


I love Christmas – or more, I love the anticipation of Christmas. From a young age I always enjoyed decorating the house as soon as I was allowed, much to the beleaguerment of my mum. I appreciate it’s not an easy time for all and there’s good reasons why people find it difficult, but please indulge my childish whimsy as I try to capture some of why I enjoy the trappings of Christmas.
As I’ve grown-up (I won’t quite go as far to say matured), I’ve realised just how many of our Christmas traditions “tell” the Christmas story without ever saying a word. I think it’s important to tell the Christmas story (more on that tomorrow) but our Christmas traditions narrate the meaning of Christmas in a socio-symbolic manner that in some ways transcends a simple reading of the nativity story. In brief let me explain.
Let’s take decoration. We fill our houses full of seasonal décor ready for the Christmas festivities. We put up lights, perhaps a wreath, trim a tree, and hang some stockings. And already we’re telling the Christmas story. I love to make our house bright – the position of it on the street means we’re in a bit of a dark spot and Christmas lights stand out from afar. And I love the idea that the house is a light in the darkness that people see and (hopefully) appreciate the warmth. It reminds me of the well-used verse at Christmas – the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. So much of our Christmas traditions put light against darkness reminding us that Christ is the light of the world. The lights on our trees do the same and add to it the use of an evergreen fir to remind us of the eternal life that Christ brought through his Incarnation. We use a star or an angel on top of the tree as symbols of the biblical narrative. There’s even a suggested predecessor of the Christmas tree that links it with the tree of life. December 24th is the named day for Adam and Eve in the Eastern church and there the tradition was to decorate a tree with apples. Taking over this tradition, the Christmas tree and December 25th, is a symbol of the recapitulation found in Christ – the recovery of Adam and Eve’s disobedience being achieved through Christ’s obedience. Laden with decoration, but also laden with meaning. And the wreaths we hang on our doors communicate a similar idea. The circularity and the evergreen leaves remind us of God’s everlasting love and the eternal life we enter into through the birth of Christ. Perhaps you have a sprig of holly around the house or on top of the Christmas pudding – holly represents the crown of thorns with the red berries a symbol of the blood shed by Christ. It’s a link from Christ’s birth to his death and resurrection reminding us at the beginning about the “end”. Our decorated houses, therefore, become living symbols of Christ’s light and love.
Some people use an advent wreath with candles on it and again the symbolism is clear. But advent has seeped into wider consciousness too. It’s common to see supermarkets selling advent calendars. I often wonder how many people buying advent calendars know what advent is. In a mirror of Lent and Easter, advent is the fasting before the feast day. These days it’s more common to think of it as a time of preparation, but in the Judeo-Christian tradition, periods of fasting always preceded the major festivals (though I’m not sure a fast in the lead up to Christmas would be a popular suggestion!) And so when we open the doors on our advent calendars we’re rehearsing the long tradition of counting down towards the feast. We anticipate the joy that the feast commemorates. We walk the paths of the Christmas story in the days leading up to Christmas as we share in the anticipation of the birth of Christ, just as Mary and Joseph journeyed in anticipation of the birth of Jesus.
The feast itself is filled with symbolism (perhaps to the relief of those who like their Christmas dinner!) One of my favourite traditions (though I rarely manage to stick to it) is stir-up Sunday. The last Sunday before advent is traditionally the day to make your Christmas pudding / cake giving it enough time to mature. It’s named stir-up Sunday due to the words of the Book of Common Prayer which uses these words in its opening prayer:
Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The allusion to fruit and stirring up is no doubt a humorous, but no less profound nod to the transformation that Christ through his Spirit brings to us. Moreover, the Christmas puddings traditionally has 13 ingredients – 12 for the apostles and one for Christ (we can debate what the most significant ingredient is that represents Christ!!) It is stirred from east to west with all the family taking part to represent the journey of the Magi from the east to the west. And for Christmas cake, the origins date back to a cake that was made to be eaten on the twelfth night – or January 5th – to celebrate the arrival of the Magi. The spices in a Christmas cake are reminders of the gifts that the Magi brought (and their origin in the East where in times gone by was where such spices were sourced from). Mince pies were similarly spiced for the same reason and originally shaped in a rectangle to represent the crib of Christ. We may not take part in such activities as often anymore, or make our Christmas desserts in the same way, but as we tuck into a Christmas dinner this year, we can be reminded that even parts of the meal tell some of the story of Christmas.
Of course, how can we leave out Santa and exchanging of gifts!? Although our depictions of Santa have evolved over years, there is still a clear link back to the traditions of St Nicholas, a staunch defender of Christ’s divinity and an extravagant giver of gifts, particularly to children. While the tradition is perhaps a little removed from the biblical story, the giving of gifts nonetheless reminds us both of the gifts of the Magi (whose gifts themselves were symbols of Christ’s kingship, his death and resurrection, and his divinity) and of the gift of Christ entering into our world, assuming human nature, and by doing so reconciling humanity to God. Even the stocking we hang on our mantelpieces (or in my case given the absence of a chimney, the stair banister) are reminders of St Nick’s tradition of filling shoes with gifts which over time has changed from shoes to socks to stockings! As we inhabit these practices, we’re subtly, maybe unconsciously, rehearsing the meaning behind the Christmas story by celebrating the birth of the Christ-child.
Perhaps your favourite bit of the Christmas season is when the busyness is over and you can relax on Boxing Day. Even Boxing Day has links to its Christian tradition. The name refers to the alms boxes which churches used to collect money for the poor throughout the year and opened on Christmas Day to be distributed on the feast of Saint Stephen, the day after Christmas. The history of distributing wealth to the less well-off carried over into employers giving Christmas boxes as bonuses to their employees. Once again, the idea of gifts and charity are woven into the fabric of the Christmas tradition narrating that love came down at Christmas.
And it’s no coincidence that Christmas is celebrated in the dark of winter (at least in the northern hemisphere!) While debates rage about the pre-Christian traditions that Christmas may have overtaken, they are not as important as recognising that Christmas being placed at the winter solstice is a reminder of the light breaking into the darkness. A turning point in the year, just as Christ’s birth is a turning point in history. (Interestingly there’s a corresponding nod to John the Baptist celebrated 6 months earlier on the summer solstice when daylight begins to decrease reminding us of his words that he must decrease so that Christ may increase.) While the 12 days of Christmas are now most commonly associated with the song, they are in fact the period between the feast of Christmas and the feast of Epiphany on January 6th marking the arrival of the Magi and the end of Christmastide. It’s traditionally when our Christmas decorations come down (and if we forget they are supposed to stay up until Candlemas on February 2nd!) This year I’ve seen quite a lot of references to the 12 days of Christmas (strangely as the lead up to Christmas) as well as a film the 12 days of Christmas Eve, but nevertheless, whether deployed correctly or not, they are all nods to the revelation of Christ to the world – first to his own and then to all the world.
Practices and traditions alone are not enough to communicate the fullness of the Christmas story and some practices have become less like the original intention than others. However, whether consciously or not, warped or not, embracing our Christmas traditions and inhabiting their practices are all ways we can help narrate the birth of Christ and remember the meaning behind the history.
These thoughts are not necessarily the views of the College, but hopefully a way to provoke deeper thought. Please feel free to engage in helpful dialogue with me using graham.meiklejohn@uws.ac.uk or through social media if that’s where you see it!