Finding value in a pagan tradition
December 15th, 2009I’ve written previously about my general disdain for the hodge-podge of collected pagan traditions that make up what we call “Christmas.” I won’t go into all that again. I will remind you that I still “celebrate” Christmas because it’s important to my family and – as long as the underlying meaning is emphasized, I still find some value in it.
At the same time, I’ve become more and more cynical about the materialistic, secular version of it.
I encourage you to go read Mychal Massie’s latest column at WND. It’s not about my beliefs regarding Christmas. It’s about something equally important: setting high standards for your children and not allowing the world’s version of “Xmas” to corrupt you or your children.
Dude! Exactly what my wife and I were talking about yesterday. Right on.
I have mixed feelings about Christmas. I don’t have anything against celebrating Jesus’ birth, and there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the date of December 25th. I do have a problem with the probable pagan roots of many Christmas customs, though, and, as you point out, the crass commercialism of it.
Frederick Pohl wrote a story about Christmas carried to extremes. A department store manager falls for the recently returned daughter of a missionary to Borneo. Her family hadn’t been in the States for many years and they are shocked by the insanity of the Christmas “season.” Needless to say, the two aren’t a very good match. I wish I could remember the name of that story.