There, I’ve said it…right there in the title of this blog entry–Christmas songs make me cry. I sit at the piano and play a stirring rendition of O Holy Night and I bawl like a baby. I hear Do You Hear What I Hear on the car radio–even that cheesy Whitney Houston version–and I’m bound to get to wherever I’m going with tear-streaked makeup. And I’m an agnostic. I don’t believe that Jesus was the son of God any more than I believe that there really was a Fred Flintstone who drove a car operated on foot power. So why the reaction to songs that are clearly Christian?
The honest truth is that I love the Nativity story. I was raised Christian, so I grew up believing that an angel appeared to some frightened shepherds and bid them go to Bethlehem and take a knee so as to properly worship the newborn king. I have always loved the idea of the baby Jesus asleep in the manger while Mary and Joseph and even the stable animals watched on in love and awe. I am intimately, achingly familiar with the story of three wisemen traveling a great distance, following a special star, to bring Jesus their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The mythology is as beautiful to me today as it was when I believed that every word of it was truth. My own evolution as a person hasn’t affected my love of a
good story, and the Nativity story is as good and as touching as they get. It’s not particularly original (if you’ve studied mythology or if you’ve read up on Joseph Campbell and The Hero With a Thousand Faces you can see how this is true), but it’s still my favorite.
Many of our beloved Christmas traditions aren’t rooted in Christianity–they’re rooted in pagan traditions which the Christians later adapted as a celebration of Christ’s birth. And why not? The pagan Yule festival, celebrated on the winter solstice, included many wonderful activities such as decorating a Yule tree, hanging mistletoe and holly, ringing bells (more to drive away evil spirits and push back the gloomy Winter darkness in the Northern Hemisphere than to “make a joyful noise,” but still), singing songs, feasting and giving gifts. But the most profound thing, at least to me, is the reason for the celebration; and that reason is the same across many cultures and religions–light.
The pagans celebrated (and neo-pagans still do celebrate) the return of light to the earth at Yuletide. The winter solstice marks the longest, darkest night of the year. It is indeed a night to chase away the shadows and ward off what might be perceived as looming there, unseen. It is the perfect night for ringing out the bells and lighting candles and Yule log fires. It’s a time to celebrate because although the night of December 21 (or thereabout, depending on the solar calendar) will be long and bleak it marks the turn of the tide. After the solstice the days gradually lengthen and the light returns. Each progressive day grows a little bit longer, and by early Spring we start to notice that it’s not so dark. The dark, cold winter has done its work–helping plants through necessary dormant stages and, in some parts of the world, insulating the earth with winter’s white blanket–but the sun will warm us again, and life will renew itself as it always does.
Pagans celebrate the returning light of the solstice. Christians celebrate Christ, the Light of the World. Jews celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. Across many cultural boundaries, light is a recurring theme, symbolizing hope and the promise of rebirth. I can think of nothing more profoundly beautiful than the many different stories used to spread that promise and germinate that seed of hope.
And that’s why I cry when children light candles and stand in the cold singing Silent Night. It amazes me to see that no matter how different we are, under the surface our stories are much the same, and our needs resonate with one another. We all need light. We all need hope.
Stumble It!
Where have you been lately?
Hi, Kaylyred
Please forgive my intrusion on your blog, but I found it by accident as I was looking for exercises for my students about strong/weak verbs. Loved your idea about thinking like a screenwriter, ie: how am I going to show this to the folks who watch my move? Great tip.
Long story short, I saw the mysterious bridge graphic and thought I’d come to homepage of Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy, who use the very same graphic. Then I looked in the sidebar and saw the Atheist/Agnostic Article here and gave it a read.
All I can say is wow. What you wrote is very beautiful. You clearly have the heart of a poet. And while I am in total harmony with your sentiment, I disagree with your conclusions.
I’ve studied mythology extensively (taught it for eight years) and have read Joseph Campbell’s work including The Masks of God. It is indeed amazing that so many ancient cultures had stories closely associated with those recorded in the Christian Bible. And certainly one conclusion could be that all religions and God-notions are myth built out of mankind’s hope for goodness and light.
