I was reflecting with my house church the other day about why there seems to be a collective longing at Christmas for peace and love and joy. What is it that songs like Silent Night, with its tune and words, are drawing out in us, in Christians and many non-Christians? And aren’t scenes such as those painted in Silent Night unrealistic? Wasn’t it, indeed, noisy and messy and harried. Aren’t our manger scenes with the shepherds and wise men all arriving at once un realistic? Aren’t they unrealistic with their sheer whiteness, as in my blog Christmas card above, with the pagan Yule tree in the background?
Yesterday, I made my traditional pilgrimage to the Mexican market in San Antonio and saw a dozen or more varieties of manger scenes, many in gaudy and riotious colors, with Mary and Joseph and Jesus and the shepherds and wise men taking on the flavor of the culture the manger scene came from. The Peruvian nativity is my favorite.

It was encouraging to be a little more patient with the Europeanized version of the manger scene and Christmas celebrations. Sure, sure because of horrible things like colonialism and cultural imperialism sometimes this version gets first billing, but this does not mean that those of us who have grown up with it have to forever beat ourselves up about its particular inaccuracies.
The historial record is not unimportant. It is not unimportant that we pay attention to our own culture’s syncretisms vis a vis Christmas and hold to our traditions somewhat loosely, perhaps even challenge our cultural emphases occassionally, as we need to throughout the year. Take for example our culture’s rampant materialism which kicks into overdrive this time a year.
Yet, in it all, in our gift giving, in our unrealistic creches and carols, in our imperfect attempts at goodwill, a longing is expressed, a longing for the peace of Eden, for its harmony to return. And we Christians know that, indeed what Christmas symbolizes is the beginning of the return of that peace, that Christ’s birth and life and death and resurrection is all about bringing that peace to individuals and communities who believe in him, even amidst a world which is still woefully unpeaceful. It is about more than that, though. Christmas is about Christ breaking dramatically into history to eventually bring peace and healing to all of creation.
Finally, a picture of a Christmas card from Pakistan arranged with a cross to illustrate the last verse of Silent Night:

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
In these thoughts, I pray that you may have a very happy Christmas.