Almost everyone who keeps Christmas seriously and loves this season for reasons secular or sacred cherishes the ritual of going through the decorations that have gathered over time. Each year, the Christmas archive is unpacked again. Here are the oldest ornaments for the tree — hand-me-downs over several generations, terribly fragile, their color faded but no less powerful in memory for that.
Connect With Us on Twitter
For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.
And here are the decorations we got from you-know-where, and the crèche you-remember-who made for us, and the choirs of angels and beasts and creatures we always forget until they're dangling again from the branches of a fir tree whose illuminated interior looks like an enchanted forest.
The language of this season is unpacked no differently. Think of all the words that come into use only this time of year, including the very words for the season, like Advent and Yuletide and Noel. In other months, some people may quite naturally mention partridges and pear trees and mangers, but they are bird-watchers and arborists and goat-keepers. How often does King Wenceslas parade into our thoughts outside December? And when, in fact, is the Feast of St. Stephen? We always mean to look it up. Chestnuts may wander as far away as Thanksgiving, but not so figgy pudding or fruitcake or roast goose. They belong to a legendary Christmas table, as does the wassail bowl and nog of egg.
It is the same with the cast of characters — not merely Clauses and Cratchits, Scrooges and Grinches. Survey the landscape of this season and you see that all of culture's many brows — middle, high, and low — come together here. Bach or Bing? Swan Lake or swans-a-swimming? It really makes no difference.
At the heart of this season is that farther country, where the old phrases still sound fresh, where shepherds keep watch by night in hopes of peace on earth and good will toward men.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Editorial: Unpacking Christmas
Dengan url
http://opinimasyarakota.blogspot.com/2012/12/editorial-unpacking-christmas.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Editorial: Unpacking Christmas
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Editorial: Unpacking Christmas
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar