The Solstice Is the Reason for the Season

I know, I know, you might expect good evangelical Christians to either throw themselves into Christmas wholesale (no pun intended) or to reject it as just what Jesus wouldn't want. I can sympathize with both those perspectives and the shades in between (See Matt Green's Why Christmas Is More Evil Than Halloween). But today, I'm looking at the season through different eyes.

For those of us living in the Northern hemisphere, Sunday marks the shortest day of the year. Were we living more as those who came before us did, with lives more closely connected with the natural world, we would feel it: that weariness of winter, of fighting the elements to stay warm, and perhaps a haunting fear that warmth and light and life would never return.

Here in Colorado we get some cold temperatures. It snows; typically once a week. But there's also sunshine just about every day. And most people I know are rarely really exposed to "the elements." Sure there are people who are depressed in the winter, here, but probably for more complicated reasons than those who live in places like Alaska, Chicago, or the Pacific Northwest. Although the sun is with us every day here, it still gets up late and goes down early. Depressed Coloradoans may feel more isolated or alone in the wintertime. Maybe they are afraid to drive or fear falling on the ice. Maybe they miss gardening or going for walks.

So, I can appreciate this weekend's turning point, the solstice. How right it is that we, as a race (quite apart from our cultures or religions) would look for those things that comfort and encourage during these dark days.

If Christmas, in its best and worst incarnations (perhaps in the eye of the beholder) comes in laid on top of such a context, well, why not? It seems an appropriate setting for a message of hope and new life:

A Winter Festival

"A festival of lights was held in the depths of winter in pagan times, long before the birth of Jesus and the Christian church. The celebration - Yule - was to mark the winter solstice, when the earth was resting quietly after its labours through the year, the trees were mostly bare and stark, the skies were often grew and gloomy, and the hours of darkness were at their longest. But this was the turning point, and soon the days would grow longer and the sun would return, warming the earth once more, and bringing new hope to mankind - just as Jesus did."

Source: The English Christmas: The Pitkin Guide, 2006

Last weekend I joined several friends for a trip to a nearby mountain town. It was the day of their Santa Lucia parade. A Christian celebration of light.