Take the time for community, instead of the rush.
We need candles. We need silence. We need the remarkable quiet of snow falling without wind. It happens very infrequently – when there is a slow snowstorm, no wind, and it’s more quiet than anything, with the snow absorbing every sound.
We need that space.
Thanksgiving just ended and the Christmas season is in full gear.
Driving down the road on Black Friday, I noticed that the stores were not packed. I guess that now we buy online and divorce ourselves from the communal shopping. We buy on cyber Monday instead.
Some of my coworkers came back from Thanksgiving this year exhausted, glad to be back at work. But ready to jump into the Christmas rush.
“We need a little Christmas right this very minute”
“We need a little Christmas right this very minute”, the Christmas carol says.
No.
We need a little more Foxfire Christmas and a little less X-mas.
In Lawrence in NE Kansas, they light the Christmas lights on the evening of Black Friday. The fire department mock rescues Santa from the roof of the department store on Mass Street. (there is so much hidden meaning in that, but that is for another article).
The Christmas lights are one of my favorite traditions. But they leave them up until Valentine’s Day. That creates such a long season that it almost has no meaning. It is not “special” anymore.
We need a little more Foxfire Christmas and a little less X-mas.
What is a Foxfire Christmas?
The Foxfire books are a series of books that capture the oral history of the Appalachian folks during the Depression. “A Foxfire Christmas: Appalachian Memories and Traditions” is the book dedicated to Christmas memories and traditions.
I have been reading this book aloud to my wife in the evenings this week. This book was so humbling. The families in the book were beyond poor. Many of the kids got only a stocking full of apples, one orange, a Brazil nut in the toe of the sock, and some candy. A home knitted pair of wool socks. Maybe one small toy, a comb, or a mirror. That was it. Yet they celebrated family. They seemed more solid and more happy than many of us today.
They had gifts that they appreciated. (Whereas my daughter gives some of her kids’ toys away to Goodwill so that they have room for the inevitable new presents).
Before the ultra-commercialization of Christmas after WW2, Christmas was a more family oriented, and religious, celebration. The main celebration of Christmas didn’t start immediately after Thanksgiving and go non-stop until Dec-26.
Like the Foxfire folks, my parents were little kids in the Depression. Their parents didn’t put up a Christmas tree until Christmas Eve. In their celebration lore, the tree and lights were something that Santa brought along with the presents.
Some people I know don’t put up a Christmas tree or lights until Saint Nicholas night on December 6. And even in “The Christmas Story”, Ralphie’s family didn’t put up the tree until very close to Christmas.
The Christmas celebration used to start later, but it lasted longer. Despite the ridiculous gifts, the “12 Days of Christmas” song was closer to how Christmas was celebrated – from Dec 25 to Epiphany, Jan-6. The week between Christmas and New Years Day was downtime. (Now my coworkers are so happy for Christmas to be over that they gladly come back to work the day after Christmas).
Read “A Foxfire Christmas: Appalachian Memories and Traditions” and you may feel like your rich glitzy celebration is empty by comparison to their humble family celebrations. I do.
We need a little more Foxfire Christmas and a little less X-mas.
Christmas Memories
Think about your favorite Christmas memories. While I remember a couple of nice presents, my most cherished memories were of sledding, drinking hot chocolate. And singing Christmas carols as a family. As a young adult, I was given a book of carols and I played guitar and we sang them as a family. Now the kids have their own families. Lately, my wife has been playing Christmas carols on the living room piano with the lights dimmed and only the Christmas tree to light the room.
We need a little more Advent and a little less X-mas
Advent is the Christian celebration where you light a candle each week and it builds up to the Nativity of Christ at Christmas.
Advent and lighting candles and that period of waiting for Christmas seem like a welcome respite. It is more in-tune with the season.
We need candles. We need silence.
We need the remarkable quiet of snow falling without wind. It happens very infrequently – when there is a slow snowstorm, no wind, and it’s more quiet than anything, with the snow absorbing every sound.
We need that space. Instead of the rush, rush, rush.
We need the waiting. We need the fast before the feast.
We need a little more Advent and a little less X-mas.
We need a little more Foxfire Christmas and a little less X-mas.
If you like this content, then check out Thriving the Future Podcast:
Check out Paul Wheaton’s book – Permaculture Thorns, which has interesting and amusing stories of people trying to form intentional community. People think that they have the same vision and goals – until they live together and decisions on money and conflict arise. They quickly find out that absolute consensus (and even democracy) don’t work in an intentional community. If you are thinking of forming an intentional community (including that libertarian utopia) then you need to read this book.