But as C.S. Lewis points out, mankind would never have known to look for goodness and light if there had never been a source of goodness and light. What I’m driving at is a very different conclusion. World myths that predate the Old Testament (or New Testament, for that matter) are amazingly similar for two reasons: 1. the acts these early myths suggest, actually DID happen –or– 2. God, Himself being outside of time, imprinted His own impact on the world in the hearts of all people.
Concerning 1: Take Noah’s flood which is mirrored in many cultural tales. It seems likely that such a catastrophic flood did occur. Geologists the world over have confirmed that certain recent discoveries do indicate a flood on a massive scale.
Evolutionist Richard Carrington, in The Story of Our Earth, a secular publication, admitted,
“Of the many kinds of animals inhabiting the earth at the time vast numbers were swept completely away. Not only individuals, but whole races were destroyed. Extermination overtook the animals of the land, sea and air with equal indifference. When the holocaust was over the whole aspect of life on earth had changed.”180/155
Concerning 2: Take the common mythological archetype of the coming chosen one or coming savior. If prior to the beginning of time, God intended to save all people of the world by letting His son come to earth, wouldn’t He have given people a desire to look for such a one? Certainly this is not beyond the ability of an all powerful God. So the handful of myth/cultural stories concerning events/people similar to Christianity are eternal echos of God’s plan.
I do believe that all people are searching for light. I believe that is because we all realize there’s something missing from our lives, a longing we sometimes call melancholy. This is the hunger for God and for heaven. I don’t think this hunger for light can be argued against–as you say, too much history supports it. But the question then becomes, WHO is the source of the light we long for?
It would have to be someone beyond ourselves, beyond humanity. We ourselves recognize our own self destructive tendencies and the fickle nature of our feelings. People are prone to letting us down. Emotions and behavior are affected by such subtle things as seasons, weather, workload, nutrition, and such. So the light must be beyond us.
God, a supernatural being, fits the bill. But which God? The answer is the most important answer anyone on earth will ever discover. But how to find it? Vishnu? Mohommad? Budha? Jesus? Who?
There we MUST NOT depart from our ordinary means of making judgments. Most of us decide what to wear based on the preponderance of evidence. Hmmm, weatherman said it’s going to be forty degrees. I open the window. It looks cold. It feels cold. The evidence suggests that I will therefore wear a sweater. Imagine you were driving on a one lane road and then stopped at the entrance to a narrow bridge. People explained that if you drive across the bridge, you will be given forty million dollars. I suspect that you would want to get out and inspect the bridge. If there was time, I imagine you’d look it up on the internet or hire an expert on bridges before you ever drove across. It makes sense to examine the evidence.
However, we must avoid making the kind of judgment we make when we choose who we will vote for or what team to like. These judgments are colored, filtered way too much by our history, our upbringing, and our personal preferences. We might vote democratic because a certain issue is important to us. We might pick a favorite team because the quarterback is handsome. If God is real, then He is real whether we prefer him to be or not.
I am a believer in Jesus. But I’m not an easy believer. Unlike the original childlike faith that you had, I scrutinized everything about Christianity. After all, how could there be only one God, one right way to heaven?
I spent years, taking courses in school, studying history, archeology, and even science. I read countless testimonials, considered the experiences of uncountable people of a variety of faiths, and my conclusion was clear: the God of the Bible is real.
The problem is, either people don’t want to do the research because it steals time from their lifestyle –or– they don’t want to believe their findings because it impacts their lifestyle. I didn’t want to believe in God if that meant there was only one way to heaven. I love people. I want them all to go to heaven whatever they believe. But that’s just preference speaking –or wishful thinking. It has nothing to do with the preponderance of evidence for Christianity. Choosing not to believe in God in this way is akin to being starving but refusing to eat because you feel sure someone else in the world might also starve.
In closing, Kaylyred, I am convinced that the reason you cry when you hear Oh Holy Night or Do You Hear What I Hear is that your soul longs for God still. I suspect that your childlike faith in Jesus when you were young made you a Christian. And even though you have abandoned God, HE has not abandoned you. He’s hinting, suggesting, and waiting…because He is the Light of the world. And he loves you.
-WtB