On Christmas morning, I went with friends to Mass at a nearby Roman Catholic Church. In his homily, the priest noted that "tomorrow Christmas will be 50% off and likely by Friday, it will be 90% off." He went on to predict that
soon we will be seeing Valentine cards and candy.
As a commentary on our commercialization of the season, he was spot on. (And lest this seem self-righteous carping, I acknowledge that I found a couple of sweaters at a 'bargain' yesterday ,December 26.) A widespread
awareness of the Christmas Season has little resonance in our Western culture. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a catchy tune (played interminably pre-December 25) but the liturgical observance is a religious relic.
Whether one's understanding of 'religious' Christmas (separate from 'cultural' Christmas) is that of an historical narrative or as 'Parabolic Overture' (to use Marcus Borg's phrase), it seems to me that fair questions become "What comes next?" or "What difference does it make?" And, news reports of violence yesterday in shopping malls across the United States can add to the erosion of 'joy to the world'.
CHRISTMAS, then, is counter-cultural. Rather than railing against the "Christmas at 50%", there remains that which the late Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman called The Work of Christmas :
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nation,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
Satchel
Yes...yes...yes!
ReplyDelete~RS
Ron: all so perfectly stated! Happy New Year to you and your family!
ReplyDeleteRobin L.