Thoughts on Christmas

When I was a kid and a Christian (by birth, not choice) Christmas was a special time. Sure, we celebrated the birth of Jesus, but I didn’t really know who he was or what he did. I knew he was special. He was born in a manger, killed and reborn. But my brother and I concentrated on Santa Claus. Now he was the real hero of Christmas. Bigger than life. Flew around the world giving toys to kids and perfume and scarves to adults.
As I got older I learned that Santa was a fraud, a lie that for some reason my parents kept going. How wonderful to just give a gift and say “this is from mom and dad, because we love you”. Eventually we got to that, but went through the Santa thing first. Well, Santa fell away, the Easter Bunny faded, the Tooth Fairy went the way of the dodo, and Christianity gradually dimmed, to be replaced by a deeper sense of spirituality.
Christmas never faded. A wonderful time for reaffirmation of family ties and friendships, in my family it has been joined with Chanukah. An all American plethora: Christians, Jews, secular humanists and an atheist or two for balance. I look forward to Christmas with warm remembrances of gatherings past and future. How can you remember the future you ask? Easy. Posit a Christmas, like the next one, and then remember it. (Remember, I have never claimed to be normal). The holiday is a time for renewal of contacts, catching up with the news of the past year and future plans. And being with those you love. I hate the commercialism and barely (if at all) disguised plundering of our good will for the benefit of profit. I long for the time past when the holiday was driven by love of family and love of God, but in this country at least, that is mostly over. I have friends that still cleave to those ideals, but they are few. Interesting that while religiosity is on the increase the season continues to be driven by merchants, not preachers.
So, in summation, I state categorically that I look forward to this Christmas season. Over the next few weeks I will be with friends, family and many people of good will. Thanks, Jesus, for even though your birthday has been corrupted by some, many of us who are not believers still look forward to it and probably feel a deeper sense of your ideals than the “flocks” that flock together.

Green Door

We have a pastel done by west coast artist Margaret Tcheng Ware. A wonderful and mysterious image of a nearly nude woman in an alley (is it an alley?), facing a green door. Nothing is as it seems. As light is increased, the mood changes from brooding and dangerous to sad and lonely . The soft pastels at times make the scene look as if it were underwater, but that isn’t possible, is it? Why is she nude? Where is she going? In or out of the door? What is behind the door? Was she assaulted? Who is she?
You want to get a blanket, put it around her shoulders and just listen to her story.
I have pondered this work for several years and never tire of the complexity of thought and emotion that it evokes. I play with the spotlight dimmer to change the moods and keep looking for the answers. I expected one day to have the ‘AH HA’ moment when the meanings crystallize. Maybe so, maybe not. The wonder is that Margaret packed all this into one figure standing in an alley.
Thank you Margaret for putting your heart and soul into my mysterious woman, and thank you Sally for sharing her with me.