Christmas
celebrations provide us an opportunity to enjoy family and friends
with a feast of sharing, whether big or small. Christians across the
globe come together to honour the birthday of a new beginning, and
although to many the spiritual aspects are still important, a more
modern, cross-secular trait has slowly crept across the traditions of
Christmas.
Two
symbols of Christmas have become synonymous with December 25th.
First of all the man in red, Santa, with his bag of gifts. Whether
we await his arrival through the chimney, or simply the promise and
high expectation that our parents will act on his behalf, brightly
decorated gifts are still the most anticipated joy of many. Along
with Santa, the Christmas Tree has become an absolute prerequisite of
celebrations, after all where would Santa leave his treasures if not
under the decorated tree.
The
Christmas tree developed in early modern Germany with its
predecessors traced back to the 16th and 15th
centuries. It acquired popularity outside of Germany during the
second half of the 19th century. Queen Victoria of
England, who visited family in Germany regularly, first was drawn to
the charms of the decorated evergreen. As she also fell under the
charms of Prince Albert, later marrying him, the decorated tree was
to find its way across the ocean to England. Canada was first
introduced to this decorative tradition in the winter of 1781 by
Brunswick soldiers stationed in the Province of Quebec, on guard
against a possible invasion by American troops.
Although
the Germans can lay rightful claim to have introduced the modern
version of this venerable symbol of Christmas, and of the
magnificently crafted colourful glass ornaments, the worship of the
evergreen dates even further back into history. Egyptians brought
green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph
over death at the beginning of the winter solstice. Early Romans
celebrated the winter solstice with a festival called Saturalia, and
gave coins for prosperity, feasts for happiness, and lamps to light
one's journey through life. Later in the 1960's the Americans found
a new tradition, the Aluminum Tree, the creation of Kwanzaa by
Maulana Karenga, and along the way threw out all the beautiful and
elaborate German glass tree ornaments.
To
many Christmas means a multitude of things. Children of all ages
think of gifts and the glitter of the decorated trees, even aluminum
ones. Those who value the spiritual aspect commemorate the birth of
Christ and hold on to the values of His teachings. Retailers see
this as a chance to balance their books and continue on another year.
Few think past this, few think of the taking that has continued for
as long as the traditions have.
One
of the greatest economies of the world is still suffering and many
Americans do not have enough to feed their families. A shocking
visual example came with employees of Walmart asking for donations to
sustain their own families. Poverty is not a new plague or a symptom
of a troubled world economy. Lands in Africa, Asia and India have
lived with this issue for centuries. In Canada donations to
registered charities keep decreasing, whether it is the fact that
Canadians have less money at their disposal or that they have lost
some trust in these organisations is debatable. Still the decrease
is notable. Food banks, the first line of defense for the poor or
the struggling are facing empty shelves. Many in our modern society
are finding it difficult to simply provide the basic needs for
themselves. Yet that is not the whole story, so to speak.
For
decades we as a combined humanity have taken from our planet without
thought of the consequences. Those who sit on thrones of power,
whether in the West or the East, think little other than to retain
that power. Corporations not only pull the proverbial strings of
power, they in fact control it as a whole. As a species, humanity
sadly understands taking more than giving. Recent news that Mexico
will increase its crude oil production to new highs, competing with
Canada's oil sands, can only raise serious new concerns for our
combined future. At the same time the US is predicting to increase
its own oil output to hit near record highs by 2016. Yet
environmentalists are still playing at a game where they applaud the
Obama government on stalling the Keystone Pipeline. Is there any
credibility in the major environmentalists when the US, under Obama's
control is working at such a huge increase in oil production? It is
true that we have no real or viable alternatives to oil and its end
use? Under such a massive cloud of potential profit it is not likely
an effort will be made to develop one either.
As
we celebrate this season of joy with our families and friends we may
think of the disadvantaged and drop a bag of donated groceries to a
food bank. Some of us will go a little further and give more to
charities struggling with what seems an eternal human malady. Yet
how many understand that each and every one of us, from the most
affluent to the poorest, are in fact the disadvantaged. The rich
could not even come close to understand such a preposterous concept,
and the poor too poor to think about it. How then do we heal the
gradual crack that is slowly, ever so slowly, becoming wider in our
home, our planet?
It
is not pessimism that gives rise to such a question, but realism. It
is not a lack of joy but rather for the sake of joy that this
question must be asked loudly. Christmas is a celebration of
togetherness, only let's not drop our precious ornament to the ground
and watch it shatter.
A
Merry and Joyous Christmas to all our readers and a hope of many more
to come.
Send comments to: demtruth@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment