Time to make merry

FESTIVE SPIRIT

Once again, it’s time for ‘peace on earth and goodwill to all men’. In many ways, this saying has come to define the Christmas spirit. But, beneath the slogan, what does Christmas really mean? Indeed, just what does it represent in modern times?

Any positive feelings I have about Christmas stem from personal childhood memories.

Back then, the sound of carols provided a soothing backdrop to the yuletide period, and the food, presents and decorations meant Christmas was a once a year feel-good winter wonderland of sensory delight. Even attending church was pleasurable, in the days before church-going went out of fashion in the UK. Watching Charles Dickens’ famous story, ‘A Christmas Carol’, on TV was an annual event, with the Ebenezer Scrooge character being despised or pitied until the end of the film, when he finally sees the light and realises the goodness in humankind. Yuletide crackled with platitudes about redemption, hope and forgiveness. 

In these times of increasing secularisation in the West, however, a question often asked is, does the Christian God have much of a role in Christmas celebrations anymore? Indeed, some are calling for Christ to be put back into Christmas and mourn the commercialisation of the festival. But was he ever in it anyhow? Many say it was Christians who hijacked the event in the first place.

Fantasy or reality?

While Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the 25th of December is not really considered to be his actual birth date and may correspond with either the date of the winter solstice on the ancient Roman calendar, or one of various traditional winter festivals. And, as for Jesus himself, contrary to what Christian theologians assert, the more benevolent sceptics among us argue that perhaps there was once someone called Jesus, a charismatic preacher and a self-proclaimed son of God, but his birth, life and death are couched in so many myths, resulting in the blurring of reality and fantasy.    
Long before Christianity became dominant, there were festivals and celebrations at the time of the winter solstice. Early Christianity subsequently annexed many traditional shrines, temples and festivals. Places where pagan gods proclaimed revelations became shrines and temples became churches. Ancient superstitions were played on and used to good effect. Only the names were changed in conjunction with a tinkering of the theology. In some European countries, old myths and festivals were modified and passed off as Christian, and gods and heroes were incorporated into the pantheon of Christian saints.

Enter consumerism

Modern Christmas combines evergreen decorations and feasting from rural pagan times with Christian sheen and a thick coating of humanist values and consumerism. In fact, Christmas is a time when commercial enterprises have their biggest annual turnover.
The exchange of gifts is a valid activity and any social anthropologist worth his or her salt will tell you it is one of the building blocks of human society, fostering and reaffirming reciprocity, social norms and mutual bonds. However, advertising agencies, retailers and drinks manufacturers have turned Christmas into a cash cow and are hell bent on supplementing the communal cup of Yuletide cheer with an excessive side order of hedonism. Who needs a saviour when ‘guitar hero’ will suffice? Who needs church when the shopping mall will do? The cash registers chime, the church bells ring, there’s a belly full of booze and a pocket full of money… I mean hope. Sorry, what are we celebrating again? Oh, that’s right, the birth of Christ. Christmas is one thing that consumer capitalism did not invent but probably wished it had.

In its favour, however, despite the commercialisation, Christmas is a time of the year when families actually do come together to eat, drink and make merry. God’s invitation may often appear to be stuck in the post, but people at least make an effort to reconnect with the core values of communality and camaraderie.

Most non-believers have no problem with joining in Christmas get-togethers to celebrate peace and goodwill. Many atheists might welcome the advice of British author Simon Singh who encourages people to spend Christmas tuning their radios to hear echoes of the big bang. After all, Christmas is a time for rejoicing in the wonder of birth and creation. Christians don’t have a monopoly on such sentiments. The great religious festivals the world over celebrate common themes that have universal appeal and are a way of helping us come to terms with or smooth over apparent dichotomies, such as retribution and forgiveness, the material and the non-material, the barren and the fertile, the self and the collective.

Over the years, I’ve spent many a yuletide period in India and when in Goa have managed to stumble across reminders of what Christmas was like in the England of my childhood. Goans know how to celebrate Christmas, with prayer recitals on the days leading up to the 25th, people attending church on the day itself and large groups calling on homes in the neighbourhood to sing carols. I guess it is similar in other places in India with large Christian communities. However, beyond those communities, apart from a Christmas tree appearing in a shopping mall and a bit of tinsel here and there, for the most part, the 25th of December to me often seems like just another typical day in India.

Secular celebration

Things are changing though, particularly in the business world. Conspicuous giving and consumption are creeping in everywhere on the back of Christmas, and commercialisation is bringing a more secular celebration to the public sphere. In upmarket areas of Indian cities, I have noticed more shops selling images of Santa, balloons and Yuletide hangings in recent years. Perhaps, this is part of the overall trend to embrace all things western.
While designated annual religious celebrations may be fine by themselves, do they really count for much if the values of love and benevolence being celebrated are forgotten for the rest of the year? Perhaps, too often, Christmas celebrations get lost in an annual back slapping ‘all is well with the world’ mythology that has little bearing in reality. But let’s not get too serious — Christmas is special because it’s a feel-good event with a touch of escapism.

Christmas, like many religious festivals, reminds us that life on earth is temporary and all too brief. So, it’s good to rejoice at this time of the year. Even non-believers like me are not averse to celebrating. We cannot know when we will die, so why not enjoy a celebration of life, birth, togetherness and good will. Eat, drink and be merry… for tomorrow, it’s back to work!