The Holiday Battle

It's that time of year again, when the trappings of Christmas appear ever earlier than the year just past. When the seasonal isle could leave one confused to which holiday comes next - is it Halloween? Or Thanksgiving? No, it's Christmas. When radio stations provide alternative channels for those who want to sneak in as much Christmas as possible. When the rants and despite appear against those who should know better than to mix their holidays.

Mostly, I just ignore the anger and judgment. Why spend my precious energy being upset about how someone else chooses to celebrate a holiday? Why turn my focus away from value and waste it on contentions that can only distract from the good I seek? Why attack traditions others embrace for not being as 'pure' as they should be? Why draw battle lines by stating 'you must stand in line, wait your turn, keep quiet, stop bothering us!'?

How much hubris is it to state that celebrating Christ's birth and all that means for the world can and should only happen in the manner you feel fitting? What? Is this: My way or the highway? Everyone knows that such an attitude only breeds antagonism and enmity. Why does this keep happening?

I actually asked a girl on twitter why she would choose to hate Christmas because other people aren't celebrating the right thing, in other words - celebrating wrong. It was an honest question, but she chose not to see it that way. She got mad that I dared question her and ended by claiming I was accusing her of being Marxist. What does Marxism have to do with this? Frankly, I haven't bothered looking it up to figure it out.

Part of the reason this is so troubling to me is because I am one who tends to be ready for Christmas earlier than most. I do not understand why this should be attacked. I have tried to express this conflict before (see post from last year - You Say, Sir, You Hate Christmas, inspired by the 'I Hate Christmas' song/refrain). Yet it never seems to translate to others. So I will try to explain, again, better, I hope, here.

I think I must have formed a different sort of relationship with the season of Christmas. This only occurred to me last month when discussing it with a friend. He has never had much connection with holidays in general and, as we talked, it appeared that as his family had never engaged much with holidays, he had no real emotional attachment. If anything, it seemed to me that everyone must appear to him as quite carried away by holidays all around.

Once I finally wrapped my head around the different perspective, I saw that my own is not only a reflection of my past, but very likely foreign to the perspectives of others. As I've seen the complaints and condemning, I have pondered how I can better express why I am so ready to embrace Christmas earlier than the average person on the street.

I have not hidden the fact that my years at home were far from ideal. Those issues are addressed in other posts. Simply stated - they were a time of what is known as hyper-vigilance, an uber-awareness that comes from long-term exposure to unfriendly/hostile environments. In many ways, home was a trap I could not escape, and deep in my sub-conscious was a fear that it would always be that way.

Except for Christmas.

It wasn't that home dynamics changed during Christmas. It was that the dynamics of the world change during the Christmas season. Unlike any other time of year, so many people open their hearts to love, to think of others, to give, to help, to spreading kindness and cheer. These are all characteristics of charity - the pure love of Christ. The event that inspires this is celebrating His birth. It is shown in music and lights and food and decorations and programs and even in fictive, festive characters. And this spirit envelopes the world and touches even the hearts of misers. Of course it would resonate so deeply with me.

Christmas has always been the time where I've felt peace and even a safety - like everything would work out. I crave that feeling. And Christmas lights in the tree help me feel it. I don't think of it so much as a tradition. It's like how a candle's glow is comforting, too. Only the lights are colored and they make pretty patterns on the walls as they gently fade in and out. They are a symbol of Christmas which is when things are better. And things are better because of Christ. Christmas is my lifeline to hope. And I cling to it.

Consider the bleakness in the world without Christ - a mortal world bound to Murphy's law, where nations destroy nations and only records are left, until, they, too, fall to dust. Where there is no reason to expect that anything done in life has meaning so why not give in to our baser natures? Why respect any other living being like unto ourselves? Perhaps when the emptiness and despair of such an outlook is comprehended can the depth of my yearning for the joy and light and peace and promise that Christ's birth brings.

Consider that it is a time when everyone gets the chance to be shown they matter. To us. To Him.
The child's delight at the special things possible this one time of year.
The deeper symbolism if paired with the pagan festival celebrating the successful passage once again past the longest night of the year.

Consider that His birth is the greatest promise ever made, fulfilled on Easter, and we get to share that light and truth and joy with others - that we are the 'lower lights' to His great beacon. Like in candles, and Christmas lights set under the star.

So, yes, my tree is up and has been for weeks. With so many dark things happening in the world, I wanted the comfort that the Christmas spirit brings. The spirit of promise and hope and love and peace and cleansing and healing. Even if it angers others, I will turn to those things which help me 'always remember Him' and keep His spirit to be with me. And I will welcome this season as early as I can.

Resonance

I think I am naturally something of a reflective person and I often consider why I respond as I do to various situations and even how that compares to the reactions of others. I'd wonder why something that had a great impact on me would leave no mark on others while things that had little meaning to me would be so disturbing someone else. I finally came to the conclusion that it comes down to the issue of resonance.

Scientifically speaking, resonance is defined by the World English Dictionary (see dictionary.com) as:

The condition of a body or system when it is subjected to a periodic disturbance of the same frequency as the natural frequency of the body or system. At this frequency the system displays an enhanced oscillation or vibration.

In human terms, we all have a core identity complete with beliefs and motivations central to said identity. I came to realize that the things that resonate with us are the things that touch on some part of what we already hold to.

On a superficial level, consider that the reason I found Jericho, the TV series about a post-apocalyptic America, so intriguing is because it mirrors the fall of the Nephite civilization in the Book of Mormon on certain levels and also reflects parts of my personal expectations of the state of the nation in general prior to the Savior's second coming. Someone who does not anticipate (in the literal definition of expecting something will be rather than necessarily 'hoping' for it to be) the same things will not find the same resonating effect.

Or consider King Uther from the BBC Merlin (strong competition for my new favorite series). When he came to Camelot, he was witness to and champion against the extreme misuses of magic in the kingdom. His reign was built upon correcting a gross imbalance of power. Then, when his wife (this version strays on a number of points from the original Mabinogion, and even later Le'morte d'Arthur) died at childbirth from a backlash of magic, his honest distrust and natural antagonism were magnified into outright hatred and brutality. Rather than being able to recognize that not all those who practiced magic did so to the detriment of others, he could only see those who used it for wickedness and therefore condemned everyone.

I have seen it at work on many levels in my own life. For one example, my natural desire to travel, my innate wanderlust, has been augmented by experiences of the inconstancy of my particular family and certain 'friends' which emphasized in my own mind the value of moving on and leaving the negative behind. New starts and change feel like fresh air to me rather than the hated terror of change that others seem to perceive.

I can hear someone asking, "This is all very interesting, but what value does it give?" Consider the wisdom of the ages (attributed to multiple cultures and individuals) to 'Know Thyself'. The more a person can recognize the truth of who and what and why they are, the more control they have over their actions and lives. A person who has an intrinsic understanding of what makes them tick is far less vulnerable to the machinations and manipulations of others, be they man or 'demon' (for those readers of the Christian variety). It gives the person a much stronger foundation upon which to stand lending towards a greater confidence in self and life. And should an honest survey of self turn up something unpleasant, that person then has the wherewithal to make adjustments and counter the negatives found. It is a process that has helped preserve my sanity coming from an abusive home and one I recommend my readers seriously consider employing in their own lives.