X'MAS and significance

by Jayasri Jayakody

In order to understand the real meaning of Christmas, we must read:

"A Lost Chapter from Herodotus*

In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound they have a great festival which they call Exmas, and for fifty days they prepare for it in the fashion I shall describe. First of all, every citizen is obliged to send to each of his friends and relations a square piece of hard paper stamped with a picture, which in their speech is called an Exmas card.

The pictures represent birds sitting on branches, or trees with a dark green prickly leaf, or else men in such garments as the Niatirbians believe that their ancestors wore two hundred years ago riding in coaches such as their ancestors used, or houses with snow on their roofs. And because all men must send these cards the market place is filled with the crowd of those buying them, so that there is great labour and weariness.

But having bought as many as they suppose to be sufficient, they return to their houses and find there the cards from any to whom they also have sent cards, they throw them away and give thanks to the gods that this labour at least is over for another year.

But when they find cards from any to whom they have not sent, then they beat their breasts and wail and utter curses against the sender; and, having sufficiently lamented their misfortune, they put on their boots and again go out into the fog and rain and buy a card for him also. And let this account suffice about Exmascards.

They also send gifts to one another, suffering the same things about the gifts as about the cards, or even worse.

For every citizen has to guess the value of the gift which every friend will send to him so that he may send one of equal value, whether he can afford it or not. And they buy as gifts for one another such things as no man ever bought for himself.

For the sellers, understanding the custom, put forth all kinds of trumpery, and whatever, being useless and ridiculous, sell as an Exmas gift. And though the Niatirbians profess themselves to lack sufficient necessary things, such as metal, leather, wood and paper, yet an incredible quantity of these things is wasted every year, being made into the gifts.

And the sellers of gifts no less than the purchasers become pale and weary, because of the crowds and the fog, so that any man who came into a Niatirbian city at this season would think some great public calamity had fallen on Niatirb. This fifty days of preparation is called in their barbarian speech the Exmas Rush.

But when the day of festival comes, then most of the citizens, being exhausted with the Rush, lie in bed till noon. But in the evening they eat five times as much supper as on other days and, crowning themselves with crowns of paper, they become intoxicated.

And on the day after Exmas they are very grave, being internally disordered by the supper and the drinking and reckoning how much they have spent on gifts and on the wine."

St.Nicholas

We know St. Nicholas through ancient legends. About three hundred years after Christ, he was the bishop of Myra (in modern day Turkey). His parents didn't have a great deal of money, but always had enough to give to the poor. Nicholas is said to have been very devout as a child, a model child, you might say.

As a youth, he joined a monastery and was quite religious. Once he learned of a kind but poor man who didn't have enough money for dowries for his teenage daughters. No one would marry them unless they had dowries. In order to keep them from starving, he was thinking about selling them into slavery.

When Nicholas heard of this, he threw a bag of gold into their house enough for the oldest daughter to marry (which she did immediately). He did this at night to keep from being seen. On the two following nights he tossed into the house a bag of gold for each of the two remaining daughters, and they were married like their elder sister. So each of the three were saved from a life of slavery.

Houses in those days did not have windows like ours do today. But there was a hole in the roof to let out smoke from cooking and heating. It was through this opening that Nicholas threw the gold. From this came the custom that Santa Claus comes down the chimney.

Nicholas became the patron saint of children, sailors, merchants, prisoners, pawnbrokers, travelers, and young people who want to marry. Because of his gift giving, caring character, his popularity, and the fact that his saint's day is December 6th, St. Nicholas became a central Christmas figure. But, Santa is not a merchants' assistant.

SANTA TODAY

He sits, elevated on his throne like chair, inspiring awe in children. He is surrounded by Styrofoam candy canes, plastic holly, glitter and young women helpers handing out candy.

The Merchants' Santa is retired or unemployed, but is picking up some seasonal work in the shopping mall. He makes some rupees an hour for smiling, ho ho hoing, and quizzing hundreds of kids, "What do you want Santa to bring you?"

Some years back, the Santas' union went on strike, picketing six major malls in New York for a week. They demanded better wages as well as an hour for lunch. It caused such an embarrassment and loss of business that the merchants conceded. The Santas went back to work.

But Santa doesn't really go into children's houses. Nor does he really give away any gifts. All those toys have to be bought by mom or dad at the local shopping center. But many parents can't afford the toys displayed. Their kids may remember Christmas like the third world teenager who recalls, "When I was very, very young, Christmas meant getting up in the morning and wanting gifts that wouldn't be there."

The Ideal Christmas

Do we need a Christmas like Niatirb? Do we celebrate the coming of the Son of the Lord the way the merchants want us to celebrate it? As the late Rev.Father Marcelline Jayakody wrote "Christmas for me is the day the poor eat rice" (Mage naththala dugiya bath kana data".) All of us as good Christians have to think of people less privileged than us and escape from the commercialisation of Christmas as we see it today.

This is a season of giving - gifts, goodwill, friendship, and love - whatever we missed giving throughout the year. Remember, Christ came to us bearing the greatest gift for humankind.