[Magdalen] Home for the Holidays.

Thu Dec 1 03:32:31 UTC 2016

A parishioner of some distinction, now long gone to glory, once attempted
to explain this.

He said that you must remember that in the United States, we have two
separate holidays, but we call them both by the same name.  For ease in
distinguishing them from one another, lets' call these holidays Christmas
and Krismus.

Christmas is the traditional mainline Christian holiday. It is centered
around the celebration of the coming of God into this world as one of us.
The celebration, for a lot of reasons, most of which are unimportant and
not known to most folks, has come to be observed on December 25th, a time
when the sun is supposedly at it lowest ebb, and is about to begin its slow
return, to culminate in the Equinox celebration of Easter. That long night
symbolizes our state prior to this arrival of God into this world in the
person of Jesus.

The holiday of Christmas is observed beginning on the night before Dec. 25.
It is preceded by a season of four weeks of preparation in which one
practices penitence and contemplates what this coming of God into the world
means for each person. The holiday of Christmas continues through the next
twelve days, to Epiphany.  Over this period, we contemplate and celebrate
the miracle of God arriving to be with us.

Krismus, on the other hand, is a secular holiday, observed by anyone who
wishes to do so. It begins around the time of Thanksgiving, and reaches its
climax on Christmas day.  It generally ends a day or so afterwards.

Christmas is celebrated, in the time of the holiday, with singing of hymns
and sacred carols.  Krismus is celebrated by those secular songs such as
"Jingle Bells", "Gramma got run over by a reindeer", "Santa Baby", etc.
However, if you're observant, you'll note that most of the standard well
known sacred carols have been coopted by Krismus. If you hear "Silent
Night" in the mall in early December, that is a Krismus carol, not a
Christmas Carol. Sometimes, it's hard to tell....

Christmas is observed with care for the poor, the powerless, and the
oppressed. Gifts, if they are exchanged, are generally done as extensions
of already close ties of family and friends.  Emphasis is on the quality of
the relationships, and celebrations are low key and quiet affairs.

Krismus is observed as a competition, to see who can out give the other, to
see who can eat the most, to see who can have the best holiday spread, to
see whose bash is the most spectacular, to see who gets the most high
voltage guests to attend.

Christmas is a time when extra care is taken to assure that the less
advantaged have something to celebrate too, but this caring is generally
shown all year around.  The poor are indeed always with us, and we must
always be aware of the need to consider their plight.

Krismus is a time when soup kitchens get turkeys and stuff, and a child
from a poor family might get some presents, but it's done for show and a
feel-good thing. It may be the single charitable act of the entire year,
and folks will think they've done good....

Christmas may be a time when one has a glass of champagne or wine, and
toasts to old friends, present and absent.

Krismus is a time when alcohol anesthetizes us from concerns of the other
cares of the world. Lots of alcohol will be consumed on Krismus.

Christmas involves the bringing together or family in love, even the ones
we don't really understand very well.

Krismus is the time when the family absolutely has to be together, no
matter what we think of each other, and even if we fight like cats and dogs
the rest of the year, on Krismus, we at least don't speak to each other at
all if we can't be civil.

Christmas is a time of Traditions lovingly observed and lovingly changed
and adapted to the present needs.

Krismus is a time when all those traditions absolutely have to be followed
even when you cannot afford them, and even if there no longer is a family
to eat that huge Krismus dinner, just because we've always done it this
way, and we have to keep it up -- just because.  After all, if we let some
of our old traditions go, we secretly know there will be nothing underneath
to constitute anything worth keeping anymore.

So you can see there are two separate holidays, not just one.  And of
course, we have been observing them for such a long time that we often get
them mixed in with one another. We all celebrate both of the holidays at
different times.  We have the opportunity of being guerrilla Christians at
the office Krismus party, by going up to someone we don't really like too
much and recalling something they did that year that was really good, and
sincerely congratulating them for it, perhaps clicking their glass with
yours. It just might start a revolution -- or maybe revolutionize the two
of you's relationship. Christmas has hope. Krismus is basically hopeless.

I'm sure one could go on about the distinctions between Christmas and
Krismus, but I've gone too far perhaps already.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 9:52 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

>
>
> This is not an unique observation, but for some reason I've been more
> aware this year of the portrayal of the Christmas holiday as extremely
> important
> to families but this does not translate into even the slightest realization
> of the real essence of the holiday.
>
> There are a half dozen series that I follow on television and  Christmas is
> always featured as very important to the characters, but never is  there
> any idea of participating in religious observances which are the
> foundation
> of the holiday.
>
> Christmas trees and decorations are prominently displayed, and there  are
> often subplots involving Santa Klaus.  Families fight tooth and nail  to
> get
> together for the holiday usually portrayed on Christmas Eve.
>
> I am reminded of the three medical residents assigned to my area
> over the Christmas holiday whom I observed having a heavy duty  argument
> over who would be off for the holiday.  One was Jewish, one was
> Moslem, and one was Hindu.
>
> Such is Christmas in North America.
>
>
>
> David S.
>