What a difference a day makes!
I had drafted a few ideas for a blog about Christmas yesterday. It was a happy and light narrative filled with festive ideas about Christmas lights, and jolly shopping-mall Santas, and summer holidays in Australia, and yummy Christmas puddings with brandy custard, and cherished childhood memories of riding on hay-wagons singing carols on Christmas Eve ...
And then the Sydney siege happened. And then three people died. And then I remembered the true meaning of Christmas - which is about hope for humanity.
The meaning of Christmas extends beyond all the tinsel and presents and sugar-coated glitz which only accompany the Christmas season.
The true meaning of Christmas stretches even beyond religion and ritual.
It extends thousands of years into the past. Into pagan times. The Christmas traditions from our ancient European heritage, which we still hold dear in our hearts and in our minds at this time of year, symbolise a much deeper meaning of Christmas. The meaning is the spirit of Christmas. And that spirit is about hope.
It is a hope for humanity. A hope for us to remember and appreciate what is truly important in our lives. Not greed. Not intolerance. Not hate. Not ambition and career and status and money and winning.
It is a hope that we will remember that the truly important things in our lives relate to love and compassion and helping each other and coming together in peace …
The hate-filled tragedy of yesterday - juxtaposed against the happy festivities of the Christmas season - brought into very clear focus, for me, the true spirit of Christmas. The message we hear constantly at this time of year - and which we may not think much about:
'Peace on earth and goodwill to all people.'
A century ago, in 1914 during WWI, the spirit of christmas was vividly demonstrated on the western front when a series of unofficial ceasefires were called in the week leading up to Christmas. During this time British and German soldiers offered each other seasons greetings. Some even met in 'no-man's land' where they exchanged food, and stories, and souvenirs, and played football (soccer), and sang carols together. It is known now as the 'Christmas truce.'
Unfortunately, the Christmas truce was a short-lived arrangement and the troops soon got back to the business of killing each other. The truce was also never repeated, as the first Christmas was before the poisoned-gas and the aerial bombardments. By the end of 1915 both sides were by then too bitter for this to ever occur again.
But, still, during that first Christmas the soldiers had remembered that their enemies were fellow human beings who, like themselves, were simply sacrificial pawns in an insane and futile ideological 'argument' being fought between a very small number of men at the top of the military and political ladders. Like most wars.
But, even if it was for only a short period of time, the spirit of Christmas diminished the hatred and the inhumanity of war. It reminded the soldiers about the goodness in the world, and between us, and within us. The positive and lovely qualities of humanity.
Obviously, not all humans are good and kind. Some are complete bastards! There have always been and there will always be some very selfish and cruel and evil people in the world. However, it is my experience that, fortunately, most people are good and kind.
Yesterday two innocent and good and decent people died in the siege.
One was the 34 year old manager on the Lindt chocolat cafe. He risked his own life in an effort to overpower the gunman, who was beginning to drift off to sleep at around 2am. This brave young man would have known that he might die in his attempt to save the others and himself. However, he would have also known that if he did nothing then all 15 of the hostages might be killed. He is a hero. He was a kind and brave and lovely man who demonstrated that to the world through his actions. He paid the ultimate price. But he very likely saved other people through his actions.
The other innocent victim of the siege was a 38 year old mother who, in putting herself protectively in front of her pregnant friend, was hit by gunfire during the shootout at the end of the 16 hour siege. She was a good and decent and brave woman as well. She was protecting her friend and the unborn child. She died while helping someone else. She is also a hero.
So, the Christmas spirit is in your heart. It is about love and compassion and the goodness within us. It feels warm and glowing and it unites us. It is a hope for humanity which has survived the ages, and it is symbolised in our Christmas traditions.
Christmas is not the traditions per se. It is what they represent. It is about the spirit of Christmas. A hope for love and peace and goodwill between us. It cannot be bought or sold.
We hold these hopes in our souls and in our hearts and in our minds and in our memories at Christmas.
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To finish this blog - I have a few pieces of literature which I think put into words the spirit of christmas. Hope …
Firstly, excerpts from Martin luther King's 'I have a dream speech' from August 28 1963:
- let us not drink from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
- I still have a dream … that people will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood … that people will not be judged by the colour of their skin ( or, I would add, our many differences - in status, socio-economic class, race, religion, nationality) but by the contents of their character.
- This is our hope. With this faith we will be able to transfer the jangling discords of our nation (I would add - our world) into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
A poem by Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882)
Christmas Bells
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old, familiar carols play
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till, ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
'There is no peace on earth,' I said;
'For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!'
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The wrong shall fail
The right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!
Finally, the lovely and hopeful lyrics of my favourite Christmas song:
(Lyrics are the poetry of the modern age)
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.
Here we are as in olden days,
happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us,
Gather near to us once more.
Through the years
we all will be together
If the fates allow.
hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
So, the meaning of Christmas is a hope for peace and love and togetherness and goodwill between people.
It's a hope for the goodness in humanity to overcome the darkness in life and the evil in some people. It is a hope which our European ancestors have carried in their hearts and their minds and through their Christmas traditions over thousands of years and through so many tragic times and sad times and horrors. It has survived millenia because it is so important to us.
It is a hope for all of us. A hope for the future of humanity. A hope for love and goodwill and peace …
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I wish everyone a happy Christmas and a safe and a healthy and happy new year.
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