My son and I have a small booklet of family devotions for Advent. One of the entries begins by saying: "Let it snow; let it snow; let it snow. Whoever wrote that song probably didn't have to shovel the walk and driveway". I laughed out loud and thought to myself....'exactly'! Similarly, Winter Wonderland wasn't written by a single person. And clearly Irving Berlin wasn't thinking about Bethlehem when he penned White Christmas!
When did a primary image of Christmas become big happy families roasting chestnuts on an open fire [I don't know about you, but I've never roasted a chestnut.)? When did Christmas become about mistletoe and kissing your beau in a "wonderland of snow"? I'm sure my functional family envy mediates my experience of Christmas culture, but I also know these images aren't the point.
Christmas is, actually, about joy; the human embodiment of the fullest revelation of God. Christmas is also about community; the commitment of Joseph to God and to Mary, surely in the midst of much public ridicule for an out of wedlock pregnancy. In addition, Christmas is about displacement and vulnerability; the God of the universe left the comforts of the eternal to take the form of a tiny baby who experienced the challenges of dependence in our temporal world. Christmas is about discomfort; Mary gave birth to the incarnated Christ in a venue built for animals.
Christmas, perhaps, embodies the promise of paradox; I wonder what might be different today if Irving Berlin or Bing Crosby had captured that notion in a catchy tune.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment