Merry Christmas, Montana!
Montanans know that the spirit of the holiday should transcend a single day, December 25. As expressed by the reformed Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
The year 2024 was a tumultuous one and in all too many ways, a nasty one too. From shooting wars abroad to political wars at home, we’ve been through a lot these past twelve months. For many of us, the peace of another Christmas will be a welcome respite.
In the Introduction to his 2003 book, Christmastime in Montana, Dave Walter described the temperament of the season this way:
To each of us, Christmastime in Montana evokes myriad images—childhood delights and disappointments, thoughtful giving to the less fortunate, strong emotions tied to family and friends, and gratitude for the opportunity to spend another year in Montana’s breathtaking surroundings. It also provides an occasion for us to remove ourselves somewhat from the mundane and to reflect on the spirit of Christmas. In this context, the birth of Christ prompts thoughts of love for one’s fellow human, of the tolerances of others’ practices and beliefs, of the exercise of charity toward the needy, and of thanksgiving for trusting friends and a rewarding life.
Reading those words should lower everybody’s blood pressure. What a wonderful time of year this is!
Amid all the lights and festivities, Christmas is still fundamentally about Christ. There wouldn’t be a Christmas without Him. That’s true whether you are a person of faith, a different faith, or no faith at all. We can all join in and share much of the Christmas message together.
“Christmas means a spirit of love,” wrote the 19th-century Methodist missionary George F. MacDougall. To him, it was “a time when the love of God and the love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of God.”
A godly man and one of our best American presidents, Calvin Coolidge, advised the country, “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.”
That spirit is expressed well in these Christmas gift suggestions from novelist and journalist Oren Arnold: “To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.”
The trees we decorate this time of year are often the physical centerpiece of celebration, but clergyman Roy L. Smith cautioned that “He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.”
My fellow old-timers will no doubt remember the old Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote, “Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas time.”
Christmas brings us a wealth of wonderful music, so distinctive that we call them “carols.” One of the better-known was inspired by these words of the great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old, familiar carols play. And wild and sweet, the words repeat, of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Make room at this time of year for some good, clean humor. It goes together with the joy of the season. For example:
“I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it that said, Toys Not Included” said British comedian Bernard Manning.
From the late child actress Shirley Temple comes this memorable line: “I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to a department store, and he asked me for my autograph.”
From TV show host Craig Ferguson comes this remark that may give you pause: “I think commercialism helps Christmas and I think that the more capitalism we can inject into the Christmas holiday the more spiritual I feel about it.”
Before you dismiss what Ferguson said as somehow out of sync with the Christmas message, consider the fact that capitalism is the greatest poverty cure to ever bless the world. Entrepreneurship, the profit motive, and private property are among the primary reasons for American progress and prosperity. Voluntary, peaceful exchange for mutual benefit is a major source of personal fulfillment. And Christmas presents don’t magically materialize without the application of capital to labor and physical resources.
Montanans know that the spirit of the holiday should transcend a single day, December 25. As expressed by the reformed Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
Merry Christmas, Montana!
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Lawrence W. Reed writes a monthly column for the Frontier Institute in Helena, on whose board he serves. He is president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education and blogs at www.lawrencewreed.com.