News from MCC New Orleans

As we approach Christmas the usual question comes up - how do we celebrate uniquely something we are celebrating every Sunday of the year? Just dressing the church up like Macy's isn't enough. Things like advent wreaths and trees are all very nice but they don't summon the presence of God into the midst of the congregation. In The Big Easy MCC the one consistent factor in our recovery has been a very strong feeling of God's presence and I see no need to replace that genuine, powerful sense of God with too many sickly sentiments invented by Victorian toymakers. It is important to make sure that whatever you add to the mix is meaningful and not just 'Christmassy'!

There is a lot of bitching at this time of year about 'keeping Christ in Christmas', this is all very well and understandable, but isn't it a Christian's job to keep Christ in their own Christmas? Surely they can't moan about non Christians enjoying themselves at this time of year - it is not the non Christian's job to prosper the spirituality of the Christian!

We live in a multi-cultural and multi-faith country and world, and several different religious festivals fall at the same time of year. I understand therefore why some people insist on saying 'Happy Holidays' but I rather think they miss the point. 'Happy Holidays' makes nobody happy; I find no offence when friends wish me 'Happy Hanukah' and Jewish friends tell me that being wished 'Happy Christmas' is no great trauma either. Muslim leaders in the United Kingdom actually came out to support the celebration of Christmas partly because the undermining of the authenticity of Christmas casts a shadow over their own freedom to authentically celebrate Ramadan or Ed

e. In England many schoolchildren of all faiths celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali, and I think many Hindus would feel threatened by an assault on Christmas because it would set a precedent that religious festivals must be all be subsumed into some artificial secular kitsch-fest in December.

Still, encouraging everyone to say Happy Christmas does not make them all Christians! One of the main horrors of religion in 21st century America is that a whole bunch of people think they are Christians simply because they have been born and brought up Southern Baptist, or because they live according to conservative social mores, or because they hate all the right groups of people.
Christians should be defined by love just as The Christ was defined by love. I understand that this cuts the number of practicing Christians in the world rather dramatically! I think my point would be that love - of self, neighbor, stranger and especially the outcast - is the defining characteristic of the Christian life. It is not an optional extra. In this respect Christmas can be dangerous distraction, a time set aside when we do nice things to each other, what about the rest of the year? When did being nice to each other turn into spending a fortune at Dillards? When did warm fuzzy feelings, stoked by eggnog and booze replace authentic spiritual experience?

Well, it is my business as a Christian to prosper my own spiritual journey, it is my job to ensure I don't lose sight of Christ under a huge pile of glitter and house drag; for those who are not able, ready or willing to name themselves as Christians then knock yourselves out! Life has few enough chances to forget problems - grasp and embrace the celebrations without worrying about a bunch of hand wringing Christians trying to keep focused on a small child born two thousand years ago.