Xmas vs. Chrissmas
In the land of Acirema, two celebrations take place alongside one another. For both, the season of preparation lasts approximately 50 days and culminates on the same day—this is an account of each group’s practices and traditions for their respective celebration.
The first group we will review celebrates Xmas. As the days grow shorter in Acirema, the stores in the towns are the first to usher in the season with dazzling Xmas displays. Displays of red and green accented with a seemingly endless amount of twinkling lights give the first glimpse of what homes across each town will transform into over the coming weeks. Fathers climb ladders to string lights upon their houses and place faux reindeer and snowmen in their yards. Mothers hang evergreen garlands over the entryway, hang stockings on the mantle, and put up the Xmas tree with many lights adorning it. Children make lists of all the gifts they want to receive on Xmas day from the man in a red coat they call “Santa Clause.” There’s nothing more that the children of Acirema look forward to more than the morning of Xmas and opening their gifts. In fact, ask any child in Acirema (of both the Xmas tradition and the Chrissmas tradition) what the holiday is about, and they will quickly answer, “Gifts!”
Families search through the photos taken over the last year to find the most flattering ones. Those photos are placed inside obligatory Xmas greeting cards that all must send. The cards have illustrations of horse-drawn carriages, scenic cottages, a bird perched in a tree, or a field of evergreens, all of which aforementioned are covered in snow. Once these cards are purchased, assembled, signed, and addressed, they are delivered to the post office to be sent to all their friends and kin. The masses partake in the societal norm.
They return home to find they are beginning to receive Xmas cards of like kind. The cards they receive from those they sent cards to are read and discarded. The cards received by those they did not send a card to are discarded just the same, but it brings a sense of guilt that they had not included them in their own mailing. They once again lace up their boots and head out to buy a card for that forgotten person.
This “Xmas group,” as we have called them, also sends gifts to one another. The same issues arise, and more. Every person must guess the value of the gift the other is getting for them so they purchase in like fashion, whether they can afford the gift or not. The gifts that are purchased are not of anything that is bought throughout the rest of the year. The stores understand the season of gift-giving and manipulate the population’s better judgment into purchasing things that have no intrinsic value. Families with actual needs go unmet because the expectation and pressure of gift-giving outweigh their basic needs. So some families go without while others of more means collect unneeded items that would not have been purchased if not for the season.
Some men put on fake beards and red coats dressed up as the one they call Santa Clause, a disguise (in my opinion) of a god. The stores’ employees become like that of the citizens who are shopping in said stores, exhausted and weary. So much so that if you were to visit Acirema during these 50 days that they refer to as the “Xmas Rush,” you would think some great tragedy had struck the town.
Now when the day of Xmas finally comes, the citizens are beyond exhausted. They wake up sluggish and in need of proper rest, but they must attend to fixing a lavish meal consisting of 17 different dishes to feed the entirety of their extended family. When it finally comes time to sit down and eat, the average person eats four times the amount they would eat on any other given day. Many drink alcohol well past the point of intoxication. The day after Xmas has a cloud of depression hanging over it as the excitement that has built up for nearly 50 days has concluded, and regular life resumes with an outstanding bill sitting in the mail for all the purchased Xmas presents.
The second group, that of Chrissmas, celebrate similarly but believe themselves to be wholly different from those that celebrate Xmas.
They walk through the same stores that push the holiday decorations. They decorate their house with lights, but instead of reindeer and snowmen, they place a young woman, man, and small baby on their front lawn depicting what they call the “Nativity.” The women decorate their homes to show a change in season and adorn their Chrissmas trees with ornaments and lights. They purchase and send “Chrissmas Cards” in the same manner as those that celebrate Xmas. The only change is what is depicted on the cards, such as the story of the nativity with the Holy family or a bright star in the sky.
At the stores, those celebrating Chrissmas find themselves mixed in with everyone celebrating Xmas. All trying to find the perfect gift for everyone they are to exchange gifts with. Somewhere near the end of the 50 days, they must find time in their schedule to attend a Chrissmas service at a local cathedral with their family, which is a task in and of itself. Everything crescendos into Chrissmas Day, which is spent traveling from house to house in what feels like an absolute whirlwind, the same as those who observe Xmas. The end of Chrissmas Day comes, and everyone finds themselves in great need of rest.
All of this culminates on a date known to be incorrect to the central point and figure of the Chrissmas celebration, the birth of a King - King Jesus. Tradition overshadows the truth. Truth and life are traded for fading lights and dying evergreens.
What time has shown is that these two groups have continued to adopt the traditions of the other without question. Neither group knows why they do what they do because the roots of their practices are too long ago for them to want to remember. Though with the best intentions, both groups end in the same place - exhausted and desperately in need of rest.
When each group is presented with the facts of their respective celebrations and asked why they continue in these long-held traditions, the answer is always the same for both groups...
“It’s tradition.”
“It’s a time for family.”
“There is no need to cause tension in an already tension-laced and stressful season.”
But, enough about the people of Acirema. I genuinely hope that wherever you live this holiday season, you and your family have a season full of merriment!
This essay was heavily influenced by an essay penned by C.S. Lewis over 50 years ago — Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus. A little updated language never hurts in helping to bring old truths to light again.