The Meaning of Christmas

By Janis Prince Inniss

Christmas celebrations as we know them have a long and varied history. And even today, Christmas is celebrated in many different ways around the world. For a taste of Christmas worldwide, have a look at the CBS photo essay about Christmas in several countries.

When I lived in Antigua, I learned that one tradition there on Christmas Eve is for people to hang out downtown until late at night, many doing last minute Christmas shopping. Throngs of people—mostly teenagers, I think—would line a few major streets. It reminded me of Carnival. In Guyana, the entire Christmas Season (and that’s what it was referred to as) meant it was time for masquerade bands. These groups of merrymaking bands wander neighborhoods, drawing crowds.

They feature stilt walkers, Mother Sally and a Mad Bull or Mad Cow. The Mad Bull or Cow is really two people costumed to look like a cow, with the person in front wearing a cow head mask, using the horns to butt people, and the other person serving as the back of the cow, kicking at their audience. I found them frightening as a child, and the heavy drums and flutes that accompanied them heightened my terror. Christmas in Guyana also meant “putting away the house” an expression meaning redecorating. New furniture (or at least spruced up furniture), new curtains, along with heavy cleaning are all essential at Christmastime. In fact, most people are awake past midnight decorating so that everything is fresh for the unveiling of their newly “put away” house on Christmas Day.

Special food and drinks like Pepperpot, Garlic Pork, sorrel, mauby and ginger beer are all enjoyed at this time. And as in many other countries, special decorations, Father Christmas and gift gifting are central to Christmas in Guyana.

But when I was in graduate school, I asked myself why I celebrate Christmas. At the time, I laid claim to no religion in particular, although I was not anti-religious. I attended no church and don’t recall praying on a regular basis. So, I wondered why celebrate Christmas? I had, and still have, wonderful memories of Christmas from my childhood. Apart from the special food and drink, spying the dollhouse that was to be a surprise for me is a treasured memory, as is saving to buy my parents gifts, and successfully hiding gifts for my Mum. I also remember having visitors and helping Mum to serve hors d’oeuvres on special trays. Having soda! And Nat King Cole’s voice. All of these are part of my Christmas memory book.

But fast forward to the days when I was in graduate school and had my own over-priced apartment in Los Angeles. Thinking about the reason for doing so, rather than simply doing it because I always had, why was I celebrating Christmas? The question for me hinged on with what other particularly Christian activities was I involved? Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the principal figure in Christianity. And so given that I was not involved with anything particularly Christian, I was trying to take part in Christmas merely to enjoy its goodies—food and fun. Since moving to the U.S., I had been spending hundreds of dollars on Christmas presents for lots of friends and relatives. Each year, there was a feeling of uncontrollable spending and gift exchanges. (Don’t misunderstand. I was living what seemed like a fairly decent life but that didn’t make me a practicing Christian; people of the major world religions and even those without are doing the same too.) 

As a baby, I was baptized Christian and while I did not grow up attending church, I had become rather interested in the institution when I was about eight, and took up Sunday school in earnest. I don’t remember how long that interest lasted but in my late teens I became interested in religion and started going to church again. All of my church-going up to that point had been in Guyana and Antigua, but when I came to the U.S. for college I stopped going to church—that was yet another area of life to try to navigate in a new society, and I let it go.

I didn’t really know much about Christianity actually. So why was I celebrating Christmas? How much of my Christmas celebration was based on the purely consumer aspects of it? It’s clear why Christmas is beloved by retailers; they earn as much as three-quarters of their annual profit at this time! But why should I love it or celebrate it? And why do you celebrate Christmas, if you do?

What meaning is there in your celebrations, if any at this time of year? Is it important to you to know the origins of traditions? Does it matter if they are related in a traceable way to that which you are celebrating? Left to your own devices—can you imagine not having the advertising blitz that we see late in the year that direct us to the “must buy” gifts of the season—how might you and your family celebrate? Consumption has become a part of the Christmas ritual in North America. How much of the meaning of Christmas is tied to shared consumerism and the objects we consume?

Comments

[Joy]

I agree with you when you say that the meaning of Christmas is often tied up in consumerism. Many people do not believe in the true meaning of Christmas. Celebrating Jesus birth. They do however participate in the consuming part. Our family, celebrating Christmas for what it is, a time to remember and reflect on Jesus' birth. We do exchange gifts but nothing big and expensive and definitely not always the latest and greatest that the consuming world has to offer. We try to keep our focus on what we consider the main thing. I also think Christmas is a time for family and friends to gather and a time of sharing and giving. It's hard to do that in an environment that is being overcome with greed and consumption. We need to get back to the main thing, whatever your main reason for celebrating Christmas is.

