The Christmas Spirit

Right now, I’m listening to a song entitled, “The Atheist Christmas Carol.”  The description below the song is a disclaimer: “The message applies to everyone, regardless of religion.”  It’s a beautiful song, with love being the primary message.  It’s the season of grace coming out of the void, where man is saved by a voice in the distance…where hope is currency and age is welcomed home.

This got me to thinking—what does Christmas mean without Christ?  Many of my fellow Christians would immediately answer, nothing.  And that’s true, in a way.  But Christmas is more than religion now.  It’s been in our culture for hundreds and hundreds of years, and it’s evolved with that culture.  The entire world changes every year in preparation for Christmas.  We call it the Christmas spirit, that inexplicable feeling of well-being that seems to come over everyone (in some more strongly than others). 

Even without Christ now, Christmas is a force of good in the world.  People make journeys back to where they came from, reaching out to their families, speaking to people who they haven’t seen in months.  We remember how much we care about people, and what our lives really mean to us.  In this season, it’s easier to accept ourselves as we are, even if it’s only for a while.  And I think that's a wonderful thing.

Why does this happen?  Is it Christ moving in the world, or just a necessary once-a-year escape from the hardships of the world?  Both?  Neither?  I’m not going to try to answer that question.  It’s not important why it happens, but that it does.  So from that warm spirit inside me, whether it’s divine or purely human, I say, Merry Christmas to all.  Don’t forget I love you.