I am currently reading Josef Pieper’s In Tune with the World: A Theory of Festivity. This book echoes ideas from his Leisure, the Basis of Culture and the Love section of Faith, Hope, Love, while offering wonderful insights into the deeper meanings behind human festivals, particularly Christian ones.
A festival is essentially a phenomenon of wealth; not, to be sure, the wealth of money, but of existential richness. Absence of calculation, in fact lavishness, is one of its elements.
My mom has often quoted her own father’s saying: “We might not have much money, but we have a lot of fun.” Indeed, we frequently had money troubles growing up, and some Christmases were leaner than others, but my parents always gave what they could to us and others and made it a truly festive time.
I was also struck by this insight into what we are really saying when we wish someone a “Merry Christmas”:
Thus, when a festival goes as it should, men receive something that it is not in human power to give. This is the by now almost forgotten reason for the age-old custom of men wishing one another well on great festival days. What are we really wishing our fellow men when we send them “best wishes for Christmas”? Health, enjoyment of each other’s company, thriving children, success – all these things, too, of course. We may even – why not? – be wishing them a good appetite for the holiday meal. But the real thing we are wishing is the “success” of the festive celebration itself, not just its outer forms and enrichments, not the trimmings, but the gift that is meant to be the true fruit of the festival: renewal, transformation, rebirth. Nowadays, to be sure, all this can barely be sensed behind the trite formula: “Happy holidays.”
Also read/listened to recently:
- Hubby: A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 by G.J. Meyer – a re-read for him, this time on audio.
- Me: enjoying Malcolm Guite’s Waiting on the Word: A poem a day for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany
- Miss A: her boyfriend is still reading her The Fellowship of the Ring. 😉 She’s listening to Our Mutual Friend, as well.
- Mr. D: he finished All Quiet on the Western Front last week and found it rather depressing, I think.
- Mr. E: he’s been listening to Huckleberry Finn for school.
- Mr. L: he read Howard Pyle’s The Story of King Arthur and His Knights this past term, and gave me some excellent, detailed narrations!
- Mr. R: I’m starting The Horse and His Boy with him tonight! 🙂
- Christmas Read-alouds: L’Engle’s The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas and Tolkein’s Father Christmas Letters