[Lindsey Mcnally]

I believe Christmas does not have to be someting about religion. Obviously it is based on christianity, at least here in the U.S..But thousands of people prove you do not need to have a religion to celebrate Christmas. To me it is just a time of year where you can be with one's family and do all the traditions you are use to doing on Christmas.

[Tori Bodin]

Of course the ties between Christmas and consumerism are obvious. Growing up my dad would start buying Christmas presents in January and hide them until December when he would brag that his shopping was done months ago.
Unlike my dad, I enjoy Christmas shopping and finding just the right presents for people I care about. Its nice to give them something that lets them know I know enough about them to stray from anything generic. Of course anyone who complains about receiving presents is lying as well, since there's always that one gift you didn't have the money to buy yourself, but are grateful to receive for Christmas.
However Christmas in America is certainly different than any other culture. Even Jewish families have invented Christmakkuh, in order to celebrate their religion and the Christmas season. My dad grew up in Sweden, and Christmas there was very different. Although there was plenty of celebration, it was for St. Lucia and gifts were given mostly to children and one to the family as a whole.
Today Christmas represents the American standard of living. Santa no longer makes dolls and trains for children, but instead ipods and Wiis. Christmas plays into the dominant culture by no longer seperating the good and the bad kids, but the rich and the poor. High culture has extravagent Christmas parties, complete with visits from Santa himself and a numerous number of presents for children who are just learning how to add. In most cases, the counterculture are those who reject Christmas because of its correlation to consumerism, usually just because they aren't the ones invited to the huge parties.
Still, there are those that still believe in the message of Christmas and those who even if they do not have significant faith, recognize its meaning. Christmas has become more centered around family than religion in a lot of cases, and I dont think that is a problem.

[Molly McKinnon]

CHRISTmas is a time to thank the lord for what he has done for the people on this earth and the day that he was born in Bethlehem. Christmas think that it is all about presents and material things. This is a time to forget all worries and the hatred that you have against people. For me and my family its about Jesus and prasing him. Christmas was about Jesus and his birthday and spending time with love ones. However, its not like that any more it has became a day about how much money can be spent and how quick you can open one present to get to the next. I believe the meaning of Christmas has been lost through out the years instead of being about love and sharing and family. Its all about how many hours you can spend in a store and how much money can you spend. It is so sad that we have got away from the true meaning of Christmas. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to give one gift and have a wonderful dinner and enjoy just being with your family instead of over spending and going in debt. well that is is my out look on what Christmas has became and most of you probably understand agree!

[Taylor Kirchner]

Nothing has meaning until you put meaning to it; all knowledge is transitory. People will put whatever meaning to this day. I have celebrated Christmas since I was born, not because I am religious (I have actually never been to Church) but because it is almost a folkway. People are expected to celebrate Christmas as long as you’re not part of a different religion. The religious day has now become a commercial holiday. There are ads on television, Christmas trees in lots, and stores filled with Christmas crap the day after Thanksgiving.
Along with Inniss, I really don’t know the whole story behind the holiday. I celebrate, if you can call it that, because I feel like I have to. However, my family doesn’t really do anything special. My dad may get me a little trinket and I give a hug (he never wanted me or my brother to get him anything.) The holiday still excites me as it did when I was a kid. I think of all reasons why my family celebrates it is, it gives us an excuse to all get together and eat dinner. I rreally can’t complain that the holiday does exist, I love the Christmas spirit around that time.

[Marta]

I completely agree when Janis says our country and world has twisted the true meaning of Christmas. I believe that this is a time that the Lord wanted us to focus on Jesus Christ's birthday celebration. It is a time to be with those you love, give, and celebrate Jesus' birth. Many have forgotten what the true meaning of christmas is. Just a few weeks ago in my sociology class, we were talking about how now people who live here in California are trying to decorate like they live in the UK. Decorations of trees that don't grow here, snow that doesn't fall here, and unchristian animals are set next to mangers. To me it seems like people now days get too caught up in the material life and forget why the day was made a holiday. I think we all need to rethink what the holiday means to us; whether it's about religion or just love we still need to think about what we portray it as.

[Amanda]

I realize that many people celebrate holidays, for example Christmas, not for religious purposes. I think though that it is fine to celebrate Christmas without any religious ceremonies. I feel the main reason why we celebrate Christmas is to be with family and spread the love and joy. Christmas for some people is a time to relax and be in peace with your loved ones. I think people should be able to celebrate however they wish as long as they are happy and are not interferring with other's happiness.

