The Ghost of Christmases Past

I can’t remember receiving any gifts at Christmases during my youth, but I am not bitter.

I remember something else: the unadulterated joy I experienced at the mix of north winds, “fire rockets,” squibs, “chi booms,” “starlights,” and the church’s “bring-and-buy” sales. (Well, there was certainly a lot more bringing than buying to be sure).

And I remember Christmas Sundays and Parson Haughton, and was that Alan pumping that good old organ and Miss Plummer at the keys? Not to mention that long climb up the hill to get to the majestic Whitfield United Church in Porus where Reverend Haughton presided. I recall waking at five to go caroling with candles and song sheets with members from Uncle Dickie’s church in Williamsfield.

I remember singing carols and Christmas songs during devotions in high school, out of that navy-blue hymnal that fitted perfectly in my back pocket: “O Tannenbaum” and “Here we come a-wassailing,” and none of us bothered to ask how come Jamaican children were singing British and German Christmas songs. (As a matter of fact, wassailing was usually celebrated in January in England, well before we started wassailing through the tannenbaums in Jamaica).

At that time, there was something called the “Christmas spirit.” It was about giving. This was encapsulated in the then popular saying, “It’s not the gift, but the thought that counts.” That was so 1970’s!

Now the recession has widened the gap between rich (not to mention the bankers) and the poor and all of a sudden it’s difficult to get into that Christmas spirit: all I have are the carols and the songs but not much else, and there isn't much giving and even less thought. It’s as if we need a kind of Christmas Viagra to lift our flagging spirits.

I am reminded of this dis-ease when listening to the advertisements: case in point an American Express ad, “Realize the Potential” which sounds like a weak knock-off of MasterCard’s ad of yesteryear, “Master the Possibilities.” How do I know these things? I use the MasterCard ad as my personal war cry, one of my motivational tools. But those ads represent stealth advertising: a pop psychology come-on to get us the consumers to purchase their wares under the guise of getting us to feel good about ourselves with each purchase.

And have you noticed how they have corrupted Christmas? It used to be that Christmas was special and you had two wonderful days to celebrate: Christmas and Boxing Day. Now there is Boxing Week and Boxing Month. I am just half expecting them to issue calls to our patriotism: “Go out and shop and help save the American (or Canadian) economy!” And why bloody not? They have taken our souls, why not take the rest? All the glory has been sucked out of the Hallelujahs.