It's a Miserable Life

The Man uses Christmas to keep The People down. The Power Structure uses Christmas to further entrap the clueless worker in tentacles of materialism, to dull their minds to the injustice around them.

There. Now you don't have to read the new Syl Jones column

But in case you must...

Syl Jones, "journalist, playwright and corporate communications consultant", offers us a glimpse into the miasma of the Jones family holidays:

Look around you. See the people driving 30 miles per hour over the speed limit, weaving in and out of traffic, honking their horns because you're driving too slowly? They're celebrating. Those people drinking a little too much and talking a little too loudly? They're celebrating, too. Don't forget the disgruntled sales clerks and shopkeepers, the irate customers and the kids yelling, "But I want it!"

Yes, it's "that most wonderful time of the year," according to Johnny Mathis and countless bards a-singing.

Next from Syl Jones:"The birth of a newborn is a most blessed event - if you consider immense pain, a risk of dying from post-birth complications, nearly two decades of financial enslavement, and the fact that the baby is going to eventually die eight or nine decades from now, blessings. "

Note to Syl Jones; there's a silver lining on that dark cloud - although I realize acknowledging it would jeopardize your career...

People are apparently celebrating many things: Christmas, Hanukkah, the New Year, the winter solstice, even Kwanzaa. In the depths of winter, such occasions bring a welcome measure of warmth, helping us to stay connected to family and friends despite the weather.

But each year, the true spirit of the season is unmasked in malls, parking lots and grocery stores, not to mention behind closed doors. There is something slightly sinister lurking beneath the joy, a sense of irritability and tension bred by relentless materialism and the frustrated desire for true peace and happiness.

It's the other way around.

For the vast majority of people, the holidays (I celebrate Christmas, how about you?) are a time of joy; there's a layer of stress spread on top, of course, because of the commercialization of the holidays, into which so many people buy.

But then, that's a choice each of us makes. Me? I spend a day buying presents for my loved ones, send out cards if I remember (and lose no sleep if I don't), and look forward to, if not the most wonderful time of the year, at least the happiest and most memorable. Your mileage may vary, but those are my choices.

Psychologists have long noted that feelings other than joyfulness frequently surface this time of year. Sadness, loneliness and the yearning for a connection that should be there but isn't -- this is the authentic experience of many during the holidays. Although the suicide rate rises only slightly from Christmas through New Year's Day, no one has measured the irritability rate. Judging from parking lots, department stores and other centers of mayhem, it's significantly higher.

Then stop hanging around parking lots and other centers of mayhem! Life is too short.

Perhaps such feelings are a natural reaction to the underlying deceptions of the season and to unmet expectations about the "magic" of the holidays, especially Christmas.

Wha?

In this season, the only expectations that are unmet are the unrealistic ones that you set for yourself. If you expect to enjoy some good company, see your family (for the first time in a year, in my case), and just relax, the season is generally a pretty good one.

However you may feel about it, the only thing magical about Christmas is its resilience despite underlying religious and philosophical contradictions.

Most objects and traditions associated with Christmas have nothing whatever to do with the birth of Christ. The Christmas tree, for example, predates Christianity by centuries, extending to the Druidic sorcerers who performed magic and cast spells. Tree decorations like candles and apples (later signified by round ornaments) were intended to worship the gods Odin and Baldur.

There's nothing wrong with that -- if you want to worship Odin and Baldur. Ditto the Roman deities Saturnus and Solarus, whom the patricians and plebeians honored using the precursor of the Christmas tree. Interestingly, Egyptian worshipers of Isis and Horus actually brought palm branches into their homes during the winter solstice as a way of commemorating what might today be called "the circle of life." This connects both Christmas and Easter -- often called the holiest of Christian celebrations -- with pagan worship.

Which is fine, except who gives a s**t? We're celebrating the birth of Christ. You can do a conga down Hennepin Avenue, if you like, a tradition that certainly has nothing to do with a birth in Palestine 2000-odd years ago, and it's still celebrating Christmas.

Of course, paganism and the worship of spirits, along with elements of the natural world, are making a major comeback. In a free society -- which is what we claim to be -- who cares what or whom we worship? Whether it's the baby Jesus or the festival of lights, commercialism or Satan himself, "it's all valid," the argument goes. So what if Santa Claus is not only a lie but also a God surrogate to which we eagerly expose our children?

Does it really matter? Well, think about it: How would you feel if, years after your suffering and death, you discovered that people were honoring you using symbols and associations that you found abhorrent?

Jones is speaking for Christ now?

What if the celebrations themselves depicted you as a baby in a manger and left the mistaken impression that this is how you wanted to be remembered?

That's what Easter is for, if you take the Christian tradition seriously. And for all the non-Christians who celebrate Christmas, then it's not really an issue, is it?

Whatever you believe, it's a good idea to think carefully about what you are celebrating, whom you are honoring, and the deeper meaning of certain symbols and practices. Most of us want and need to express appreciation for the gift of life, family and friends. Buying into Christmas seems to be the easiest way to do so, which is why people have been doing it for years.

But is it the best way? At what point does a healthy desire to celebrate contradict core values and cherished principles? When does freedom morph into mental and emotional enslavement? Does buying into Christmas become a seasonal entrapment from which we can never escape? Or can we find the courage, in light of all the above, to finally say that enough is enough?

Many of us do.

In the meantime, those of you who like Syl Jones are slaves to your depressive urges, your focus on all that is ugly and perverted, and your niggling pecking at theological pseudo-issues; Take a deep breath. Pare down your gift list, and order your stuff online. Focus on whatever it is your tradition bids you to, this season. Take lots of pictures of your kids. Drink too much eggnog.

And if you see Syl Jones, tell him you don't read the Strib and you haven't read one of his columns in years Merry Christmas.

Posted by Mitch at December 14, 2004 11:01 AM | TrackBack