[Ariana menchaca,]

In this text, i liked it very much because it went in the meaning and how she felt deep inside how she truly sees Christmas. I think we all have given in to what the false meaning of this holiday is truly. I become to know that a Christmas is not about the gifts but there is a true meaning of Gods birth. I do agree with Janis when you say that the meaning of Christmas about consumerism between the USA and the world. Though there are people that do not believe in god. That does not mean we need to give in to jut the gifts. It is about the meaning of being with family and the time spent with each other. Showing love and being there for are love ones but not just with gifts.
My family is always doing something big and tradition is the main thing. For my family and me we do believe in God and to give honor to God and to celebrate his birth. So that is a big part of my Christmas. This shows that we need to think more about are family and love ones and celebrate Christmas by showing love and not by the buying and the amazing gifts we must get.

Ariana m k00340946, CRN#31652

[Abigail DeWitt]

Christmas is not just another holiday, at least for my family. We also celebrate it to celebrate not just Jesus' birth, but also to be thankful for what He has done in our lives. It is also a great time to appreciate and enjoy family, not at all about the gifts, but more about showing our appreciation for the people in our lives, gifts just being only one way. I think that it is very important for people to realize WHAT they are celebrating, by celebrating Christmas, because it does have significance and meaning--it isn't just another holiday, it's a time to be thankful that we have a savior.

[Daniel Rodriguez]

To answer your main questions, yes as a Roman Catholic I do think that it is important to know the meaning of certain holidays, especially Christmas. I also certainly agree with you when you talk about how much consumerism has become so central to the celebration of Christmas. While I do think that consumerism is not the "true meaning" of Christmas, I do think that the consumer culture is important in one way - to help families stay in close contact with each other. True, money and gifts are only material things, and Christmas is not just about materialism, but from my experience, hanving gifts and presents over the holidays can, in turn, help people appreciate non-material aspects of life,like family religion and love.

[Juvaye Lindsey]

i agree with some of the feedback. Christmas is a holdiay. Its souppose to be a celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. I often think that as people, we tend to forget what Christmas is because we get so side-tracked by the gifts etc. In my opinion During Christmas, your suppose to spend time with your family and/or loved ones and reminisce on the birth of Jesus Christ and all the things he endured. Its a holdiay where your suppose to give thanks. Im not saying that you cant recieve presents and gifts, but thats not what Christmas was made for. I feel like we need to also remember why we have Christmas. Me and my family are very relgious and we believe in Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Spirit, but at the same time we have gifts during this holiday, we dont base the holiday just on the opening of gifts though. All im stating is that dont forget the real reason why we have Christmas, its not for presents or gifts, but celebrating the day Jesus Christ was born.

[Victor Ovalle]

I absolutely agree with this post. growing up and coming into college i ask myself the same thing, being more analytical i suppose; Why do we celebrate Christmas? i dont think that there is the right answer, maybe to me. What i do know is that i celebrate it and that i like celebrating it. Eating with the family, shopping for gifts and receiving gifts, and being all together, is one of the reasons why i think that we celebrate Christmas.

[Alana]

Christmas is not soley a Christian event, and many of the elements of the occassion come from elsewhere. The "celebration" element of it; dinners, parties, etc, come from Pagan festivals when the winter solstice was celebrated. The "Christmas" we celebrate today is a mixture of pagan, christian and other influences, including what you have mentioned: consumerism.
Consumerism plays a HUGE role in Christmas, as you mentioned a large portion of stores income come from this time of year and there is always that 'Christmas rush' that takes over big stores every year.
If you take out the presents and the religious elements of it...really it should be about family and friends. Coming together to spend some quality time together. Honestly I think people also just enjoy the time off work or away from school.
Christmas means a lot of different things to a lot of different people...depending on what influences them. If they are religious they will probably see it as a religious occassion just as well as if they are not they will see it as something else: important for family, gifts...whatever.
For me, Christmas has been a time when I get to see my family...and I wouldn't say that it has brought us closer together or anything as we still ONLY see them at that time. Really, it IS a lot about the presents. When I was younger it might've been the 'magic' of it...Santa Claus and the lot...but now, sadly, I would say the magic of Christmas has dwindled and mostly...its just another day that I don't have to be in school for.

[Lekeya Jackson]

I celebrate this not because of religious reasons but because of traditional reasons my family and I share. It's just how I grow up having a tree and buy gifts for one another. It's just something we do and that I pass along to my children.

[Marty Denton]

I believe in the celebration of the life of Jesus Christ, Christmas is an will always be to me a joyful day of being with ones family and the observance of the birth of Christ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElDab5Tf9Gs

[Faith]

Last minute crowds shopping for Christmas can be fun for some people and just annoying to other people. Some people see the crowds as a challenge to see if they can get what they want and get out in a timely fashion. Though other people just want for everyone to get out of there way and if they don't there will be a fight. Though Christmas crowds want several things in common to get what their person wanted, get a sale, and get out before Christmas morning.