It is only October and already I can feel it creeping up on me like a stalking butler. A sense of unease and terror. A dark shadow of an inevitable financial apocalypse. Yes. Christmas is upon us. For me it has never been a festive season, but rather a somber season. I only grudgingly bear it for the sake of my family and especially the little ones, and then, with a sense of shame, because what am I teaching my two sons? That it is ok to worship at the altar of money and rotten capitalism? That gifts and debauchery and money and debt and over-indulgence are what the month of December is all about?
Every day I see a street vendor selling fruit and veg at a busy intersection on my way to work and back. He is always friendly and has an awesome sense of humour. Amazingly he travels from Pretoria to Roodepoort every day to ply his trade. And I wonder what Christmas Day is like for him and his family. Are there even gifts? I doubt the newest version of Playstation is under the tree. Oh wait, there is no tree. And what does the ‘feast’ look like on that day? I bet there is no gammon, and turkey, and all the other bells and whistles as far as food is concerned. Maybe for him and his family it’s just another day of struggling to survive.
And here’s the kicker – according to scholars it is very unlikely that Christ was born on 25 December, for two reasons. Jesus’ parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke 2:1–4). Such censuses were not taken in winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Secondly, because December in Judea is winter time, the shepherds would not have been out in the field but would rather have looked for shelter for their flocks (Luke 2:7–8). Christ’s birthday is most likely in June or July, according to the experts. But 25 December was already a popular pagan festival in which the sun was worshiped and to draw Christians to paganism Rome made a compromise and the day was declared as Christ’s birthday. So, regardless of your religious persuasion, ask yourself, “What are we celebrating on this day?” Money? Selfish indulgence? Empty soul-sucking consumerism? Maybe if we celebrated in a fashion true to its meaning, I would have invited my friend at the intersection over and shared that which I had with him and his family on the day. But shamefully, I would probably not…
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