In many places around the planet, 25 December is celebrated
as Christmas, a “remembrance” of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. For many
years, this was a very significant day of the year for me personally, and
religiously, but what might it mean to those who are not Christian? Long before
Christianity, people recognized the significance of events in the natural
world. The sun rises and sets, the moon waxes and wanes, the tides rise and
fall, and the amount of daylight increases or decreases. I often think about
what it must have been like to live life tuned in to those natural rhythms,
rather than having a sense of fitting in to what has been demanded of us.
When babies are little, they tend to eat when they are
hungry, and to sleep when they are tired. Before very long, most children are expected
to conform to rather unnatural demands. Around age five, here in the United
States, we expect kindergarteners to eat at snack time and to be quiet or nap during
rest period. Due to many children growing up with both parents working outside
of the home, pre-school now starts long before age five for many American children.
The older one gets, the more conformed we had become, sometimes at the cost of
health or well-being.
I have been wondering if something similar has happened to
humans regarding our religions and politics and values. If a baby were to be
raised with conscious understanding of individual preferences as choices rather
than dictates, would little boys and little girls believe in concepts like
heaven or hell? Would they fight over things like whether communion is served
to anyone present or only to those who are members of the church? Would they
believe some people will be “saved” and others will not? Are those concepts
part of our natural world like the full moon or a solar eclipse, or are they
ideas that have become part of the fabric of thinking because they had a
beginning that was long enough ago that no one remembers quite how free it is
to not think about things that way?
Long before Christianity, humans were celebrating at this time
of year, just as they celebrated planting and harvesting. Some scholars have
concluded that Christmas was established when it was because of our long
history of Winter Solstice celebrations. Maybe things have been being argued
about for long enough. Perhaps this year, it is possible to look at those
things about Christmas we can all agree on.
Giving gifts has been part of human culture for eons. Babies
are not very old before they recognize that they have been receiving nurturing,
and an instinctive joy of receiving stimulates an equally instinctive desire to
give to others. I am guessing I am not alone in having memories of soggy
Cheerios having been offered by slobbered-on hands extended from an open heart.
Although it has not always been done with the aid of planes,
trains, automobiles or Skype, gathering with others is also a significant part
of our human behavior. Meaning is recognized in our coming together with
others. Most often those “others” are
related by blood or by marriage, or by some other social similarity as in members
of the same religious or spiritual community, town, or nation. This year, we
can appreciate how our connection is central as we are all part of the one great web of
life.
