Chicago Sun-Times: Rejoice in spirit of the season

A few years ago, I was preparing for our church's annual children's Christmas play. I had meticulously covered every inch of the platform with straw and placed the wooden animal cut-outs at strategic spots with great care. A large bale of hay was in place for "Mary and Joseph" to sit on and I was quite pleased with the re- created Nativity scene. When the children arrived for rehearsal, most of them sat down in the gray, metal fold-out chairs in the fellowship hall and laughed and talked with each other.

One robust, husky, little boy, however, took one look at the Nativity scene and jumped right into it. He ran through the straw, picked up as much as his chubby little hands could hold and tossed it in the air with glee. He knocked over the wooden cut-outs and generally ran amok with great enthusiasm, despite the stern admonishments from his grandmother.

Needless to say, my carefully constructed Nativity scene had to be redone and I was not too happy about it. However, as I reflected upon the actions of my exuberant participant, I was struck by the thought that his response was exactly the right one! This is what we ought to do with the Nativity! We should not stand far off and admire only the charming story or merely revel in the pleasant emotions it evokes of home and family or in the sentimental feeling that the singing of the traditional carols bring. These are merely the externals of Christmas, like so much wrapping paper and pretty bows -- not the gift itself. To find that, we have to "jump right in," just like the little boy, and abandon ourselves to the bold, loving audacity of a God who was not content to love us from a distance, but sent us his very own son who "jumped right in" to human existence via the virgin Mary.

This is the heart of the matter and the uniqueness of the Christian faith. When we in turn "jump right in" to the Nativity, we will discover a deity unlike any other, one who has shared our humanity in all its vulnerability and remained victorious in every circumstance. He will do the same for us, if we so choose. So go ahead: "Jump right in" and be extraordinarily joyful in the experience of relating to a god who delights in being "up close and personal."

Carmena Fleury,

West Pullman

Christmas is for Christ

Every year, starting around Thanksgiving and continuing through Christmas, some skeptic proclaims that Christ's birth is a myth and dares someone to prove otherwise. Many people become so deeply immersed in the secular world, they disbelieve anything that exists outside their limited material senses.

Consider how unlikely Christ's birth would be in our modern world. Some penniless woman comes forth and says that an angel told her she would give birth to a savior. Later, she claims to have become pregnant through the intercession of a holy spirit. To top it all off, she has a husband so living and loyal that he believes her and remains by her side throughout.

Today's news media would not be interested in a story about the messiah. Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric are busy chasing celebrities like Paris Hilton, who is suddenly famous because she is skinny, wealthy and videotapes her sexual activities. No, in our modern, advanced world, Christ's mother would most likely be quietly transported to a mental hospital and her baby would become a likely candidate for abortion.

Modern skeptics who decry Christ as myth will eventually become myths themselves. Two thousand years from now, little evidence will remain that any person alive today was ever born. Not so with Christ; he will go on and on and on.

During a brief 30-odd years on Earth, Jesus Christ established a light that has continued to shine through 2,000 years of man's fantasies and follies. Christ is a king that man does not empower and cannot dethrone.

But for those who have retreated into the darkness of humanistic urges, the Light of God truly does not exist. Living to satisfy insatiable physical appetites and the endless demands of ego, they have turned Thanksgiving into "Turkey Day" for overeating and football, and Christmas is just a vehicle for boosting year-end sales. What an empty world.

As for me, I'll take Christ -- his light is all the proof I need.

Thomas Durkin,

Downers Grove

It's not only about gifts

On Dec. 4, you published a story about grammar school children in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen whose parents, due to earning below-poverty-level wages, could not afford to buy them Christmas presents ["Parents work hard, but can't afford gifts for kids"]. It saddens me to hear that the parents of these children cannot afford to buy them any presents for Christmas, especially because children wake up on Christmas morning expecting to have their presents from Santa underneath the tree.

What saddens me even more is that the real meaning of Christmas is being lost. Parents are not teaching children that Christmas is not just about presents. Christmas is about family. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa.

I don't mean to sound like the Grinch, but we need to teach our children the more important significance of Christmas. I remember hearing stories from my mother describing how during her childhood she did not expect any gifts from her mother because they couldn't afford anything. Instead, my grandmother would try to at least just get a small tree that they would decorate with ornaments made with string and macaroni.

Christmas is not just about gifts. Alternatives to giving gifts to children could be any of the following: making cookies together, teaching Christmas carols, going to mass together, making gifts out of things laying around on the house, or even just saying "I love you." I hope these children do receive presents just because presents are what make Christmas the best time of the year for any child. Yet, I hope they learn that Christmas is not just about presents.

Stephanie Puente,

McKinley Park

Wrong Christmas spirit

Concerning the winter holiday season: Why would anyone risk family's or friends' lives by dragging a lifeless evergreen tree into one's home? Most everyone knows about fires in forests. No one needs a tree fire in their house.

Why play Christmas tree roulette another year or strain the electric company equipment with over-the-top outdoor light displays? I think that sacrificing a tree to celebrate the birth of Christ is a sacrilege as much as are bonfires of logs on some college campuses -- a waste of lumber that could be used to build shelters for the homeless.

If someone is into religious ritual, candles and holiday lights and ornaments, take a step back from Old World traditions and try to develop some safer ideas. Instead of candles or Christmas trees, maybe give that $25 or $50 to a temple or church or a charity.

Paul E. Shimkus, Harvey

Wisdom from 'Rings'

You will be hard-pressed to find in the many commentaries or materials that accompany Peter Jackson's epic film "The Lord of the Rings" any acknowledgment that the work comes from a Catholic writer, J.R.R. Tolkien. Yet Tolkien said the fact that he was a "Christian" and a "Roman Catholic" was the most important and "really significant" element in his work. He called the Ring trilogy "fundamentally religious and Catholic."

Francis Walsh, one of the film's three screenwriters, was interviewed (in the National Catholic Register, Dec. 14-20 edition) and stated, "I think that stories [like Tolkien's] do offer us comfort that we live in a moral universe. The world seems to be a very amoral place, governed by something arbitrary and not founded on a great sort of sense of decency. Certainly Tolkien's faith informs."

Actor John Rhys Davies, who plays the dwarf Gimli in the film, took the media to task when he was interviewed for the premier of "The Return of the King." Davies warns that our own civilization is under attack and that the media fail to appreciate the preciousness of Western civilization. Davies stated, "I think that Tolkien says that some generations will be challenged, and if they do not rise to meet that challenge, they will lose their civilization."

Another epic story takes place on Dec. 25. Our God-King, Jesus Christ, returns again to "Middle Earth" in the incarnation of a baby. He brings with Him the gifts of hope, peace, love and salvation's promise of immortality. Will "Middle Earth" acknowledge Him, or are we resigned to repeat the futile chaos and darkness we now live in? This is a profound challenge for our generation.

Arlene Sawicki,

South Barrington

Terror alert is a gimmick

It is disgusting that the Bush administration would employ its politics of fear during the holiday season by raising the terror alert level. As we have seen previously, the government has not provided any specific, actionable information as to how people might protect themselves. Since the terror alert serves no real purpose other than to increase people's anxiety, it should be scrapped indefinitely until it becomes something more than a cheap gimmick.

Greg Cox, Wheaton

My Two Cents

"What saddens me even more is that the real meaning of Christmas is being lost. Parents are not teaching children that Christmas is not just about presents. Christmas is about family. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa." -- stephanie puente