"The Taste of Christmas" by Rev. Thomas Schade

Wed Nov 29 12:20:22 CST 2006

M I N I S T E R’ S   M E M O

“The Taste of Christmas”

There is nothing sweeter, more heart-warming, more spiritually delicious
than the traditions of my family and my tribe as we celebrate Christmas.
On the other hand, there is nothing gaudier, more tawdry and more
soul-deadening than the ways that some other people celebrate the holidays.
The Christmas and Hanukkah seasons, having been now combined into one
commercialized “Holiday” celebration of good-natured greed and gluttony,
give us a chance to compare tastes on a level-playing field. And by tastes,
I don’t mean comparing German Stollen vs Slovenian Potica vs those Swedish
anise flavored cookies and all the other varieties of Christmas cookies. I
mean tastes, like in good taste and bad taste, as in trees, lights,
decorations and gift-giving styles.
Back in the early 60’s my mother caught sight of a neighbor’s Christmas
Tree, and since then, I have known that Christmas is a test of one’s good
taste. Our neighbor had put up an aluminum tree, with identical blue balls.
And was lit by a color-wheel, so that the whole thing turned green, red and
gold in ever-repeating order. I thought it kind of cool, in a space age,
Jetsons sort of way, but my mother was appalled. It was the talk of the
neighborhood, but what was said was not always kind. Around our dinner
table, it was proclaimed to be the end of civilization as we know it, and a
sign of the impending Apocalypse.
We were of another tribe, the ones that celebrated with fresh cut trees,
decorated with the larger multi-colored bulbs and an eclectic collection of
pricier ornaments, bought a few at a time each year.
It wasn’t until later that I learned that our Christmas tree décor is
considered tacky by the tribe that favored smaller lights that were only
white and themed ornaments.
Just so you know, as adults we favor the blinking small multi-colored lights
with a collection of ornaments either made or chosen by the children when
younger. Our ornament collection includes a lime-green knitted Christmas
Octopus, whose exact role in the Nativity story is unclear.
There is the tribe that favors the single candle in each of the windows of
the house, and the tribe that favors a Nativity scene in front yard, and the
tribe that favors Santas climbing into the chimney. Tribes mix and combine;
you can now buy statues of kneeling Santas to place by the manger in your
front yard crèche. (Gosh, what’s next? Easter cards showing the Easter Bunny
on the cross?) There is even the tribe that favors any sort of cartoon
character as a yard decoration at Christmas. Why should Sylvester the Cat
and Tweety be left out?
The Boston Globe has been publishing a hot and heavy debate about a family
that has decorated their house with so many lights that their electric bill
runs $1100 a month during the holidays. Naturally there are many letters to
the editor suggesting better uses for that money. But there are also letters
from people who are delighted by the display and one letter from a nurse who
describes how she looks forward to seeing it on the way home after a long
and difficult shift in the hospital.
Some people get up at 5 a.m. to hit the stores on the Friday after
Thanksgiving. Others derive just as much pleasure being appalled at such
behavior when reported on the evening news. “Would you ever?” They ask.
Even in our most joyous and happiest time of the year, we find ourselves
comparing, judging, competing and playing games of moral one-upmanship. We
like to leap from differences in taste to making conclusions about morals
and values. I suggest that how we decorate our homes for Christmas is not a
real measure of whether we have grasped the true meaning of the holiday.
I urge you to do the following this year: Make something beautiful for the
holidays with your own hands. You probably already do, but even so, put an
extra effort in this year. Be mindful of your effort, your creative process,
and your satisfaction and pride at the results. Live for a moment in
yourself as an artist, a holiday artist or a holiday crafter, and hold onto
that feeling.
When you go out into the world, watch and observe. Everywhere you go, you
will the see the results of so many other people’s moments of creativity.
The holidays are a huge popular arts and crafts exhibit, the time of the
year when more people turn away from their workaday world to create
something lovely, witty, beautiful and charming. The more deeply that you
can feel yourself as another holiday artisan, the more you could see the
same being expressed by others. May you be filled with a spirit of
compassion as a result.
                              Tom

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