Well, today's a non-fiction day, so let's see what the wheel of genres has cracking for me today.
Wheel of Genres, turn, turn, turn! Tell me the genre I will discern!
Today's topic is... Reflection! Now, that's interesting.
For the past half a week, I've had many things go through my head, but they were all very religious. This doesn't mean that I'm not going to write about them, I'm just not going to write about them here in Flash Stories & Poetry. I do intend on getting more religious with some of my posts on my blog, but not through this channel. However, having said that, there is a religious/secular reflection I can do today, something that I've thought about a bit since December started: The True Meaning of Christmas.
Thirty minutes on the clock: 30:00. And... go!
This is something we hear about every year at this time: the true meaning of Christmas. We are often told that Christ is the reason for the season, but what does that really mean? Is it just coincidence, careful Church planning to cover up an old pagan holiday, or does it go much deeper than that?
Once upon a time, two Baptists came to my house, advocating the opening of their new church which is funny because they said their message wasn't about churches, but a relationship with Christ. When my sister let the cat out of the bag that we were Catholic, the one, old guy who had been silent up until that point asked her if she understood the meaning of John 3:16. For those who don't know, John 3:16 is "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life."
Now, this question confused the dickens out of me and still does. At the time, I hadn't committed John 3:16 to memory, but I was definitely familiar with the passage. But what this question has to do with us being Catholic versus what those two old, Baptist farts were getting at, I have no idea. One of the things Catholics are often criticized for is not knowing their religion, but even if my sister and I didn't understand our faith, I don't understand how John 3:16 would have offered us any guidance.
But is John 3:16 relevant to the true meaning of Christmas? Well, perhaps; God gave us his Son so that we could all be saved, that is to say, live forever rather than die forever. Does this mean then that the true meaning of Christmas is a giving of one's self to the totality of another out of love? Perhaps, although I would argue that that would be the meaning of Easter, but Easter really is more of the celebration of God's consummate victory over evil and the opening of Heaven for us. (But is that so different from Christmas? Perhaps they both carry the same meaning.) So, perhaps the true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of such a deep and divine love that it translates into everyone's personal salvation, meaning that we are to give of ourselves so deeply that we would also send ourselves through Hell for the rest of world?
Maybe. One of the problems here is the temptation to overthink and overcomplicate the issue. Perhaps it is more of a reminder that we shouldn't get caught up in the commercialism side of the holiday, and remember that the tradition of giving and receiving gifts isn't what it's all about, but rather the gifting of ourselves to each other. The gifts are only there to be symbols of our love for one another. I tell you, as one who doesn't have a lot of money this year and is worried about having enough money for gifts for those on my list, this sort of reflection does bring me some solace in that it reminds me not to focus on how much I spend for those I care about, but rather the thought I put into what I get them.
Hmm, unfortunately, I'm not sure what else I can say about this as I worry that if I analyze it any further, I'm going to either be beating a dead horse or end up losing the plot. So, rather than do that, perhaps it is enough that my mind knows what the true meaning of Christmas is, and for now I must let my heart and spirit process and internalize it so that I may carry the spirit of the season all throughout the year.
***
Okay, that only took about twenty minutes. I apologize for writing so short a piece, but I got reflection and this is one of those things that was on my mind. To some extent, I'm worried that this is so "Duh!" worthy, not many people will get any use out of it. I don't want to write about things that people already know about, but perhaps some people need the reminder.
Keep writing, my friends.
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