X-mas vs Christmas

The jingle bells jingling all the way to the sound of overworked cash registers are faraway from the peals of church bells that usher in the silent and holy night advocated by an Austrian parish priests and his parishioner in that other famous Christmas song.

Generally Christ has long been divorced from the celebration which references his name. Indeed, the commercial secularisation of what once was generally observed as the feast of the Nativity has very little to do with the birth of the Saviour, other than token imagery on a minority of greeting cards or nativity scenes in shop windows (when misguided ideas based on political correctness do not exclude these too). Even some strident atheists will say that they love Christmas, without a hint of irony.

When people speak of the real meaning of Christmas, they don’t usually mean the celebration of Christ’s birth and its profound implications. Instead, they refer to fuzzy concepts such as good will and generosity.

These, of course, are laudable and indeed Christian qualities which nonetheless should be applied every day of every season, and not be highlighted once a yearat a time marked, ironically, also by immense greed for profits and much undesirable alcohol-fuelled behaviour.

The culture of Season’s Greetings and Happy Holidays has very little to do with Christianity. Perhaps it is preferable that people who otherwise have no bond with the Christian faith should exclude Jesus from his feast rather than engage in token and insincere gestures. There may well be a benefit in not letting the X-mas of the jingle bells be conflated with the real meaning of Christmas, so that the celebration of the feast of the Nativity may regain its own, undiluted culture.

Of course, even the most devout Christian cannot disengage from X-mas. Indeed, for all its faults, the festivities of X-mas can be enjoyable and even edifying.

The secular X-mas is a celebration which is universal, an annual opportunity to unite all of society in a show of mutual geniality, a time when people find it easier to show forgiveness, when families unite for what may be rare occasions, when one feels free to show another person gratitude and affection. It is a time when people are filled with the spirit of beneficence and kindness. These are all affirmative traits of X-mas.

It is, of course, also a time when people incur debts they may not be able to maintain later, when alcohol flows so liberally as to encourage hazardous drink-driving and other forms of objectionable behaviour, and when some people feel so excluded from the general bonhomie that they contemplate suicide.

There is nothing wrong with Christians participating in the secular X-mas rush. But for the followers of Jesus, there must be a second Christmas, one in which his name remains essential.

We may cheerfully enjoy all the secular trappings of X-mas, but amid all the jingling bells, sweating Santas and gift shopping stress we also need to create space for the silent, holy night, reflecting on the child in the manger and on the inexpressible consequences the birth of this baby would have on the world and on us individually.

Amid the revelry and the stress of X-mas, Christians must find the time to pray and to give thanks for the birth of our Saviour. This is the real meaning of Christmas.

In that spirit, therefore, have a jolly X-mas, and a blessed, joyful, peaceful, love-filled and prayerful Christmas.