Christmas Light

The city of Strasbourg has been dubbed “La Capitale de Noel” for good reason. She was all decked-out for Christmas during the month of December. Her streets were strung with lights and nearly every store and shop had its windows decorated. The Strasbourg Christmas Markets (Marchés de Noël) held hundreds of vendors in little cabins, selling their Christmas gifts, crafts and treats. Everywhere, people strolled along sipping warm mulled wine (vin chaud) and musicians filled the streets with songs. There is no denying the fact that it was festive. Approximately 1.7 million visitors were expected this year for Strasbourg’s Marchés de Noël. That’s a lot of hoopla for an event that marks the birth of Christ, considering that according to one poll, 33% of French people identify themselves as atheist, 
14% as agnostic, and 26% as “indifferent” in their religious beliefs.  

It’s really interesting, living in such a secular society, to observe the way people spend so much energy on a religious holiday. Why go to all that trouble? Why the lights, the decorations, the gifts, the spectacle? Even after Christmas is over, there comes another religious holiday here in the region of Alsace, the celebration of  Epiphany. This marks the time that the Magi followed the star to Jesus, and it is a fairly big celebration here. A certain type of cake (La Galette des Rois, or the King’s Cake) is served throughout the month of January, and a little porcelain or plastic favor or figurine is placed in the cake. If you’re the lucky one who gets the little guy in your piece of cake, you get to wear a crown and you are King or Queen for the day. According to tradition, you then get to boss people around for the day.  Word to the wise: watch your dental work!

And now, here we are, back to our calmer, more “normal” lives. The store windows are back to their usual décor, the lights have been mostly taken down, and the little cabanas of the Christmas markets are nowhere to be seen. Time to put away the decorations. The last crumb from the Christmas cookies is long gone. The Christmas carols will not be sung for another 11 months or so.

So, why all the fuss? For those of us who follow Christ, this season can be a beautiful reminder of the wonder of His incarnation. BOOM. God with us. Some people would argue that all the festivity surrounding Christmas is out-of-place because Jesus came without fanfare, had a common man and woman as his parents, and was born in a stable, in an anonymous way.  I would have to say that they would be only partially correct. His arrival was not, in fact, without fanfare. What do you call an angel who appears to his mother and his father before he was even born? Kind of a big deal, right? What do you call a multitude of the heavenly host appearing in the skies near Bethlehem to proclaim, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, goodwill to men”? I can’t remember the last time I saw a bunch of angels making an announcement.  And later on, what do you think of an unexplainable star that shows up in the sky? It was crazy enough to attract the attention of those three wise dudes.

So, really, Jesus did arrive with a bit of “hoopla”, just not the kind that we are used to experiencing at Christmas. For those who call themselves Christ-followers, the Marchés de Noël may have been festive and lovely, but after the lights and glitz and activity are over, we still celebrate the Light that will never go out.

P.S. I can hardly wait to see what they do for Easter around here!