“But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2)
For a nanosecond I felt a twinge of guilt as I twisted off the car radio just as Rudolph was bearing gifts from afar, or was it Santa roasting chestnuts by an open fire? Guilty, because the ex-pats I correspond with across the Atlantic say they pine for the American way of celebrating Christmas. But we who live here must endure the seemingly endless semi-religious almost Christian Happy Holiday Season’s Greetings that used to begin at Thanksgiving Day, now starting on Halloween. It’s as though Christmas trees and crèche scenes were put into a gigantic blender along with signs of Hanukah and symbols of Kwanzaa, whipped up and served to the jingle bell music that goes with the season. By the time Christmas actually arrives, we’ve been saturated with the festivities and glad to leave it behind us for another year.
The perennial challenge for those who worship in the Orthodox way is to treat the forty days before the Nativity of our Lord, God and Savior as a proper time of preparation. We teach our children to observe the fast, to wait and watch like the shepherds in the field with their sheep, and to imbibe the spirit of giving, like the Magi, not only expecting to receive presents, but to share and care for those who haven’t the privileges that we Americans take for granted. We pray that our families will utilize the opportunity that society provides by granting vacation time to school and college students to pray more, read the Holy Scriptures and worthwhile material, and just to spend time together while the precious time of parents and children under the same roof lasts.
Is it a fantasy, a mission impossible, to hold up the vision of families preparing their homes like the stable of Bethlehem for the Christ child to come to them? Is it too much to expect sisters and brothers to speak civilly to each other, and to bring serenity to the chapel that they call home? Are those who see what I see just old fashioned and out of touch with the times? Is it fruitless to recommend a return to former faith-based ways?
Of course this wasn’t always the way Americans celebrated Christmas. Even now in other lands the twelve days of Christmas begin on December 25 or January 7, depending on which calendar is used. Somehow commercialism and the use of the season to subsidize sales just crept up on our nation. Complaints are drowned out by the piped-in music of this time of year. Perhaps it’s humanity we are celebrating, not the Son of God incarnate in our world.
Another reason why the season is rushed in so early is the impulsive nature of our fellow citizens. We have difficulty being patient. We don’t like long lines, we abhor being put on hold, and we cannot get our computers to respond quickly enough to suit us. Even when we marry, we wonder why it took so long, since the couple had been, to use the modern-day phrase, “sleeping together” for years. Then they go through the pretense of virginity. The bride wears white, the groom is not allowed to see her on their wedding day, as if there’s something left to discover, and everyone pretends that this is just as it should be.
When our Lord Jesus Christ returns, will He recognize anything at all in the way we celebrate His glorious birth?