December 24, 2004
Names
On December 24, 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve TV broadcast. Everybody seemed to be as warmed over as chestnuts, but I wonder if they could get away with that today, some three plus decades later?
It was inevitable, I suppose, that the Political Correctors would get around not just to the way, the how, and the where we celebrate Christmas — they’ve already done that some time ago — but to the very name by which we call the day and the season. It is apparently very important for them to get rid of Christ, for the name is obviously proving quite annoying.
Names have always been powerful. Moses found that out at the burning bush and Jacob at the wrestling matches. God is simply not forthcoming in the matter of names. Moses was told that God rather whimsically chooses to be whomever he pleases to be, and Jacob, not getting God’s name at all, got a new one for himself for the effort, instead.
Actually, December 25, was more than likely not Christmas at all, we just made it up that way to divert folk from another more pagan — at the time — celebration. Nobody really knows exactly when Jesus was born, and it’s he, not the date, as they say, who’s the “reason for the season.” And on top of all that, “Christ” wasn’t his name at all. It merely came to be a sort of ID. As the theologian Paul Tillich loved to remind us, the proper usage is to say, “Jesus, the Christ.” Jesus was his name. Christing, that is, being the Messiah, saving folk, was his business, what he was about.
Frankly, I hope we never find out Jesus’ actual birthday. For then — having probably done away with the name “Christmas” altogether and maybe put a lot of merchants out of business — we’d have to start all over with the calendars and the music and the white dreams and heaven knows what else.
Further, I haven’t heard anybody say anything about Santa Claus. Since his real name was Saint Nicholas (ring a bell?), he’d have to give that up, as well, as no saints by any name would be allowed anymore, and Santa’d have to gear his whole production system to quite another style, probably out sourcing it to India.
But then there’d be maybe the biggest bonus of all. We could stop calling ourselves Christians. That would surely be a welcome relief because nobody seems to agree on what being a Christian means anymore, anyway. Then we could really get that Old Time Religion and just call ourselves like they used to call themselves long ago — followers of The Way. Getting back on that track, we’d finally discover what it was all about in the first place, then celebrate our own birthdays by seeking and serving the Christ in us all.
PS. OoN’s going to wonder where it wanders these twelve days and reflect on each as it comes. Merry Christmas to all. — LD