It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Tradition

The Monday after Thanksgiving has been special to me for the past three years. After being away from school for nearly a week of celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends, I step onto the Patrick Henry College campus on Monday morning to see our main student building decorated with lights, wreaths, trees, and even full-size nutcrackers. As a member of our chorale, I have already been singing Christmas music for months, but when I step into that grand foyer and see the beauty of the decoration, I am enraptured by the fact that it is Christmastime again.

Christmas has always been an important part of the Western tradition. It is one of the main events in the church calendar for both Protestants and Catholics. Here in the United States, it seems like there is a competition between the houses on every street to see who can construct the most impressive light show. In the United Kingdom, Christmas is no less significant. I am personally looking forward to seeing the Doctor Who Christmas Special when it airs in just a few weeks.

It is no secret that Christmas is primarily a Christian holiday. While it is true that the date of the celebration and many of the traditions practiced were derived from pagan festivals, the festival of Christmas has for centuries been a product of the Church. It has been a time of celebration, feasting, and prayer as people celebrated the mystery of the incarnation.

Today we see a culture where the Christian dogma and practice is much less prominent than in years past. Yet Christmas is still celebrated; it simply takes different forms. Sometimes, the focus of Christmas is on the family. Sometimes, it is on the celebration of the winter season. In America especially, the focus is on gift-giving and receiving. Regardless of where the emphasis is placed, Christmas is still a vital part of the Western world, even if it is no longer based on its original foundation.

Christmas is one of the few truly cultural traditions still maintained throughout the whole of the Western world; it is awaited, anticipated, and accepted worldwide. Regardless of their background, anyone can come to a table on December 25th and find himself experiencing the same joy as everyone else. The festival is truly universal.

Christmas, more than any other holiday, illustrates the human necessity for traditions. Traditions give us stability in an ever-fluctuating world. No matter how far we stray from Christian beliefs, people will still celebrate this truly wonderful holiday. And no matter what our religious persuasions, we recognize that Christmas is a time to celebrate the joy of the season, and that the anticipation of the holiday in and of itself reflects, if only imperfectly, the anticipation of the incarnation on which it is based.