Christmas - A Triumph of Hope?

We have now once again reached the festive season and as we are confronted with Christmas once more, there are some who will be wondering if it is appropriate to celebrate due to the shadow cast by the mindless slaughter that has taken place at Newtown, Conneticut. Tragedy at Christmas is sadly not a new phenomenon, we can recall the worst aspects of humanity through the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 and Christmas market terrorist attack at Liege in Belgium last year. In addition, who could forget the awesome scale of the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004, the worst natural disaster in living memory.

Inspite of the recent horror that has dominating the international news,  Christmas is arguably more important than ever. Since the day that evil visited Sandy Hook Elementary, wickedness has been countered by innumerable tales of kindness. This includes thousands of letters sent to the grieving families, toys donated to the children of the town and a movement that encourages people to do 26 acts of kindness in the memory of those whose lives abruptly ended on that fateful day. The acts of kindness have swept across America, with many stories of people paying for other people’s meals, coffee and subway tickets as well as an upsurge in charity to the homeless. The movement has been driven by social networking and has gone global, indeed Glasgow City Mission is able to give in excess of 250 homeless people a Christmas dinner due to an increase in donations. This wave of kindness demonstrates that humanity has a soul, that intangible, eternal kernel of spirit that burns within us and brings us closer to Godliness.

The Christmas story in its stripped down form is an intoxicating tale with a teenage mother, shepherds receiving an amazing vision, an overbearing government, a jealous king and mysterious visitors from abroad bearing exotic gifts. The gifts brought to the Christ child of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh tell their own story. The Gold was a gift of kingship and Frankincense a symbol of Deity. The burning question popularised in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, has to be “Myrrh, Myrrh, What’s Myrrh?”, this was a symbol of death as it was used as an embalming oil. These gifts were a prophesy of the type of life that would be lived by Jesus Christ and the visit of this delegation must have been quite an overwhelming experience for Mary and Joseph. The words of the John Betjeman poem, Christmas, eloquently express the reaction that many people today feel towards the story:

And is it true,

This most tremendous tale of all

Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,

A Baby in an ox's stall ?

The Maker of the stars and sea

Become a Child on earth for me ?

And is it true ? For if it is,

No loving fingers tying strings

Around those tissued fripperies,

The sweet and silly Christmas things,

Bath salts and inexpensive scent

And hideous tie so kindly meant,

No love that in a family dwells,

No carolling in frosty air,

Nor all the steeple-shaking bells

Can with this single Truth compare -

That God was man in Palestine

And lives today in Bread and Wine.

Betjeman was a member of the Anglican Church who had a faith that waxed and waned throughout his life. This extract from the poem combines wonder and awe with honest questioning about the events of that first Christmas. An invitation exists in the lyrics to put aside cynicism  and ponder the deeper meaning of the story. In the last 2000 years, there have been many kingdoms that have risen and faded away but the great old story of Christmas has endured, bringing transformation to many lives throughout the generations.  Whether anyone reading this blog is a person of faith or not, the humility of the history defining events in a squalid stable in the furthest reaches of the Roman empire teach us about peace and goodwill to all men, qualities that we need more than ever in today’s society. I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas.