A Christmas holiday at home for us.....

[poltr1]

We spent a leisurely Christmas Day at home. We started with the opening of the gifts, which I videotaped. Afterwards, we had breakfast -- Godiva Creme Brulee coffee and Pillsbury Grands! cinnamon rolls. At noon, we listened to the Tooth Fairy Christmas Special (which I also taped, putting the VCR in simulcast mode). I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, preparing and cooking a 5-lb turkey breast. As usual, I used the tried-and-true Scarborough Fair recipe (rubbing the spices under the skin this time) and the cooking bag, and once again, the turkey was moist, flavorful, and yummy. Meanwhile, my wife and daughter watched "The Lion King". After dinner, we then watched "Finding Nemo", which my wife and daughter already saw. The only time I stepped outside was to put the bag of used wrapping paper into the trash.

Santa was very good to Maria this year. She got an activity table, a Fisher-Price Little People doll house, a Leapfrog Alphabet Pal, and two books/cartridges for her Little Touch LeapPad. Mom (my wife) got the 5th season of Buffy on DVD, the Simon & Garfunkel box set, and a gift card from Borders. Dad (that's me) got three DVDs, including "Office Space". And of course, I did plenty of videotaping.


It's easy for me to get jaded and cynical about the holiday season.

In one corner are the fundamentalist Christians, spouting their spoonfed dogma as usual. "A Savior was born on this day." Riiiiiight. Christmas is on December 25 only because some Pope in the 4th century decreed it. "Remember the reason for the season." I do. There was only enough oil in the lamp in the temple to last one day. Miraculously, it burned for eight days. In the past, I used to receive a greeting card from a friend who moved to Florida....with religious tracts stuffed into the envelope. Thanks but no thanks. [Update: It's my hope that these people would take what they know in their heads and put it in in their hearts, and live their lives in a more Christ-like manner, thus proclaiming their faith through their actions and not through their words.]

In the other corner is the big guy with the red suit, and all the materialism and excess he represents. Granted, the figure we know as Santa Claus is an amalgamation of many European folk tales and traditions. But he's been used to hawk everything from computers to Coca-Cola. (He's still riding his Norelco electric razor through the woods where his sleigh doesn't dare to go.)

Christmas has become two holidays -- the sacred and the secular -- that are celebrated on the same day. So, which one is right? Do we have a slugfest a la Trey Parker and Matt Stone's "The Spirit of Christmas" to see which is the correct holiday? Naah. Only because it will end in a draw.



Here's what I really miss about the season: the sense of community coming together, despite the differences in our spiritual and religious beliefs. Even as far back as kindergarten, I (who grew up Catholic) knew about Hanukkah. One of my fellow students in the class -- I believe her name was Edith Joseph -- brought in some plastic dreidels to give to the rest of the class. And my 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Sugar, made latkes for the class. In our school district, from elementary up through high school, we had Holiday concerts, not Christmas concerts, as each concert included a few Hanukkah songs. And at college, the local Chabad House sponsored the annual erection of a large menorah in one of the plazas or squares on campus. It was somewhat ironic (for lack of a better word) to see one of the rabbis stepping into the bucket of a cherry picker and going up in it to light the oil lamps at the top of the menorah each night.

I've not felt that sense of universal spiritual community since I moved to Ohio nearly 15 years ago. Mostly because all I hear and see around here in southwest Ohio is Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. And the ocasional menion of Kwanzaa. But there's very little mention of Hanukkah, of Yule, and of Dewali. As I said last year, I live in Goys' Town USA.


Many people, not realizing I'm now pagan, have wished me a Merry Christmas. Part of me wants to angrily respond, "How dare you assume I'm Christian!", but I usually respond with a heartfelt, "Thank you." Because to me now, Christmas isn't just a single day -- it's a season. The season where the light (i.e. the sun) is returning back to the world after the solstice, and the light within is returning to us. This is when most people get in touch with their giving and generous side. I'm not talking in terms of monetary or material things. They give of themselves. That's the part that touches me in many of the Christmas stories and movies, from George Bailey's "awakening", to the Grinch's heart growing in size, to Ebenezer Scrooge's revelation. And that's the part that I wish would last all year.

Peace.

Card update: Received doeadear's card and letter on Tue 12/23, and dagonell's card on Fri 12/26.

Comments

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention in my late night - waiting for kids to go back to sleep without nursing induced stupor - that I also happen to love the general feelings and trimmings I associate with Christmas. Growing up UU we still had a creche and a tree and stockings and the whole family together and I happen to love Carols. :-)