Newsletter 15 December 2009
The Sacred in the Secular
continued
The Rev. Peter J. Miano
The point is that in adopting the practices of the pagan world into which it was intruding and spreading the message of the good news of Christ--a phrase itself borrowed from secular parlance--the early Church was not accommodating itself to the secular world, but incorporating secular practices into the ritual of the Church for the purpose of sanctifying a broader and wider population. It was not selling out; it was reaching out. The practice of including the customs of new groups of pagan converts into the Church was an ingenious mechanism that enabled the Church to convert a broader constituency. It was inclusiveness at its best and it ensured that the worship of God in Jesus Christ would transform itself from a parochial, regional cult into the universal religion it is today.
Secular in origin, much of our modern celebration of Christmas has been sanctified. The secular has been made a vehicle for the sacred today as it has throughout the history of Christmas celebrations. The sad thing is not that in our world the secular is impinging upon the sacred, but that churches have lost the initiative in sanctifying secular observances. We have failed to manifest the sacred in the secular. To do so is only in the best tradition of the Church, which has always sanctified the outward form of ritual in order to bring about the inward transformation of the soul and instill the inner consolation of Christ's presence in human life.
The sacred is in the secular now as much as it always has been. God is in the world today as much as yesterday. Then, Jesus was found at the marketplace, at the well, at an event so frivolous and festive as a wedding feast. Now, we still find him in the most unexpected places and the good news is that you can find Him wherever you are, whenever you seek Him. Then, as now, the sacred is in the secular. The Messiah is in the manger. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Spirituality is the art of becoming aware of the presence of God all around us, even in frivolity, even in the mundane, even in sentimentality, even in secular tradtions derived from pagan customs.
But then, what do we make of those legions of cynics who annually decry the seasonal feelings of hospitality, the gestures of goodwill, and the expressions of love and peace as transient aberrations in the characters of people who are not always loving and peaceful the other eleven months of the year? Is Christmas a fake, just because joy and love is accentuated at this time of year? Personally, I refuse to let my celebration of Christmas, with its blend of sacred and secular, sentimental and sanctified be dampened in any way simply because the feelings of goodwill are not often sustained throughout the year. Imagine what the world would look like without Christmas!
Sure, the warmth and glow that we can experience during Advent and Christmastide wear off. It is all too short-lived and often shallow. And sometimes we do get disgusted by the crass commercialism and the frenzied pace of Christmas preparations. But whose fault is it if we let ourselves be drawn into the excesses of commercialism anyway? Whose fault is it if for us the meaning of Christmas comes wrapped in a box under the tree? Don't blame the department stores. That's a do-it-yourself job. If I get all wrapped up in buying things and doing things that cost money, then I suppose you could say I've done a pretty good job of commercializing Christmas. But if in the various customs and traditions I observe, I am able to bring alive the birth of Christ to myself and bring myself closer to Christ's Spirit, then I have found the sacred in the secular. If in remembering and passing on the stories of exotic visitors to the manger and a wonderful visitor on Christmas Eve, if in my christmas trimmings and trappings I have reminded myself and others of the power of wonder, the imperative of imagination, the importance of serendipity and the deep meaning of mystery, then maybe I have done a fair job of evangelisim after all. Wonder and mystery are fundamental necessities to human life and a healthy soul. Imagine a human life uninterupted and undistrubed by the mysterium, tremendum et fascinans of God.
And don't all our preparations and activities at this time of the year contribute to a welcome and necessary infusion of excitement and enthusiasm, an appropriate air of anticipation in a calendar year that would otherwise be monotonous and mundane? If nothing else, Christmas is the celebration of spontaneous new life, a needed ripple of joy in an otherwise dull and placid social surface. If Christmas is not all that we hope it would be, if the spirit does not last as long as think it should, so what? This is no reason to be discouraged or cynical or to dampen our celebrations. Just imagine a world without any such celebration.
Imagine the depth of the cold, dark winter without the up lifting expressions of peace and love in our cards and carols. Imagine a world of sorrow and loss without the surge of generous giving and the gestures of compassion and goodwill we see at this season. Is that the kind of world we want? One Advent season, I visited with a young mother whose husband had died a few months earlier leaving her with two young children. In my supreme naivete, I asked her how things were this year. She said, "Sure we feel unbearably sad, but I can't imagine what it would be like and how much harder it would be without Christmas." I learned a lot that day.
Even if it is short-lived, even if the tinsel and the glitter distract us and the pace of preparations wears us out, at least for these few short weeks we have taken time to introduce novelty into the monotony of our daily lives. At least we have helped to keep alive and nurture our deepest and highest values of community, generosity, love and peace. At least we have summoned the gumption to recommit ourselves to hope. Imagine if we did not dream again of a world marked by peace, hope, love and justice. Imagine if we did not rekindle mystery and wonder in our hearts.
I, for one, am undeterred in my Advent preparation by the crass commercialism around me. My Christmas celebration is no less sacred, even though it does include customs that are secular in origin. Neither am I discouraged by the brevity of the Christmas spirit, which is certainly genuine while it lasts. Rather, I am thankful that through all our activities at this time of year, we rekindle our deepest convictions and highest hopes and get a glimpse of what a better world would look like. I am thankful that the sacred is in the secular, that the Word became flesh. The Good News to celebrate at this holy season is that God is with us and there is nothing we can do to change that--NOTHING! If only we could all behold God's glory in all the things that we do.
So, the only thing left for us to do this Advent, Christmas season, is to go out there and deck those halls, trim those trees, and jingle those bells. Keep the soul in solstice, as I like to say. My prayer for you is that this is a sacred, secular celebration that is wonderful--full of wonder! Have yourself a secular merry Christmas and a blessed sacred one as well. Christ is found in both.
