There is perhaps nothing I like less over Christmas than hearing “Happy Christmas” by John Lennon. I dislike this because it is about a world where war is inconceivable because love is inconceivable. This having been said, it is not as if Lennon is speaking outside longstanding Christian tradition. From the angels’ declaration, through Milton’s […]

As an Anglo-Saxonist, I am keenly aware of the way that the transfer of gifts reflects the norms that underlie a society. And so I got thinking about what the way we do gift-giving might tell us about ourselves. In particular, gift-giving is oriented toward the receiver rather than both parties. In a book I […]

There is a part of us that avoids exile; there is another part of us that is attracted to it. We are attracted to it because it has a way of shattering our illusions. As Jesus puts it in yesterday’s Advent reading, people did not go out to the wilderness to hear John the Baptist […]

Today is Gaudete Sunday, the day set aside for emphasizing the more joyful aspects of apocalypse and Christ’s return. The name comes from the Latin opening of one of the readings for the day, “Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again, rejoice.” It is the reason we light a pink candle today […]

For me, there are two classic films that epitomize the Christmas season: It’s a Wonderful Life, and the Alistair Sim version of Dickens’ Christmas Carol. You should go out and watch them both. But for the moment, I would like to compare them and suggest that the Christmas Carol is more Christian than Wonderful Life. […]

One of the most popular of Christmas traditions is critiquing its commercialism. Yet I worry that many of us in our hipster self-righteousness throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. I read an article suggesting that the problem with advertising is not the human desires it appeals to, but the distortions […]

The Christmas and Advent art I find myself most attracted to is the bittersweet kind. In terms of hymns, the more obvious of these include songs such as “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” and “O come, O come, Emmanuel.” But for this post I would like to talk about a secular song, “Christmas Day,” […]

One of the things that inevitably happens during this season is exhaustion from frantic over-scheduling and errands, and while it would be convenient to blame this wholly on secular society, I fear that many Christian churches, with all their Christmas programs etc., may also lurk behind this desert-like paucity of contemplative space. I have been […]

Yes, it is the feast day of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, who gave rise to the legend of Santa Claus; indeed, there are still remnants of him in the modern representation of Santa Claus – Santa wears red because that is the color that Nicholas, being a Bishop, would have worn. What you may […]