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Streetcar Line
Simply Christmas
Celebrating no great new insights.
(Page 2 of 2)
Just as this is a God who does not merely remain aloft (and unapproachable) in the heavens, but instead “descended to Earth,” His great message is likewise one not reserved only for erudite theologians or scholars but instead accessible to all, understandable by all, livable by all. We should not scoff at the simplicity and the familiarity of the Christmas story, nor at the easy accessibility of its themes of rebirth; as Erasmus wrote in the same section of his Paraclesis, “nothing may stand forth with greater certainty than the truth itself, whose expression is the more powerful, the simpler it is.” (Emphasis added.)
And: “The sun itself is not as common and accessible as is Christ’s teaching. It keeps no one at a distance, unless a person, begrudging himself, keeps himself away.”
So we have a God making Himself accessible, yet we ourselves strive for more complex meanings and scoff at the familiarity of the themes. We therefore err: It is not the story or the traditional interpretations of it that are hackneyed; what is hackneyed, what is trite, is the modern dissatisfaction with the quiet glory of an event at once simple and profound.
Riding around New Orleans after the Festival of Lessons and Carols, what one sees is not a new or more complicated city, but a revitalized city within the same familiar street grid beneath the same familiar oaks alongside the same, familiar river of currents powerful and deep. And that is good.
As Trinity middle-school students have done every year since 1960, as Linus has done in the TV special every year since 1965, a Trinity student this year stepped to the church lectern and read:
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people…..
And the church went entirely dark, except for bright back-lighting behind the glorious stained glass window above the altar, and in that darkness a church full of students, parents, faculty and alumni sang of a silent night, a holy night, where all was calm and all was bright. There needed be no great erudition there, no complicated insight. The message isn’t exclusive; it is a universal one, which shall be – which is offered to – all people.
“This philosophy,” wrote Erasmus, “unlettered as it appears to these very objectors, has drawn the highest princes of the world and so many kingdoms and peoples to its laws, an achievement which the power of tyrants and the erudition of philosophers cannot claim.”
But we, we even in our mod cocoons, are invited to claim it. We claim it, Erasmus said, by living it. To repeat: We need only celebrate “the truth itself, whose expression is the more powerful, the simpler it is.”
A blessed Christmas to all. Simply blessed.
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (21) | Leave a comment
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Joellen| 12.24.12 @ 8:31AM
Yes, how wise to keep it in its most simplest form, to announce and celebrate the birth of the Son of GOD. To confirm that HE brought with HIM, true peace, hope and love. To every year remember at this time and at Easter, that we have been saved by HIS BLOOD alone, is truly the Christmas story that never, ever grows old nor stale. To remember at our lowest times, and for many of us, this year was pretty low, we have only to look up - for the Son of GOD is with us, walks with us, and HE himself said, HE will never abandon us. How wonderful and mighty is HE.
This season is the season of Miracles - may GOD bless us with restoration in true faith in these times and in for generations to come.
SUBVET| 12.24.12 @ 11:43AM
Living without GOD is like a dull pencil "no point".
H. T.| 12.24.12 @ 12:52PM
"Religion" by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906):
I am no priest of crooks nor creeds,
For human wants and human needs
Are more to me than prophets’ deeds;
And human tears and human cares
Affect me more than human prayers.
Go, cease your wail, lugubrious saint!
You fret high Heaven with your plaint.
Is this the “Christian’s joy” you paint?
Is this the Christian’s boasted bliss?
Avails your faith no more than this?
Take up your arms, come out with me,
Let Heav’n alone; humanity
Needs more and Heaven less from thee.
With pity for mankind look ‘round;
Help them to rise—and Heaven is found.
Von Mises Jr| 12.24.12 @ 9:35AM
About 76% of all Americans or about 210M people will experience Christ and the greatness of His America today and tomorrow. Approximately 3% of the current world population will have this honor and privilege.
I would strongly recommend Hillsdale College online free course on "Western Civilization." It takes one thought Jerusalem and Athens, Rome and early Christianity to the ideas of Locke that helped found this great country.
One cannot appreciate what one has unless he grasps what it is. Our Declaration, Constitution, DC Memorials and even our money is dedicated to the God of Jerusalem. We should not only praise Him today, but we should understand the blessings and Grace He has bestowed upon us.
There is a war on religion and the Catholic Church for a reason. It is because our God and our way of life are connected. Many in this world do not have that freedom and blessing.
Rhoetus| 12.24.12 @ 8:12PM
Von, I haven't taken a Western Civ course in 25 years and would indeed be interested in Hillsdale's offering. Thanks!
RJ| 12.25.12 @ 12:13AM
I thought the lecture on Christianity was very good, as was Lecture 10 on the Glorious Revolution. I agree that our heritage of liberty and respect for life is being lost because too many in our society have not learned it. Hillsdale is doing more than its share to address this problem. God Bless them and Merry Christmas, my friend and to all of the AS commentators.
