Have fun - but seriously.

Festive house lights are fun. No matter how extravagant or tasteless, they are pure fun.  And Christmas is supposed to be just that – a festival.

Christianity cleverly commandeered the ancient festivals  of light and new birth and  gave them a deeper, more serious meaning. Over centuries the celebrations turned inwards, so that we started concentrating on family aspects, and forgot about fun. Nowadays, for many, Christmas is neither solemn religious feast, nor an outburst of community joy, but a series of family obligations centred around providing the right presents and the right food for the right set of relatives.

It seems to me that the modern Christmas is neither one thing nor the others. It’s neither a terrific secular festival, like Bonfire Night.  Nor is it simply a good family gathering, like Thanksgiving.  Nor is it a proper religious observance, like  – well, we don’t have any of those in England any more…. The mixture of all three confuses and depresses us.

So I say,  keep the three aspects of Christmas separate, and don’t try and mix them, or they’ll spoil each other.  Have a rip-roaring festal time with lights and drinks and crackers and jangly earrings and silly hats and sillier jumpers. Have a proper, dutiful family event with a massive soporific meal and the auntie who can’t remember who anyone is, but likes a sing-song. Observe a religious festival, if God still matters to you. But don’t for a moment mix them up, and, for God’s sake, have some fun!

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