But, as part of my "Review", I must
admit that I am troubled by some of our traditions today. The first part of my review I call "Christmas from Without".
"Christmas from Without" is seeing Christmas as a time for "getting", maybe even a little selfishness cranked in. Now I certainly have no problem receiving presents, and I
love the excitement of thinking of great gift ideas, imagining that wonderful moment on Christmas
Day when the eyes of our loved ones open wide as they unwrap their gifts and
see all the wonderful things we have selected for them. But there are many struggling families do not have that
privilege. Okay, there’s troubling
Problem Number One. Our celebrating with
gifts while others have no gifts, perhaps even going hungry and with little to celebrate, weighs on our
hearts.
Another thing that bothered
me while raising a family of four children, was lying to my children about Santa. Now you are really going to cast me in the
role of SCROOGE on this one!!! Such an innocent "white lie" you may say. But
listen and consider. We tried to be
good role models and to teach our children to always tell the truth, to be
honest. As a matter of fact, if they acted
dishonestly, stealing a piece of gum or candy from the grocery for example, we
took them down and had them meet face-to-face with the manager to tell them
what they had done. Tough Love!!
These practical lessons
were beneficial, showing our "little angels" that being honest, even if it means facing up to
something we've done wrong, brings a sense of relief and joy, guilt giving way to a peaceful conscience. Then comes that horrible moment when you have to admit to the children that there IS no physical
Santa Claus, confessing that you misled them all those
years. It can undermine a lot of trust and credibility. That’s the Second Problem. And I am not even going
to go into detail about the fact that
one of my children could hardly sleep at night for weeks before Christmas, fearing that Santa was peeking through the window, spying. I had never really considered the consequences
of “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake”, planting a
fear in a child’s mind. But how can you tell them no one is peeking in the window when you have told them Santa "knows all"?
Problem Three. The building of expectation about the gifts the children want and hope to
receive. The wonderful old movie, The
Christmas Story, tells the tale of
Ralphie, a small boy whose heart was set on receiving a BB Gun. The entire story encapsulates the scene I am
describing here of a Christmas based on “getting things”!! For weeks the children dream of receiving all
kinds of wonderful things and so many times it results in some sort of
disappointment. Generally on Christmas Day, at least in our
little family which I really believe was as loving as any, there were tears
when gifts that were not really wanted were received… “MOM… You got me
UNDERWEAR????? I wanted a cosmetic kit!!!” A pile of gifts under the tree representing
money spent that we didn’t really have, and a most disappointing moment was when one
of my children, after the kids had opened many hundreds of dollars worth of
gifts said, “Is that all?”
I guess similar
things may happen in many households.
But all in all, the season is joyous and wonderful and our Christmas days were fun. We loved each other and we
frequently met with other family members exchanged gifts or enjoyed a meal
together with many hugs and well wishes.
But there were still those underlying concerns, about truth telling,
about those who couldn’t celebrate like we were, like ingratitude amidst the pile of presents. But even these things pale in comparison to
the fact that the real meaning of Christmas was sort of overlooked, inadvertently.
And now for “Christmas From Within”. The real meaning and joy of Christmas is in
realization that Christmas day celebrates the birth of the most spiritually
gifted man ever to trod the earth. His life was a demonstration of God’s
presence in his consciousness, God’s
influence and guidance in his life and
everyday activities. Jesus’ life and teaching reflected how life can be for ALL OF US as we
come to understand that we are spiritual beings, not little blobs of matter
with legs, that we can rise above materiality as he did, that “life in matter”
is a dream that results from our own
thinking. AND, that spiritual joy beats "material things" every time. This celebration of Christmas requires NO gifts, no hustle bustle, no last minute scurrying and pressure. It is a celebration from Within.
We may not have sheep and donkeys living in our bedroom or
wise men coming from afar, probably no frankincense
or myrrh under the tree, but we can all receive that most precious
gift that God provided centuries ago. God’s Love, Peace, Joy, Spiritual understanding… gifts
which cost nothing but moments of listening, praying, trusting. They are free... to give and receive.
Christmas to me is the reminder of God's great gift,
— His spiritual idea, man and the universe, —a gift which so transcends mortal,
material, sensual giving that the merriment, mad ambition, rivalry, and ritual of our common Christmas seem a human mockery in mimicry
of the real worship in commemoration of Christ's coming.
I love to observe Christmas in quietude,
humility, benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence,
prayer, and praise express my conception of Truth's appearing.
This time of year our thoughts turn naturally to the
healing Christ. It’s sweet refreshment amidst
the “mad ambition, rivalry, and ritual of our common Christmas. In fact, this is the perfect time to reflect
with gratitude on the past year’s healings—for ourselves, for friends and
family, in our churches and communities, and in the world." (Mary Baker Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and
Miscellany, p. 262).
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
