Saturday, December 19, 1998

Stocking stuffers to brighten the holidays

By Tom Schaefer

Knight Ridder Newspapers

If you've ever wondered whether secular forces can have a positive effect on religious attitudes, read on.

For centuries, most Protestants refused to observe Dec. 25 as the birth of Christ in part because of their mistrust of Catholics. (The Catholic Church had established the date in the fourth century.)

Protestant suspicions continued in the New World. Family festivities in the winter months of Colonial America often centered around non-religious occasions.

New Year's Day, for example, became a favorite winter holiday for wealthier New Yorkers, according to "Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898" (Oxford University Press). On that day, "families exchanged small gifts, and gentlemen went around the town to call friends and relations, nibbling cookies and drinking raspberry brandy served by women of the house."

But by 1800, that tradition was dying out. Although Dec. 6 was celebrated as St. Nicholas Day by some in New York, the saint was a far cry from today's well-known image of Santa Claus and didn't have broad-based appeal.

Enter Clement Clarke Moore and his children's poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas." To avoid the religious problem of the arrival on Dec. 25 of his "right jolly old elf" (patterned after the jolly old Dutchman nicknamed Sancte Claus), Moore had him bringing gifts on Dec. 24.

The poem was sent to a newspaper in upstate New York and soon after was picked up by other papers in the country.

As the book notes, " ... genteel New Yorkers embraced Moore's homey, child-centered version of Christmas as if they had been doing it all their lives." In time, the rest of the country, regardless of people's religious differences, followed the lead.

While many today may bemoan the secularization of Christmas, Moore's poem, in many respects, helped bridge what for centuries had prevented Protestants from sharing the same holiday on the same date with Catholics.

And that's worth raising a cup of cheer to all, no matter what your beliefs.

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Are you looking to extend the spirit of the season beyond giving Barbie dolls and action figures to the kids?

How about a desk for a student in Ghana ($35)? Or a year of medical care for a former street child in Mexico City ($45)? Or food for a formerly homeless family in the United States ($50)?

These are among the dozens of opportunities listed in the International Gifts of Joy and Hope catalog by World Vision, a Christian relief and development organization.

If you'd like a free copy of the catalog, call (888) 511-6511. Or see the Web site at

http://www.worldvisiongifts.org/

Remember, it's never too late to share the blessings you have -- whether it's through World Vision or other worthy charities.

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According to a Lutheran Brotherhood survey, 34 percent of Americans give more money to charitable organizations during the December holidays than during the rest of the year.

But are they giving to get a tax break?

Only 4 percent say they give to increase their tax deductions, the survey reports. Most (86 percent) say personal beliefs are the main reason for their giving.

So, to all you cynical Scrooges who think people only give for bottom-line reasons: "God bless us all, every one."

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What's missing in this picture: grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles, cousins and nieces together for a holiday visit.

Extended conversation between children and their elders, that's what's missing. More to the point, older adults need to be telling the younger generation about their life experiences.

Barry Callen, a social historian who wrote about his own high school class of 1949 and the dramatic changes since, says the stories of older adults are important to today's young people.

"Americans lack any kind of social memory," Callen writes in "Seeking the Light: America's Modern Quest for Peace, Justice, Prosperity and Faith" (Evangel Publishing House).

"But if we forget our past, we lose our identity as a people and risk living in ignorance of what is most important."

So here's a holiday suggestion: Have a grandparent and grandchild sit together and tell each other about a favorite Christmas memory. Let that be the start of a conversation in which stories are told and values shared.

"I keep encouraging my friends to tell their stories to their grandchildren," Callen writes. "That's how the next generation will learn why we value the things we do."

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"When my daughter was small, she got the dubious part of the Bethlehem star in a Christmas play. After her first rehearsal she burst through the door with her costume, a five-pointed star lined in shiny gold tinsel designed to drape over her like a sandwich board.

"'What exactly will you be doing in the play?' I asked her.

"'I just stand there and shine,' she told me.

"I've never forgotten that response."

--"When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions" by Sue Monk Kidd.

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(Tom Schaefer writes about religion and ethics for the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle. Write to him at the Wichita Eagle, P.O. Box 820, Wichita, KS 67201, or send e-mail to tschaefer@wichitaeagle.com )

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(c) 1998, The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.).

Visit the Eagle on the World Wide Web at http://www.wichitaeagle.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.