From fiction to spectacle: Is there a true meaning of Christmas?

This week I was very excited to celebrate Christmas. In fact, I had a great season decorating our Christmas tree, giving and receiving some wonderful gifts, visiting my partner's family and stuffing ourselves with good food. We even tried a thing with baking a Jamaican Christmas cake from scratch, my first time doing so! It turned out lovely!

The only thing missing was church. Yes, I said it: Church. I have to admit that I'm one of those persons who have lost sight of the true meaning of this luminous holiday season embellished with decorated pine trees and pepper-lights. I used to go to church and give thanks for the birth of Christ, but this year I found myself intellectualizing my faith too much to adhere to traditions. Instead, I give thanks on my own. I can't remember a time when I've felt truly invested in the worship rituals of my "religion". Not only has the religion been utilized as a weapon of deceit and judgment; but it has also been the foundation of many a prejudices in our society.

However, in addition to giving thanks to the supreme being on my own, I do partake in the beauty of this "religious holiday", often relishing in my days off from school and work, using it as an excuse to indulge in rich foods, visiting family, decorating the home (my favorite!), attend parties and gatherings, take advantage of sales, and give salutations such as "Happy Holidays' to end conversations with strangers who would've otherwise remained strangers. We tell each other "happy holidays", only to be politically correct when the truth is, "Merry Christmas" is simply too overrated.

In a place like New York City where strangers ride the subway, bumping into each other while managing to maintain their own capsules of a private life, no one really cares whether their neighbor (who they hardly see)is having a "happy holiday" or not. Just like how no one cares to hear the answer to the famous rhetorical question, "How are you doing?".

Unlike the suburbs where everyone knows each other, in New York City, no one knows what's going on inside their neighbor's home, whether or not they had just gotten a divorce, have no custody of their children; whether or not they're religious; or whether or not they have a place to go. "Happy Holidays" remains a band-aid or rather a temporary blindfold to real problems just for those few days of hearing Frank Sinatra singing "Have yourself a Merry little Christmas" on repeat.

Moreover, for such a religious oriented season turned marketing propaganda, this is such a cruel way to distinguish the "haves" from the "have nots". I guess this is would be a perfect opportunity to extend a "helping hand" to those in need like Jesus would've done, right? However, what's the use of only extending that "helping hand" only for the Christmas holidays and not every day of the year, whether or not it gets written off our taxes?

This is why I say that although Christmas is supposedly a "Holy" day, it really has become a spectacle.

© Nicole

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