Putting Christ Back in Christmas

Drawing of an elderly man in sleeping attire sitting in a Victorian style armchair and gazing at the ghost of an elderly man not unlike himself.
Scrooge and the Ghost of Marley by Arthur Rackham

Some are calling for a stronger connection between Christianity and Christmas, concomitantly rejecting the term “Xmas” as blasphemous, deploring the substitution of “Happy Holidays” for “Merry Christmas,” and urging generally that we “put Christ back in Christmas.”  Sincere religious beliefs prompt most of this campaign, but to what extent has Jesus Christ ever been the true heart of Christmas?

The Bible does not give the date of Jesus Christ’s birth, and it was not until the fourth century that the Catholic Church recognized December 25th as Jesus Christ’s birthday.  Historians have suggested the day was selected to coincide with pagan winter solstice celebrations that were held in many locations throughout Europe.  The solstice came at roughly the same time large numbers of cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during subsequent months.  Meat was as a result plentiful, as was the wine and beer that had been started during the preceding spring and summer and had now fermented.

In some areas, the partying was raucous and drunken, comparable perhaps to the partying that occurs at Mardi Gras. 

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Pop Music and International Relations

The Korean pop music group Red Velvet, consisting of five women wearing blue and white outfits, pose on a stage in Inchon, South Korea.Some find the superficiality and commercialism of pop music troubling enough to justify ignoring the whole thing.  However, if a music fan approaches pop music with some variety of critical consciousness, the pop music fan can use it to consider everything from personal values to national identity.  If recent developments in the Korean Peninsula are any indication, pop music, a type of pop culture, can even play a role in improving international relations.

North Korea has traditionally been leery of South Korean and especially American pop culture.  For years, the North Korean government attempted to suppress DVDs and thumb drives with pop cultural television shows, movies, and popular music.  Often smuggled into North Korea from China, these pop cultural works struck the government as evidence of bourgeois decadence.  Mere possession of South Korean or American pop culture was a criminal offense and could lead to a sentence in prison camp.

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Emily Dickinson on Spring

Daguerreotype showing a young Emily Dickinson seated at a table taken at Mount Holyoke Seminary in December 1847 or early 1848With spring in the air, I thought the following poem from Emily Dickinson might help us mark the welcome change of seasons.  However, Dickinson also provides a cautionary note.  The spectacular inspires us, but it also slips by.  Spring not only arrives but also departs.  Our resulting sense of loss is like “Trade” encroaching “upon a Sacrament.”

 

A Light Exists in Spring

Emily Dickinson (1830-86)

A light exists in spring

Not present on the year

At any other period.

When March is scarcely here

 

A color stands abroad

On solitary hills

That science cannot overtake,

But human naturefeels.

 

It waits upon the lawn;

It shows the furthest tree

Upon the furthest slope we know;

It almost speaks to me.

 

Then, as horizons step,

Or noons report away,

Without the formula of sound,

It passes, and we stay:

 

A quality of loss

Affecting our content,

As trade had suddenly encroached

Upon a sacrament.

 

 

 

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