Christmas is What?

Christmas this year was hard. Unlike past ones, this time I was away from family and friends and while in so many ways it was beautifully different, somehow it didn’t quite feel the same. After a couple of weeks of turkey, carols and gifts, I started to feel like it was getting old already. I guess it didn’t help that I heard that my brother and sister were flying over to surprise my family and there was going to be a big family reunion. And I couldn’t make it. Besides feeling pretty envious, I wondered what made me home-sick more during this season especially. Was Christmas about being with family and friends? Am I making it to be more than it really is? Maybe it’s not me after all. Maybe it’s all these commercials, decorations and shopping offers….maybe…I missed the whole point. Or maybe, everybody did.

Having experienced Christmas in 3 countries across 2 continents, I’ve seen it celebrated in varying degrees and manners. And each one, I found fascinating. In the east, I noticed that Christmas was revered in almost a traditional sense. People took it almost too seriously. For the Christians atleast, it was about dressing up, going to church and socializing. During Christmas I would run into people who I hadn’t seen in a year, since last Christmas. When I asked them why they came, they responded “Church is where I want to be for Christmas. It just feels right.” The sermons were almost always the same every year too. People knew it and preferred it. That’s what they wanted to hear. And so went the drill year after year. In the west, Christmas is taken to a whole other level. It was funny to see the color themes everywhere change from the orange and black of Halloween, to the green and gold of Thanksgiving and finally to the red and white of Christmas. It is the best economic time for businesses because people want to spend. And spend they do, like it’s going out of style. Wal-Marts are flooded with shoppers and almost every restaurant come up with special Christmas menus. Streets, houses and entire neighborhoods are decorated magnificently, sometimes even competing with neighbors for the most beautifully illuminated lights and decorations. Ironically I rarely heard the word Jesus associated with Christmas, atleast not in public. Two hemispheres with two different perspectives – one exalted the tradition and the other, the celebration. Is Christmas about either?