蜜芽传媒

It was a couple of days after Christmas and a caller was at the door. He had bags under his eyes, pasty skin and could barely stand. Good Christmas? my husband asked him. Terrible, he groaned. Drank all Christmas Eve; ate and drank more on Christmas Day; Boxing Day worse.
Mind you, he said stoically, we do it for the sake of the kids don鈥檛 we?

I was recently asked if I鈥檇 debate the scandal of people turning up for a Christmas service who never normally darken the church door. The item didn鈥檛 take place: they couldn鈥檛 find a member of the clergy or even any Christian who considered revellers rolling in from the pub for Midnight Mass once a year anything less than very warmly welcome.

A false dichotomy is often set up between the secular and spiritual aspects of Christmas: Christians surely object to the orgy of eating and drinking and shopping which eclipses the true meaning of Christmas; while no one else could possibly be interested in the festival鈥檚 historic Christian significance.

Neither even remotely true.

Throughout the Middle Ages and English Renaissance, when Christianity was a fundamental aspect of everybody鈥檚 life, Christmas celebrations continued for twelve magnificent days, the poor putting work aside while the rich indulged in extravagant clothes and gifts and feasting. The premier of Shakespeare鈥檚 play of that name was on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, when the social order was overturned and a low-born Lord of Misrule could be king for a day.

Then as now excess could blight proceedings: in the 1580s there was 鈥渕ore mischief that time committed than in all the year besides... robbery, murder and what not,鈥� and Christmas remains a prime season for domestic violence. So it wasn鈥檛 surprising the Puritans banned it in the mid-seventeenth century 鈥� thus giving piety as bad a name as our miserable friend did for revelry. Austerity is no more part of Christianity than is drunkenness or greed.

Christmas didn鈥檛 really recover until the robust Christianity of the Victorians, when the acute understanding of Charles Dickens and sincere faith of Prince Albert combined compassion and celebration in the festivities once more. Now the Twelve Days seem to be enjoying a comeback, with many businesses closing from Christmas Eve until well after the New Year.

There is no contradiction in the merriment of holy days. Carols were raucous songs of revelry and dancing, once so disruptive they were confined to the streets. The second day of Christmas, commemorating the lynching of the first Christian martyr, is the 鈥淔east鈥� of Stephen. The Old Testament law of Deuteronomy laid down a forerunner to a Christmas Club, setting aside a tenth of produce so there would be plenty of meat and wine for religious festivals.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking and was thought a glutton. The reason God was born as a helpless baby is because he loves this world; to restore it to all its fullness and delight.

The right response to a gift is to enjoy it. So eat, drink and be merry: it鈥檚 the most spiritual thing we can do.

First broadcast 29 December 2015

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