As it’s only six weeks to Christmas, may I start my
Christmas rants now please? (I’ve got nothing better to write about and I’m
tired, so I might as well.)
The walk was uneventful tonight, apart from the racket being
created by a bunch of evidently disgruntled cows somewhere away in the darkness
on the river side of Mill Lane.
And guess what occurred to me: a line from Away
in a Manger, that’s what.
The cattle are lowing,
the baby awakes
The little Lord Jesus
no crying he makes.
Isn’t that just the most vomit-inducing pile of old dingoes’
droppings you ever heard? Children deserve better than to be subjected to it.
And do you realise that if the bloke who wrote it (or ‘sicked it up’ as they
say in my part of the world) were still alive, he’d be getting royalties on it?!
I loved Christmas carols when I was a kid, but I could never
stand Away in a Manger even then. My
favourite, in spite of having been a keen Christian up to the age of about twelve,
was always The Holly and the Ivy with
all its evident pagan symbolism.
(Thinks: this guy gets depressed in the autumn and doesn’t
recognise Christmas. He really must
be strange.)
Well, actually, I do recognise Christmas as a colourful cultural
tradition which infuses the air with a nice energy. It’s when I treat myself to
a bottle of port, a pack of cigars and something a bit more expensive for
dinner. What I don’t do is celebrate
it. I celebrate Beltane, St John’s Eve (in honour of Aine) and the winter
solstice.
And unless I suddenly and unaccountably turn into a nice
person, I expect there’ll be more Christmas rants to come.
2 comments:
Rant away...I'm in a very Scrooge like mood this year. It feels unsettling but I can never force myself into all the gaiety esp. while stores are playing Christmas muzac.
I suppose my attitude to Christmas comes down to this:
I have no interest in the religious side of it, I have no time for the commercial side of it (and it's the commercial side that generally drives the artificial sense of gaiety,) but I do like the colour, the lights, and the fact that there's a sense of common engagement among people.
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