Christmas and Easter, the Christian festivals of birth, death and rebirth, are both in different ways expressions of optimism, and in our troubled world this is hugely important.
I
Christina Rossetti wrote a beautiful poem once called A Christmas Carol. The opening lines are “In the bleak mid-winter/ Frosty winds made moan, / Earth stood hard as iron, /Water like a stone.” Her words speak of the unlikely circumstances of Jesus’ birth, in a place and time that one would not expect could have produced such a life-enhancing event. The place was Israel, hardly the centre of the civilised world, and the time was during the subjugation of Israel by the Roman Empire.
Everything about this story is a contradiction. This is conveyed through the winter imagery - winter the time of year when nothing new is born. Even the idea that the greatest advocate for the individual and community could be born under the tyranny of empire is a contradiction.
The poem goes on to point out the contrast between the indescribable immensity of God and the smallness of the stable where this manifestation of God occurred. Another massive contradiction.
We might say that Christmas as a sacred event is a contradiction today amongst the rampant materialism and secularism of the 21st century, especially in the West. Yet that’s precisely the point. Goodness of whatever kind, as symbolised by Christmas, will arise from apparent sterility, aridity, despair, and life denial.
That’s a magic thought.
II
I was in a shopping mall one time and the friend with me complained about all the commercialism and endless unnecessary spending. It was so false, he said, and in part I had to admit he was right. What was worse, though, was all the people NOT in the shops – those who are too poor or sick or disabled to go shopping. These are the people in humble circumstances who are the invisible people of Christmas.
Jesus and his family were forced to be invisible people. Yet from such an obscure beginning, away from all the bright lights of the time, there grew a whole new civilisation; for that's what Christianity is – a civilisation.
Obscure beginnings are with us all the time, one way or another. Equally, though, if we adopt the right creative mindset, they can be seen as incredible opportunities. So while there's so much in the world that's regrettable, there’s also every reason to be thankful and optimistic, for we never know what amazing things might lie ahead. This for me is the meaning of Christmas. Let the joy of Christmas be spread to everyone!
III
Easter (Good Friday) is about the willing sacrifice of the self in order to benefit others. The Last Supper is a key part of the story, for it represents what we might have to give up: ease and comfort and the joy of being with friends. Self-sacrifice is indeed a harsh business. And yet in all sorts of ways, including the small and everyday, it is an essential part of the human story. Without self-sacrifice, our own or others', we'd all be nowhere.
Easter Sunday likewise is about more than the one man Jesus Christ, though his story is a powerful symbol. Easter Sunday tells us that death happens for a purpose, for out of death comes new life. When we have given our all to something and come to the point where we say “Enough!”, at that point we are releasing our creativity into the cosmos and allowing it to do its work. Miraculously, so it seems, there is renewal. The dead leaf falls from the tree and joins the cycle of nature out of which new trees arise. The design for a car is deemed obsolete, giving the opportunity for new designs to arise. A parliament finishes its term, submitting to the will of electors, and a new parliament takes its place. Jesus of Nazareth made his sacrifice and died on the cross, and out of this the Christian ethic of service was born. The examples are everywhere, happening all the time.
The stories which gave birth to our great religious festivals need to be re-interpreted from time to time so that they remain relevant to modern society. This is true no matter which religion we are talking of.
Secularisation has drained Christmas and Easter of much of their meaning, at least to the bulk of the population. The faithful still hold firmly to literal understandings, or so it seems, but there’s no broad agreement on the broader philosophical interpretations. Or maybe through globalisation there is.
Globalisation touches everything, including faith and festivals. Christmas has spread far beyond its pagan roots and become a universal symbol – a symbol of the arrival of love in the human spirit, and with that love the desire to give. Without this love and giving we would still be savages. So we might as well settle for this highest common denominator approach, and allow each other – whatever our worldview - to enjoy the celebration.