For me, Christmas will be different this year. I have decided to replay my Christmas memories for my child in the most traditional way that I remember. Yes, the way we used to celebrate Christmas in Austria is unreal, it is pure fiction. But I find it beautiful, uplifting, and inspiring and I think that you might, too.
Never heard of Father Christmas. But what does Christ Child look like?
The idea of a generous (male) distributor of gifts with a red gown, a long white beard who travels the world in a carriage is not too far off from the mystifying Being who does this job for children in Austria. The biggest difference is that it would have been unimaginable for us to actually have a picture of what the personality, who fulfils so many dreams for Christmas, would look like. What we were told ever since we were toddlers was that what’s really happening at Christmas is the arrival of “Christ Child” who would celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ by surprising all the children in the world. Nobody knows what Christ Child looks like, whether it is male or female, when it will come or where it lives. What we knew was that it is kind of a ‘spirit’ that has the ability to ‘know’ who we were, and whether we had been behaving well during the year to earn our Christmas presents.
The reality of waiting for Christ Child’s arrival that was scheduled for Christmas Eve at around 7pm was this: Three whole days before Christmas Eve, the living room door in our house was locked because Christ Child could come ‘any time now’ and could be disturbed. In case one of us children would catch it whilst preparing the tree and the presents, it would fly away and never be seen again – including all the gifts! The exciting tension was only enhanced by the fact that the living room was the only room with a TV in it, so were not only kept waiting for the most important Event in the year, but we had to spend the time differently. And that’s what did it for me: my Fantasies ran wild. I figured that I knew exactly what Christ Child looked like. Despite the recommendations of our parents not ever to look out for Christ Child working in our living room, I constantly peeked through the key hole of the living room door. Of course, I saw it working and flying off and therefore could be certain that it was an androgynous, shy, and fragile angel-like being in a white-bluish gown. At the same time that I wanted to see it so badly I was worried that it might have noticed me (because it knows everything, after all!) and so the hours until Christmas Eve passed by like years. Finally, on Christmas Eve, we would be dressed up for dinner, not hungry at all due to the thrill we felt upon the arrival of Christ Child and impatiently nagging our parents to finish up their plates. Suddenly, a high bell would ring gently from the direction of the living room: rang, of course, by Christ Child, after lighting the candles on the tree and placing the name-tagged presents for all. Christ Child had arrived!
The Inspiration of Mystery
In times where humans have become masters of information sharing, I find it enormously appealing for children and adults alike to preserve some kind of mystery. The idea of not knowing what Christ Child looks like made us children having to imagine, searching for it and hoping that it would still do its job for us. To maintain the illusion that it exists was paired with the awareness that we would never understand its nature anyway. What a change from the certainty we strive for in adult life, the sense of control and mastery over our destiny that we desire. I remember that the excitement about the mystery of Christ Child was much more important to me than the prohibition of watching TV, the ambiguous expectations connected with the event and even the actual gifts. I greatly hope that we will manage to maintain some room for wonderful mystery and imagination in our children’s minds to let them take part in the eternal search for their truth.
Merry Christmas to all that celebrate, and Happy Holidays to you all!
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