Von Mises Jr| 12.25.12 @ 9:21AM
If you want to read a great book about the Glorious Revolution, get hold of Michael Barone's "Our First Revolution." It really gets into the Popery Laws, Test Acts and all the reasons why there is such animosity between Irish Catholics, Anglicans and Scot Presbyterian British descendents, and it is a neat time in history following Cromwell, the reinstatement of the Stuart Monarchy that ends with William invading from the United Provinces.
RJ| 12.25.12 @ 11:50AM
Thanks, VM. I will look into it. Merry Christmas and here is to a better year in 2013.
Al Adab| 12.24.12 @ 10:31AM
One must first follow before one sees Him face to face.
May the Babe bring you both Jr and Joellen, the very greatest blessings of the year. Thank you both for your contributions throughout these many months.
Joellen| 12.24.12 @ 10:46AM
Al Adab, I have learned much from you, Von, TLP, CJW, Albert and all who share our love of GOD, Country and Man. Thank you and trust me I have already been Blessed by our Savior, as I believe you have too!
H. T.| 12.24.12 @ 2:12PM
TLP shares your love of God?
TLP, the obscene, hateful poster, whose every other word is a profanity. TLP, who indicates in one of his vile postings that he would celebrate our president's assassination?
If TLP "loves God," he must "love" the angry, vengeful, blood-thirsty, hate-filled god of the bible--the one especially celebrated in the old testament.
Now I know for sure that you all-- every one of you-- are nuts!
Appleby| 12.27.12 @ 11:47AM
There are still plenty of us folks who believe that vulgar language is the last refuge of the man with no arguments left...and three year olds with the wrong kind of parents that laugh when Junior comes out with the adult version of Poo Poo Head. If you have ever read any of the arguments the First Congressmen of the USA had, you can learn a lot more creative ways to insult people than by using the same two words over and over again. And if your parents were Christian, you won't use those two words at all.
Occam's Tool| 12.24.12 @ 4:17PM
TLP is quite religious, HT. When faced with Liberal idiocy and stupidity, sometimes vulgar language is the only proper way to describe what you see.
By the way, HT, do tell me of any secular humanist societies that have birth rates that are at replacement or above, OK? Atheism is an anti-survival trait, like homosexuality.
G-d Bless, Joellen, and take care.
H. T.| 12.24.12 @ 5:17PM
I agree.
Stupid people think "vulgar language is the only proper way to describe what you see."
Anyway, it's folks like you who are destroying the Republican party. So keep talking. The wilder the rhetoric, the surer you are to lose again at the polls.
I left the GOP when the unhinged Tea Partiers took over.
Rhoetus| 12.24.12 @ 8:14PM
Without the Tea Party the GOP is weak and as worthless as Bob Dole was impotent.
Appleby| 12.27.12 @ 11:48AM
That is true. And the first one to use one of the Two Vulgar Words Kiddies Cannot Live Without is the loser.
C. Vernon Crisler | 12.24.12 @ 6:24PM
I don't particularly care for Erasmus's idea of going for simplicity. Occam [not our Occam] notwithstanding, truth can be complex, witness the development of the creeds. Sheer Christianity is the way of the Social Gospel, or of the no-creed-but-Christ crowd, or perhaps of the Marcionites who preach a New Testament good God vis-à-vis an Old Testament bad God.
Personally, I think Erasmus was going for simplicity because he saw it as a way out of all the disputes of the day. And why was he concerned about that? Because he was an academic. Academics prefer moderate discussion, scholarship, non-polemical exchanges -- at least as an ideal, if not always a reality.
But in Erasmus's day, you could be put to death if you opposed medievalism. How can you have a reasoned discussion with those who consider themselves the arbiters of truth and falsehood, who have the power of life or death over you? They regard themselves as above discussion, as the settler of all disputes. Hence, polemics and complexity are the only way to respond to such antagonists, which is why Erasmus, who did so much to bring about the Reformation, never could join it.
John786| 12.24.12 @ 6:47PM
A merry Christmas and a happy new year to all. In the Quran muslim's read that God sent the angels to Mary:
"When the angels said: O Mary, surely God gives you good news with a Word from Him of one whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near to God. And he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of old age, and he shall be one of the good ones." Quran 3:45-46
The Quran has only one chapter named after a woman; Chapter 19 is titled "Mary", or as it is translated in Arabic -- Maryam. The Quran tells us that the infant Jesus, (Isa), spoke from Mary's arms:
"...He said: Surely I am a servant of God; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet; And He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and charity so long as I live; And dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed; And peace on me on the day I was born, and on the day I die (-after the second coming!), and on the day I am raised to life.'" Quran 19:30-33
While Muslims don't celebrate Christmas, we believe in the awesome and miraculous birth of Jesus ( pbuh), in the miracles he performed by God's Grace, and in the message of love and peace Jesus brought to the world.
A merry Christmas and a happy new year everyone.
Stormzeye| 12.24.12 @ 9:15PM
Then tell your co-religionists to stop slaughtering our people. Hypocrite!
Al Adab| 12.26.12 @ 10:47AM
John,
Greetings to you my friend. I trust that, immersed as you are in American culture, you and your family enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day. Remember John, "Wise men still seek Him".
Rhoetus| 12.24.12 @ 8:15PM
Merry Christmas.