Birth and Life and Christmas, Part 1

Spirituality Column #160
December 1, 2009
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Birth and Life and Christmas, Part 1
By Bob Walters

I am the second of four children born in the 1950s. Dad, a newspaper reporter and editor, fashioned a small “newspaper” for each of us sent to relatives and friends as birth announcements.

Going through my personal papers recently, I came upon those four notices. It was fascinating to read long-forgotten details about places and relatives and hospitals and doctors.

I am a sap for nostalgia; and I miss my parents, both long passed.

How sweet to hold those moments in my hands.

Yet, generally it isn’t the circumstance of our birth that gives meaning to our lives. One’s birth is a fleeting moment in time. Every ensuing chorus of “Happy Birthday” is about “today;” perhaps a sentimental summation of one’s life so far. A birthday typically is an inventory – of years, of situation, of station, of stuff – not a history lesson.

One’s life is a complex, constantly unfolding mosaic of many dimensions on many levels in many compartments. Not one of us reduces all that to a day.

Let’s not do that to Jesus Christ and Christmas.

Our culture this time of year marches earnestly toward Dec. 25: toward a day, toward gifts, toward family and joy. Or maybe toward loneliness and despair and memories of a happier, earlier life and Christmases gone bye … one day, one year at a time. For some, the march is toward the emptiness of Christmas that never was.

But … we march; many without really knowing why. Well, here’s why:

Because Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is man. Jesus Christ is eternal.

And Christmas is a whole lot more than a birthday.

Not to strip the trimmings off the tree, but most popular practice and even belief about Christmas is not only fa-la-la but folly. The date’s wrong, divine focus is lost, the word “Christmas” has become a referendum not only on political correctness but civil rights. We have Santa Claus and snowflakes instead of angels and adoration.

The “holiday” celebration dwindles to societal sizzle and secular steak. And then … with seasonal energies spent … Baby Jesus is put back in a box and Christmas is packed up until next year.

I am a sentimental, avid participant in the Christmas season. But I’ve learned that the spark of magic, good will, reverence, and humanity this time of year is God speaking to our hearts, pleading for more than a day.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) will spend December writing about the Christ in Christmas.