What a strange holiday.
It is nominally a birthday, but for a birth no one can possibly date. (Christians picked 25 December to coopt a pagan feast).
How easy it is to forget that it celebrates the birth of a god in mortal guise. The kernel of the holiday is touching - baby, manger, kings and wisemen - but how outshone that is by commerce. It's hard even for a non-believer to keep from gagging.
The original pagan holiday has never been defeated. All the symbols that spill past the religious meaning of the day are signs of the solstice celebration it originally was. The brightly lighted tree was once a forest burned to rekindle the dying sun.
Under it all there is this persistent strain of peace on earth, good will to all. It would be nice to untangle that from the rest.
My wish to all of you, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Charlesian, Rutheran, Atheist, etc. is peace in your hearts and joy, not of the Christmas season (that should be kept for Christians) but for the newly rekindled sun in the north and the beginning of summer in the south. Rest easy knowing we are all the same under the skin.
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More by charles thiesen - gather's only god, proud to be from gay-supporting Massachusetts |
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Comments: 50
Blessed be.
Peace out man.
It's kind of cool to have a syncretic holiday that some people think is specific only to their beliefs. All sorts of possibilities for secret clubs.
Not so much modest as honest. Charlesianism has a very simple one-point program. You worship me you don't go to hell. No room for Christmas or UPH in that. (If you're a lazy god, simple is good.)
BTW, I haven't had to actually look up a word in years, but syncretic got me. And it's such a handy word for a god to know. Thanks.
One summer we invited a temporary housemate to join us without having met her first. She showed up one afternoon as we were lazing about the porch and we fell into small talk about the house. She asked if there was any organizing principle to our household - did we make wooden toys or all support some ism or other.
There is no such thing, but that didn't keep me, ever the wiseguy, from saying, "No except that we do all worship Ahura Mazda."
She was the most surprised looking person I've ever seen. Turns out her family, immigrants from India, are Parsis. That is to say, they worship Ahura Mazda. I confessed quickly through my embarrassed tears of laughter.
I'd never even dreamed of saying that before that moment. What were the odds I would say it to her?
Anikó! Apparently you know mw well.
Oh no! You've added a flat mark to your name. Isn't the accent enough?
"People are not the same and others object to accepting that message (not the message posted by Charles but by Bongo's message about people)" Anyway, that's my take. Besides, he also wrote "This is nice."
I did drink a beer last night, if that counts.
- shane