Seeking True Spirit of Christinas
You Find It
At Home, Not
In Far Treks
By DR. LISTON POPE
Dean of The Divinity School,
Yale University
The significance of Christmas?
You could look for it in Bethle
hem, but you would not find it
there. Last Easter I stood in the
Church of the Nativity on the tra
ditional site of His birth and
nought the inner meaning of that
great event. But the gilded man
ager and flickering lights and
greedy guides destroyed all the
magic.
It was better outside on the Ju
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dean hills. They at least are much
the same as then. Shepherds still
tend their flocks and the stars
come very close at night In the
darkness aDd quiet one can almost
bclievt in ‘..he angel an! the hea
venly chorus and the Wise Men
coming slowly down the Jerusa
lem road. But the heavens do not
open again and no star comes on
an appointed mission, and the
mood passes.
You could look for it in Naza
reth, where He grew in wisdom
and stature, but you would not
find it there. Children still play
in the streets and I saw a small
boy at work in a carpenter shop.
But most of the people are Arabs
and a good number are Commu
nists and the sites associated with
His youth are unconvincing and
sometimes unkempt.
TV fci Haditi
V
; -
Merry Christmas to all our
friends! May it be a truly
festive and joyous one!
and a Happy New to you
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You could look for it at the
River Jordan where. He was bap*
tized and commissioned, but you
would not find it in that murky
stream. You can buy a bottle of
river wate-, preferably distilled,
to use in the baptism of your
grandchildren.
An Unspoiled Spot
By the Sea of Galilee you
might come nearer to what you
were looking for. The fishermen
still get prodigious hauls in their
nets, and the sea is very rough
sometimes. The Mount of the
Beatitudes is so serene that one
can almost believe in the ultimate
triumph of the meek and the
merciful. You would find it all
very beautiful, but like a garden
from which the Gardener has
gone.
In old Jerusalem, the Holy City
in which He died, you couid find
both reverence and revulsion,
From the Mount of Olives you
can look down on the ancient city.
You can see a courtyard in which
the Romans played their games,
and a hush might come over your
spirit as you too walked the Via
Dolorosa. But you would be
shown two Golgothas and two
tombs wherein they say He was
laid, and you would find various
groups of Christians contend ng
with each other over their pos
session of Him.
Back to Our Traditions
And so you might come back
to your own city and your own
house, somewhat weary and shak
There are always the tradition
al Christian symbols to make the
season both busy and gl id: carols
in the streets, magnificient dis
plays in the stores, wreaths on
the doors and lights in the win
dows. Each year’s tree in the liv
ing room is the most perfect yet,
and the brightly-wrapped packages ’
under it are gayer—and more nu
merous—each succeeding year.
And the children: the light in
their eyes is authentic and their
unfeigned wonder can kindle
again a deeper wonder about the
significance of it all.
We have been taught that
Christmas should be a happy time,
a “Merry Christmas.” In a won
derful sense the time of Christ’s
birth was an occasion of “joy to
the world.” But Jesus Christ, a
man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief, is not a merry figure.
To Save Us from Ourselves
We know that we should be
generous and forgiving and hope
ful at Christmas. But the meaning
of Christ’s coming is precisely that
man is not good and able to save
himself, but that he is always a
mixture of good and evil, a sinner
who needs a Savior. Christ came
to save men from themselves.
Great stress is put on Christ
mas as a family festival, with
homecomings, a great family feast,
special attention to children and
grandparents. But Christmas is
also for orphans and childless
widows and deserted old people
and sentries on lonely outposts.
Perhaps it is especially for them.
The Son of Man had no place to
lay His head.
In the land of Christ’s birth
the significance of that event
eludes us. In our own time it es
capes us because we attempt to
find Him in the pagen festival that
the observance of Christmas has
become. We can accept Him only
on His terms, not ours. He pro
claimed that He had come as the
Son of God, as a representation
of a God of love, to save the world
and every man from self and sin.
End of the Quest
The real significance of Christ
b sr
mas has never changed. It is to
found now, as at the beginning, ,
taking seriously and believing
deeply the proclamation at the
time of Christ’s birth:
I
“For unto you is born this day
n the city of David a Savior,
vhich is Christ the Lord.”
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