This I Believe

Reason for the Season

Ah! That time of year is here again–the “holidays” are upon us. And, as seems usual in these past few years, the controversy over what holiday rules supreme is also upon us. I have kept my ear to the ground in recent months and have gotten quite an earful about how Christmas is the major American Holiday and how it is wrong, and even offensive to some, not to embrace all that Christmas represents. There are some who boycott stores for having ads that wish us all Happy Holidays instead of singling out Christmas. So I started to think about the real reason for the season, especially since I am a totally secular American.

It has always seemed odd that I, a non-Christian to my core, should pull out the ornaments, buy the tree, bake the cookies and procure mountains of gifts. But that is how I was raised by my also-secular parents. We celebrated Christmas because everyone else did it, because it brought some fun to the middle of the long, mid-western winters and because it was a family time that all could enjoy (more or less, anyway).

I have heard the phrase in recent times that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and for many people who follow the word of Christ as the cornerstone of their belief system, that may be true. For the rest of us, however, that rings hollow and empty. Of course I try to respect other people’s beliefs, and I have even gone to mid-night mass so that I might appreciate the holiday for its true meaning. But all-in-all, the real “reason for the season” in my house has little to do with Jesus.

The Jewish people (and I am + Jewish but I do not practice that religion, either) have a nice celebration of the Miracle of the Lights, – Hanukah — which gives the Jewish households a reason for the season all their own. This year the two major holidays fall on the same day. So many people will be celebrating on December 25th this year (get your holiday orders in early!).

But what is the real reason for the season? The answer is simple. Solstice. The pagan celebration of the winter solstice is the true meaning for the December Holiday celebrating the coming of the savior for all man-kind. As far as I can tell (thank-you Goggle) the historical person who is called Jesus Christ was born at a different time of year, perhaps April. Now, the early Christians were a smart bunch of marketers and they knew that April was too close to the time of Jesus’ death — it would never do to have celebrations for his birthday and his resurrection in the same month. So they had to move it. When they looked at the calendar way back in the 3rd or 4th century they must have noticed that December 21st was the Solstice, a holiday already celebrated by many “pagans” (and didn’t they want those pagans as Christians anyway?). Plus December in much of the world is the advent of winter, a depressing time when the days are short and cold, the food is scarce and bland, and the people are bored and a bit down in the dumps over it all. So why not move the joyous celebration of Christ’s birth right next to the established, also joyous holiday which celebrated the fact that the days would get longer–the rebirth of the sun god, the bringing back of light and the hope that spring would come.

It was a no-brainer. And so is my persistence at celebrating what is now rightly called the Winter Holiday. When you think about it, Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings are not cop-outs on Christianity, they are accurate ways to express the full meaning of this time of year and the many rituals associated with winter. Up goes my tree and I’m almost done with my shopping so pass the eggnog! The days are getting longer and I am ready to party!