WHAT WE HEAR IN OUR CULTURE

                     

During the Christmas season I have listened to a lot of contemporary Christmas holiday music. What we have is a culture trying to make sense out of the mid-winter holidays. What are we actually doing? What sense do we make  from the break from economic work?

 

The results are not promising. What we have is a lot of superficial, self-centered music that may pleasure your ear drums but it lacks depth. This is not a distinct time of our year that brings us in touch with a deeper reality in life. It is individualism run amuck!

 

We just have to reflect back to the attention that Canadians pay to remembrance on November 11. There are almost no words but the silence, the painful historical memories that our national identity carries is touchable. There is no superficiality at 11 AM on November 11.

 

The long history of the feast of Christmas within Christianity roots us within the great mystery of the divine. First this is humanity being in touch, in harmony with the transcendent. The very meaning of being a human being, of being alive on this planet, is lived out in the spiritual awareness of this day.

 

We tell the story of the birth of the Savior. We act it out in our churches and our homes. We sing very traditional Christmas carols that lift our spirits into the divine action of the birthing of God among us. This gives us energy for our lives. There is hope, meaning and purpose at the darkest time of the year. We are in touch with something much greater than ourselves.

 

And then we do make festive with family, friends, good food and wine. We enjoy how God has come among us.

 

This is where the secular world is struggling. What do they have to make sense of Christmas? How are they awed by anything besides themselves? Where is the depth and meaning for the secular Canadian?

 

If there is no transcendent meaning to this holiday, will it continue to degenerate into a simple break from work in the mid-winter darkness?

 

There is a benefit for anyone who identifies as a Christian. If so much of the secular world seems empty of meaning, how can the Christian claim meaning and purpose from the traditions and practices of our past centuries?  How can we make Christmas meaningful and purposeful for ourselves?

 

It is never automatic that because your parents/grandparents found great meaning in Christmas, that you also will have enthusiastic meaning for Christmas. Each generation must reclaim and build the meaning of celebrating the birth day of the Saviour. Each year we must reach down into our spiritual roots to once again make present and share in the great truth (action) that God has come among us.

 

Living in a sea of secular meaninglessness should spur us on to greater depth. Even if none of our family members or friends will make Christmas a beneficial religious event, we want to be nourished by the faith and the roots of our ancestors. The emptiness of secular Christmas music is a push to more intense depth and sharing in our Christian roots.