifying) perspective!  And how insightful coming from an apparent non-Christian.  The interviewee elaborated that both Santa Claus and God are endowed with supernatural powers, are understood to be benevolent and are viewed as approachable.  The difference to me is that unlike the one true God, Santa Claus is simply a human-created myth and his sole purpose is to facilitate splurging on materialistic pleasures. 

I found both of these characterizations from non-Christians to be fascinating and confirming.  I’ve written before that I’ve always been honest with my kids about the Santa myth.  I didn’t want them to believe in a secular myth rooted in untruth and emphasizing materialistic values.  I also didn’t want them to confuse the one true God with the make-believe Santa Claus character.  Finally, I didn’t want to tell my children things that were untrue for fear that it would undercut their ability to trust what I tell them (e.g., the existence of God).  All of these concerns were based in part on my own experiences growing up.  It is interesting that a secular television program would in some ways confirm the concerns I already had.

However, as the Biography episode notes, in our modern culture if you deny the existence of Santa in our culture, you are viewed as a heartless “Scrooge.”   I’ve certainly dealt with that characterization myself.  It is a sticky wick for Christian parents!

Deuteronomy 9:16

It was then that I saw how you sinned against the LORD your God: you made yourselves a calf, an idol made of cast metal! You couldn’t wait to turn from the path the LORD commanded you!