by Rev. Stephen D. Edington
December 16, 2003

When he was a young man the Irish philosopher, essayist and playwright, George Bernard Shaw, created the Society for the Abolition of Christmas, and declared himself its President. Near the end of his 90 year life Dr. Shaw reported that the Society was still in existence, that he was still its President, and that no new members had ever been added to it. Shaw was an avowed atheist and his Society was a personal protest against a Holiday for which he maintained there is scant historical evidence.

Some three hundred years before Shaw's day, another man of the British Isles also tried to end the celebration of Christmas, but for very different reasons. In 1649 Oliver Cromwell gained the power of the British throne, abolished the monarchy, and established a Puritan theocracy that lasted for 11 years until the monarchy was restored in 1660. Early on in his reign Cromwell abolished the celebration of Christmas in England. His ruling even carried over to the British colony of Massachusetts where similar bans on Christmas celebrations were put into effect, and fines were levied against those who could not contain their festive ways in the month of December.

Cromwell's, and his fellow Puritan's, rationale for their ban was that the date for Christmas was actually that of the pagan celebration of the Solstice and the feast of the Roman god Mithra. In their efforts to "purify" Christianity they wanted to strip away all of the non-Biblical trappings-as they saw it-which had come to surround the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the first and foremost being the late December date itself, along with such pagan practices as the displaying of greenery and feasts and revelry around lighted fires.

Ironically, both the rigidly atheistic Shaw and the rigidly Puritanical Cromwell were each in their own ways right. They were right, that is, on a narrowly literalistic level while they each, again in their own ways, missed the larger point. Shaw was right in that there is scant historical/factual evidence for the accounts of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament; and Cromwell was right about the pagan "trappings" (as he characterized them) of this Season.

The larger point that both of these otherwise highly intelligent gentlemen missed, however, is that this is a Universal Season, whose celebrations both contain and transcend the dictates of any one faith or religious practice, and that go well beyond historical fact-or lack thereof.

The celebrations of this season actually go back to the some of the earliest Earth-centered religions known in our northern hemisphere. When the daylight hours came to be their shortest-at the time of the winter solstice-these ancient folk (not that they knew they were "ancient"!) lit bonfires and gathered around boughs cut from evergreen trees. The green was for them a symbol of ongoing life in the midst of a seemingly dead Earth, and the fires were lit both to dispel the dark and to provide warmth as well as the assurance of the lengthening of days again.

The evergreen trees we decorate, the candles we light, the Advent wreaths that are hung, and the lights we string up on our homes and lawns all have their origins in these earliest of pagan winter celebrations and observances. Whatever our particular faith today may be, we would do well today to be mindful of and celebrate our ties to the Earth which ultimately sustains us all-even as did our earliest ancestors in this hemisphere at this time of year.

The theme of light shining forth to dispel the darkness, then, is found in many of the religious celebrations held at or near this time of year:

The eight day observance of the Jewish Hanukkah calls for the lighting of one candle on each of its days. They are lit to remember the liberation, restoration, and rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem; and to remember to miracle of the small portion of oil that burned for those eight days. The universal message behind this celebration for all persons of faith is that of the importance of religious freedom, and of the need for and value of sacred and holy places in our lives.

The Hindu celebration or festival of Divali takes place in the fall just before the new moon when the sky is at its darkest. Houses are painted with fresh whitewash and completely cleaned on the day of the festival. Rituals are performed to banish Alaksmi, the goddess of bad fortune. People light candles or small oil lamps in every room of their home in order to scare her away; and after dark the cities are lit up with fireworks and bonfires. The universal message here is that of the triumph of good both in our lives and in our world, and of our calling to be agents of light and goodness.

The Christian celebration of Christmas is also characterized by candles lit to dispel darkness, and to herald the birth of One who came to be called the "Light of the World." With his message of love, justice, peace, and healing for all people Jesus call on those who heard him to be "lights" as well in bringing these attributes into the world. He tried to bring enlightenment to his listeners, urging them to choose lives of love and peace. Here, too, is a universal calling for all persons of faith, whatever their particular faith may be.

So by "persons of faith" I mean persons who continue to have faith in the power of the human spirit-by whatever Greater Source they believe that spirit to be nurtured, and however they may name that Source. A person of faith is one who believes that life is worth the journey, and who lives in the hope that our efforts to make of this world a more blessed, holy, and humane place are worth the taking. The many and varied celebrations of this season are meant to nurture and sustain this hope.

May greater light, then, come into our lives and our world; and may the blessings of this Holy Season-in its many and varied observances-find a special place in our hearts as we all strive to be persons of faith.

Rev. Stephen D. Edington is the Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua, and a member of the Nashua Area Interfaith Council.

Updated 07/21/2006 11:41 PM