Fearless Faith

Once again Thanksgiving is upon us before most of us are ready. This year has felt more last minute, in part due to inflationary food and travel expenses. And it sounds as if ‘over the river and through the woods’ is descriptive of either drought conditions or northeast lake effect snow measured in feet. We are in a time of unpredictability in many areas of our lives. It is why finding ways to enjoy our time together is critical for our mental, physical. And spiritual health. One thing is certain, however, anything truly genuine that can bring a smile to community and family is welcomed.

In less time than we imagine, Thanksgiving will quickly give way to Christmas, Hanukkah and other holiday celebrations. And, of course, detractors and conspirators are lining up to decry that Christ is being removed from Christmas. What nonsense. Christmas is where the narrative takes you, not what others tell you it is. For Christians living faithfully, there should be very little, if anything, that can pry Christ from their understandings.

As mentioned in past years, there is the infamous Santa debacle that caused an 1889 member of my own local congregation to be “churched” (i.e. – kicked out) for dressing up as Santa Claus for a hometown kickoff of the Christmas season. It was a huge deal for early businesses in town that included a dairy, blacksmith, hardware store, a couple markets, lumberyard and a hospital, all with a population of about a thousand. Shunning by the church was another practice that became brutal at times by causing ‘sinners’ to confess to the church body, essentially to conform to or lose the very community they grew up in. That’s certainly one way of sharing the ol’ Christmas spirit!

Fast forward six decades to a small hometown Disciples of Christ church whose Christmas program always ended with Santa passing out popcorn balls and apples. We all knew the difference between Christ and Santa, for heaven’s sake, though several adult members could not reconcile a little levity and fun with being a devout Christian. I doubt that any adults confused real angels with the coat hanger and gauze wings that the youngest of us wore. It always took three or four years to work one’s way up to be Mary or Joseph.

Consumerism is often blamed for taking Christ out of Christmas. Who controls that? We do, plain and simple. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to describe the success of a holiday season by something other than sales figures compared to past years? Mark Twain shared a similar sentiment in 1890 …

“It is my heart-warm and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us-the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage-may-eventually be gathered together in heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss-except the inventor of the telephone.” (by Mark Twain, Hardford, Ct. Dec. 23, 1890, only fourteen years after the telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell). As for taking Christ out of Christmas? Not a chance.