Christmas traditions, new ones and old

Despite commercialization and secular add-ons, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ has been the most constant feature of Christmas in its 2,000-or-so-year history.

The journey to Bethlehem, the virgin birth, the appearance of angels and wise men, the message that a Saviour is born: those will always be the heart of Christmas.

But if someone were to ask, “What’s the next-most constant theme of the Christmas season,” a wise person might answer: “Flexibility.”

From the very first identified Christmas celebration in fourth-century Rome through well over a millennium of blending in pagan and secular traditions, Christmas has taken the flavor of the times.

Music fan? Handel’s stirring, highly religious Messiah is there for you. So are the classic Christmas carols. There are Christmas jazz standards, pop songs, kids’ songs, country songs ... a never-ending flood.

Secular traditions that work their way into the Christmas season are also flexible. They wax and wane. Some wane almost to extinction.

Roast goose, made most famous by Dickens and Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, once was the ultimate Christmas meal. That tradition is cooked, as are, for the most part, Christmas pudding laden with suet and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Two other centuries-old traditions – kissing under the mistletoe and caroling door to door – struggle to survive.

In the 1960s Christmas cards were all the rage. People mailed out dozens, even hundreds. They were delivered by the postman and strung up or spread out in homes across ever-expanding suburban neighbourhoods.

Now Canada Post is dying. E-cards are delivered with a keystroke and elaborate CGI Christmas messages spin across computer and cell phone screens.

Spectator sports are a relatively recent tradition. In Canada the World Junior Hockey Tournament is a national captivation from preChristmas to New Year’s. This Dec. 25 basketball fans can open their presents then watch NBA games from noon to midnight.

Movies? The classic 1940s triple header of Miracle on 34th St., It’s a Wonderful Life and Holiday Inn have maintained their status as favorites in the face of more irreverent competitors like Home Alone, Christmas Vacation and Elf.

Christmas trees? Still very much in, if sometimes artificial and turned on their tips. Eggnog? On the outs unless elaborately flavored.

A fairly recent and welcome sign of flexibility is the willingness of Christians and their churches to recognize other religious celebrations in December: Hanukah, Diwali and Rabi al-Awwal.

The many elements wrapped into our modern, flexible Christmas season can detract from the story of the Christ child’s birth and what it could mean.

But not if we stop occasionally among the noise and celebration to contemplate that message.

Peace on Earth, good will toward all.