What does Christmas really mean? Here’s what poets and others have said
Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was no stranger to sorrow.
Longfellow’s wife died in a fire and his son was severely injured when fighting for the Union in the Civil War. Amid personal tragedy and nationwide turmoil, he penned a poem called “I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day.”
On a wintery Christmas day in 1863, Longfellow wrote, “And in despair I bowed my head; / ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said / ‘For hate is strong, / And mocks the song / Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’”
The next verse reveals the hope Longfellow found that day: “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: / ‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; / The Wrong shall fail / The Right prevail / With peace on earth, good-will to men.’”
The hope and peace Longfellow discovered when his life and the world around him seemed to be falling apart is one expression of the meaning of Christmas.
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The spirit of Christmas can also be described as “a thrill of hope,” as it was by poet Placide Cappeau.
Expressions of the Christmas spirit come in poetry, hymns, literature, artwork and film.
As Thanksgiving ends and the Christmas season begins, here’s a look at what the Christmas spirit is and a few examples of it.
What is the spirit of Christmas?
Hope, charity and redemption characterize the Christmas spirit.
In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” when Ebenezer Scrooge sees Marley’s ghost, Marley laments, “Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!”
Dickens described the Christmas spirit as feeling called to offer charity to those around you.
The late President Thomas S. Monson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints once discussed Dickens’ work in a speech at BYU, saying, “May we learn a lesson from the pen of Dickens and from the words of Jesus. May we remember this Christmas that ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive,’ (Acts 20:35).”
Christmas is also a time for hope, as Leslie Leyland Fields wrote in her poem “Can the Stable Still Astonish.”
In the poem, Fields reflects on how Jesus was born in a stable without a bed and asks how this could have happened. As her answer, she wrote, “Who but the same God / Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms of our hearts / and says, ‘Yes, let the God / of Heaven and Earth / be born here / in this place.’”
Here are more memorable quotes about Christmas.
1. C.S. Lewis on Christmas
C.S. Lewis detailed his feelings on Christmas in his essay “What Christmas Means to Me.”
The famed Christian apologist thought the holiday had become too commercialized and he didn’t approve of obligatory gift giving. Condemning the “commercial racket,” Lewis wrote “The idea that not only all friends but even all acquaintances should give one another presents, or at least send one another cards, is quite modern and has been forced upon us by the shopkeepers.”
He loved the true meaning of Christmas.
“The birth of Christ is the central event in the history of earth — the very thing the whole story has been about,” he said in an interview.
2. ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’
Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” follows the journey of a crotchety, reclusive Grinch who despises Christmas and the residents of Whoville because of bullying he experienced in the past.
The book chronicles how the Grinch comes to learn the true meaning of Christmas thanks to a Who named Cindy-Lou. Cindy-Lou isn’t like the others; she invites the Grinch into the town’s festivities.
As the Grinch carries the massive bag of holiday cheer he stole from the town, he sees the residents singing and celebrating the holiday even without their gifts and decorations.
He then has a revelation: “‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas ... perhaps ... means a little bit more.”
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3. ‘A Christmas Carol’
In Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” the miser Ebenezer Scrooge wants to do anything but give to the poor.
In the novella, as Scrooge trudges through the snow on Christmas Eve, he refuses passerbys who give him an opportunity for charity. He doesn’t do anything to alleviate the suffering of the Cratchit family; the father Bob works for him and lives in poverty as the family attempts to pay for a child’s costly treatments.
Three phantoms visit Scrooge in the night, showing him the tragedy that awaits the Cratchit family and the isolation that awaits him if he doesn’t change. He makes a vow to become a different person after seeing his impending future.
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future,” Scrooge promises. “The Spirit of all Three shall strive within me.”
4. ‘The Polar Express’
“The Polar Express” asks a simple question: What does it mean to believe?
A train interrupts the slumber of a boy living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He climbs aboard the train known as the Polar Express with the North Pole as the destination.
Upon arrival, the conductor reveals that Santa Claus has a special gift for one of them. The children tour the workshop and eventually meet Santa. The boy grabs a bell coming from the sleigh. The boy cannot hear the bell ring until he believes.
Santa gives him the bell which only will ring “for all who truly believe.”
“The Polar Express” invites the audience to abandon selfishness and believe in the magic and meaning of Christmas, which ushers in a deep sense of community.
5. ‘The Greatest Gift’
“The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern may be better known by the name of its movie adaptation: “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
In the short story, George Pratt enters a deep depression and, on Christmas Eve, he considers taking his life. A man starts talking to George and George tells him that he wishes he never was born.
When George heads home that night, he sees what would have happened if he had never existed. The brother whom he saved in an accident is dead and his wife is married to someone else. George develops a fervor for life again.
At the center of the short story is a conversation about how life is a gift — a theme central to the meaning of Christmas.
6. ‘Of Curtains, Contentment, and Christmas’
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at the church’s annual Christmas Devotional in 2011. He delivered a talk titled, “Of Curtains, Contentment, and Christmas.”
Elder Uchtdorf spoke about how careful holiday preparations may sometimes disrupt our understanding of the meaning of the holiday.
“Sometimes it seems that our efforts to have a perfect Christmas season are like a game of Jenga — you know, the one played with small wooden blocks that are precariously stacked up to a tower,” he said. “As we try to increase the height of the tower, we pull out one wooden block before we can place it on top of the delicate structure.”
Each of these blocks symbolizes an aspect of what we think is the perfect Christmas. But there’s something more to the holiday.
“If we are only willing to open our hearts and minds to the spirit of Christmas, we will recognize wonderful things happening around us that will direct or redirect our attention to the sublime,” Elder Uchtdorf said.
He added, “In one way or another, the Spirit touches our hearts, and we see that Christmas, in its essence, is much more sturdy and enduring than the many minor things of life we too often use to adorn it.”
