CHRISTMAS 2023

For the past couple of years, I’ve penned an imaginary letter from Jesus (Christmas 2021) and Christmas 2022).  This year’s no exception.  Believe whatever you want about the guy, but his teachings seem to get more relevant with each passing year.    

So at the risk of upsetting anyone, let’s check in again.  And remember, this isn’t meant to promote Christianity nor deny it.  It simply tries to look at what Jesus might be saying in the context of our present-day world.

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Hello everyone.

Well, it’s me again.  And it’s Christmas.  The day when you claim to celebrate my birth.  The season when you decide whether you give your money to help the less fortunate, or send it off to Jeff Bezos in exchange for a cardboard box of transient items that someone’s just going to steal off your porch anyway.

I guess that’s your choice, isn’t it?

For some reason, midnight seems to be a big deal for you folks.  Midnight Mass, midnight Services, prayers at midnight.  I’m not sure where you get this stuff.  I certainly didn’t say anything about it.

But if you’re going to offer prayers at midnight, at least be decent about it.  Forget about praying for yourself.  Forget about praying for a new car, a new house, or that the Royals win another World Series (like that’s ever going to happen).

Pray for something that matters.  Like the hostages in Gaza who are hungry and terrified.  Like the people of Gaza and the West Bank being killed by the thousands, some outright, others from thirst and starvation while they’re buried under rubble, calling out to their loved ones.

Send a few prayers for the people of Ukraine who try to survive amidst bombs, freezing weather, and war.  Don’t forget the Uyghurs, the Rohingya, the Haitians, the Sudanese.  The millions fleeing terror, murder, and poverty in Central and South America, running a gauntlet of violence, rape, and fear, who still may be turned away at America’s southern border.

Pray for the thousands of American children killing one another with guns each year.  Pray for those imprisoned in China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.  Pray for their families who may be imprisoned, tortured, and killed for what their relative said, and not for anything they themselves did.  Pray for the people of Palestine who are having their houses and farms bulldozed and leveled, leaving them homeless, for no reason other than living in a spot someone else covets. 

Pray for the 110 million people who are refugees because of war, famine, or natural disasters.  Maybe pray that some of your more self-righteous pundits will accept responsibility for what you people are doing to your earth and its climate, and quit blaming it on me all the damned time.

O.K., that’s a lot to pray for.  And I think you know I could keep going on and on.  But the clock is going to strike, the service is going to end, and you’re going to want to go home.  Now comes the hard part.

Start working to make those prayers actually happen.  Prayers are fine, but they don’t mean much if you just say “Amen” and then go back to doing just the opposite of what you prayed for.

I was never that big on public prayer, anyway.  I never taught that Congress, school meetings, and worst of all, political rallies, should be opened with prayer.  If you paid attention, you’d know that I taught that prayer was a private thing—between you and God.  It was never meant to draw attention to yourself or your new clothes.

In fact, I was never that big on organized religion, period.  Or even governments, for that matter.  Kings, Queens, Emperors, Presidents, Popes—they never impressed me much.

Which brings us to this whole thing that Americans call “Christian Nationalism.”  I’m not going to say much about it, because if I think about it too long, I’ll probably get so pissed I’ll knock your whole world right off its axis (for those science deniers out there, yes, that would be a bad thing). 

Just let me say this:  any political “movement” that attaches my name to an agenda of hating your neighbors, belittling others, promoting violence, or promoting oppression, is no “movement” of mine.

Call it “Self-Righteous Nationalism,” “Bigoted Nationalism,” or even “Ethnic Nationalism.”  But keep my name out of it.

But let’s get back to the more important issue—I care a lot more about your actions than your prayers.  So what you do this Christmas season means a lot more to me than what you pray for.

You know what I mean.  I’ve already talked about this.  There are plenty of people all around you who are hurting.  Plenty of people in need.  Spend some time with them.  Listen to them.  Touch them.  Give them something extra.  An extra tip.  An extra bit of time.

Do that and see what happens.  See how they smile.

Now go do it the rest of the year, too.  And think about all of this when you go to work, when you come back home, when you’re out with your friends.

And yes, when you vote, too.

And as far as that Hallelujah Chorus thing. . .  Well, you already know what I think about that.

See you down the road.

Jesus