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God and
Father Christmas
What does
Christmas mean to you? Has Christianity for
most of us been shrugged off as a childish
concern, like Santa Claus?
Neil
Richardson dishes up some seasonal
thoughts.
“Do you
believe in Father Christmas?”
I remember
the question being asked me in my childhood,
and, of course, it is a question put only to
those with the maturity to cope with the
inevitable answer!
Father
Christmas to me as a small child was a
strange old man who brought gifts down the
chimney and left them for me to enjoy on
Christmas morning. He was mysterious, of
course, even unreal, but so is so much else
in the life of a child. It is hard to divide
what is imaginary and what is for real when
you are four or five years old.
Adults play
the Father Christmas game because they find
it such good fun. It recreates the magic of
their own childhood and gives them a
satisfaction as parents that is difficult to
describe or equal – that of giving your
child something unusually good as a totally
unexpected gift, whether they deserve it or
not!
Fantasy and reality
The dividing
line between fantasy and reality is always
at its best when undefined or perhaps
unseen. Indulging in fantasy is one of the
best and I believe, universal activities of
the human mind, and Christmas is a chance to
revisit one’s childhood and recapture some
of the warm glow that Christmas was and
still can create.
The
preparations of many parents is akin to a
domestic theatrical drama with carrots left
by the fireside for Rudolph and whisky left
for Santa, and stockings hanging waiting to
be filled. No matter that the chimney has
been blocked up for years and the house now
centrally heated, we go with the story and
no questions need to be asked.
As a young
parent, I felt the need to be different. My
wife and I decided that we would not play
the Father Christmas game, but tell our sons
that the gifts were from their parents, not
a mythical figure in a red coat.
The
disbelief and discord that this decision
created in our family and friends is hard to
describe. People found it very hard to
understand, and, of course, they were
concerned that our children’s
“knowledge” would spoil the game for
their children, who were still under the
delusion.
As time went
by, we discovered that the Father Christmas
story had a life and power all of its own
and was stronger than parental influences.
We had two sons and, when the younger one
was old enough to understand, I happened to
overhear his older brother telling him how
the Christmas presents get under the tree,
and, yes, it was the Father Christmas story
in all its gory detail.
I have been
struck by some of the parallels between
believing in Father Christmas and believing
in God. Both can be jolly good yarns, and
both can have tangible fruits to show for
themselves. Both have a start in childhood
with parental influences and both have a
complex narrative with regional variations.
And both have been thrown away in adult life
by most people, although some still indulge
themselves on the inner warmth that can be
created, even if one doesn’t really believe
in it any more.
So, has
Christianity been shrugged off as a
childhood issue, not appropriate for adult
life? As we all know, the negative impact of
Christianity is not some quaint and amusing
aspect of childhood, but one that for some
people, myself included, represents
ever-present pain or anxiety because someone
misused it and inflicted a version of it on
individuals at a tender age.
Supernatural Santa
As we grow
up and discover that Father Christmas
doesn’t exist, we face the reality of having
to fend for ourselves, not rely on magically
appearing gifts. So many of my
co-religionists appear to regard God as some
kind of supernatural Father Christmas. Their
prayers are often very much like a shopping
list of requirements, demands even, and
offered in the spirit that God ought to
exert himself to produce the goods. It is
almost as if they were writing letters to
the great Santa in heaven with requests for
specific presents.
This kind of
religion belongs to the past and I have no
time for it. Adult people of faith don’t go
running to God cap in hand when they need
something. They accept responsibility, take
action and change the situation to produce
the good results. Prayers are an alignment
of our inner workings with the greater
purposes of life, which Christians identify
as emanating from the greater work of the
Creator, including the search for justice
and peace, health and wellbeing, knowledge
and education, human care and love.
Christians
see these qualities as revealed through the
nature of God and good for all times and
places and people. But we also see that the
responsibility for making it happen is quite
squarely placed on humanity. Divine
intervention is not on the cards because
that is not how it works. The inspiration
may be godly, but the perspiration must be
human.
Great and
wonderful though Christmas is, can you
imagine doing it more than once a year?
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Andy Park,
a.k.a. Mr Christmas |
Some people
can and do. I was fascinated to read that
there are people who enjoy Christmas so much
that they celebrate it every day. Yes, every
day. Have you heard of Andy Park, also known
as Mr Christmas (pictured)? He has
celebrated Christmas every day for 15 years!
According to newspaper reports, he has
munched his way through 117,600 sprouts,
quaffed 5,110 bottles of Moët et Chandon
champagne, and sent himself more than
235,000 Christmas cards since his festive
fetish began.
Mr Park, who
is sadly now divorced (I wonder why!) said,
“I’ve been through 37 electric ovens and
worn out 23 video recorders by watching the
Queen’s Speech every day. I’ve also sent
myself 235,206 Christmas cards. But these
days the postage is so dear I’m having to
deliver them myself.”
When he last
took stock of his intake in October, 2008,
Mr Park calculated that he had consumed
5,110 turkeys, 94,080 mince pies and 28,224
roast potatoes, and had opened 204,400
Christmas crackers. He added, “The lunch
with all the trimmings and alcohol is
costing in excess of £150 a week, but I’m
fighting hard not to let the financial
crisis ruin the celebrations.”
The obvious
question is – why? Explaining the
moment his life changed, Mr Park said, “I’ll
never forget the day it started. The sun was
shining, but I was just feeling fed up and
bored, so I went home and put the
decorations up. Suddenly I was happy. I
thought, This is fun. So I did it again the
next day, and the day after that.
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’Tis the season to overindulge |
“Since then
my routine every day has been to get up and
have seven or eight mince pies and glass of
sherry for breakfast. After that I open the
presents I’ve wrapped for myself. Later,
after I’ve gone out to work, I’ll maybe
watch a Christmas film like The Great
Escape.” (Eh?)
While
admiring Mr Park’s tenacity and
perseverance, I did wonder whether he was
missing the point?
Why do we do
Christmas? From a Christian perspective,
Christmas is not primarily a midwinter
festival in place to give light relief as
the harshest winter weather bites into our
skin. It is not primarily an antidote to
being fed up or depressed. It is not
primarily a heaven-sent opportunity to
kick-start the ailing economy. It is not
primarily a time for children, or for family
reunions. It is not primarily a time for
treats or overindulgence.
Human condition
From a
Christian perspective we celebrate Christmas
because we see in it something deeply in
sympathy with our human condition,
representing the only way possible to raise
us up and bring us out of the downward
spiral so that we can aspire to the things
of heaven and find the very best in human
nature.
Christmas
reminds us again and again about new birth,
new hope and the power of love. Christmas is
the Church’s celebration of the birth of
Jesus – the Christ Mass – in which we
celebrate the mystery of God’s presence in
human form, the incarnation of the
transcendent God in a fragile human body.
Because it
is seen through that most human of
activities – human love and the birth of a
child – our Christmas celebration can also
be a time for children and families; it can
also lift our depression; it can also bring
light in the winter darkness; it can also be
a time for treats and even to support the
economy.
Whatever
your state of faith or otherwise, I hope
that something of the sheer optimism of
Christmas reaches you and yours this year.
Neil
Richardson has been the rector of the
Parish of Greenford Magna
in Middlesex since 1982.
He is also a Prebendary of
St Paul's Cathedral and an Honorary Alderman
of the London Borough of Ealing. He
has been a member of the
Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement
(LGCM) since the 1970s.
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