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The radio in my kitchen has been preset to a certain FM station for a few weeks now: The one that plays non-stop Christmas music.
So, when I began to prepare my Christmas dinner on Friday – my day to host the family for the holiday – I turned on the radio for a little Christmas cheer. I’m not sure what song was playing at the time but it certainly wasn’t “Jingle Bells” or even “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas.” A few hours after Christmas Day had ended, the station was back to playing regular tunes.
So I shut it off and put in a Frank Sinatra/Bing Crosby Christmas CD instead.
I think that what bothered me most is the way we’ve started to rush through Christmastime, forgetting that it’s a season and not just a 24-hour event.
We’re also forgetting that Christmas, in the traditional sense, starts on Dec. 25 and – remember the song? – lasts 12 days. Roman Catholics celebrate Three Kings Day on Jan. 6, the Epiphany, as the final day of Christmas.
Catholics begin preparing for Christmas at the start of Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, usually around the end of November.
But somewhere along the line, retailers, I suppose, began starting the Christmas shopping season a little earlier and everyone else fell into step. It used to be ridiculous to put up a Christmas tree or to string outdoor lights before December. Now, if you don’t have your lights up right after Thanksgiving, you’re made to feel that you are behind schedule.
Before I was born, my mother told me, she and my father put up the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve after the children were in bed so that my two sisters would wake up to the magical sight of a light and colorful evergreen with presents on Christmas morning. What a wonderful surprise that must have been. I think it became too time-consuming with a growing family and unending list of toys and bikes to assemble, so they stopped doing that. By today’s standards, waiting until Dec. 24 to trim a tree would be a big “Why bother?”
Goodwill to all
I sort of resent this whole move toward starting Christmas early and ending it abruptly at midnight on Dec. 25.
I still want to hear Christmas carols on the radio. I still want to sit in my living room with only the tree lights on and reflect on the beauty of the season. I still want to have people visit for the holidays and wish them a Merry Christmas. I don’t want to let go of Christmas.
And why should we?
With unrest in the world, a weak economy and people stealing the Baby Jesus figures from Nativity scenes and breaking into buildings to rob the Salvation Army kettles, we need Christmas more than ever.
And not just Christians, but people of all faiths benefit when the goodwill of any religious holiday is carried out in practice and when spirituality and humanity dictate what people do.
One of the radio stations began playing non-stop Christmas songs the first week of November, although I didn’t start tuning in until after Thanksgiving. I just wasn’t ready to hear tunes about holly and roasting chestnuts until the turkey leftovers had all been eaten.
And even though the department stores are starting to display valentine candy and decorations and flowery springtime blouses and dresses, I’m still thinking red and green and singing along with Bing and Frank.
If you listen to the famous “Twelve Days of Christmas” song, we’re only up to the four colly birds today. We’ve still got a ways to go before those drummers are drumming.
So Merry Christmas to you – still.