A TALE OF TWO HOLIDAYS
Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday. You cook a wonderful Turkey dinner with all your favorite trimmings, you spend time with friends and family enjoying the food and the conversation, and you take a few moments to remind yourself that you actually do have something to be thankful for.
The only bummer about Thanksgiving is that it marks the start of the Christmas season, which has become my least favorite holiday. The wretched excess of commercialism and hypocrisy is just too much to take. Ask yourself, what are we doing here? Is about the baby Jesus or is it about you getting that 42-inch flat screen television?
If I were a practicing Christian, I would ignore the whole thing. December 25th was chosen because it was the birth date of Mithra, the Iranian god of light. The 4th Century Catholic Church was looking for a way to offset the influence of Mithraism so they chose that date to celebrate the birth of their own savior, Jesus Christ.
In those days, some parts of the Catholic Church celebrated the birth of Christ on March 25 or May 20. Those dates made more sense because the time of the year referred to in the Bible was more likely spring, when shepherds would indeed be guarding their flocks in the fields, instead of winter, when everyone, including the sheep, would be inside.
So if you want to have yourself a Merry Little Christmas free of the rampant consumerism that has sucked all the joy out of the holiday season, try this instead.
Sometime in spring when no one is paying attention, cook a wonderful dinner with all your favorite trimmings, spend time with friends and family enjoying the food and the conversation, and take a few moments to remind yourself that no matter what your beliefs Christ had something so say that was worth listening to.
November 25, 2009
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