Out Our Way: The Christmas Chinook - Luke 1:1-10

Out our way winter, can be harsh, but as Charlie often reminded me, it is a small price to pay for the glories of spring, summer and winter on the Hi-Line. And although we do have the infamous “Alberta Clippers” that can drop several feet of snow and drop the thermometer to minus 40 at times, God also sends us the chinook winds that remind us winter is not forever.

Although Biblical scholars acknowledge that Dec. 25 is not likely Christ’s actual birthday — the passage in Luke 2:6-20 showing the shepherds in the hills indicates spring — it became the day of celebration for the early Christians. The Romans celebrated the winter solstice and the start of a new life on that day, and as Christianity had been formally banned and its followers persecuted and often martyred by the pagans, the Christians decided to celebrate the new Life in Christ at the same time without drawing attention to themselves.

Recall that Christians were under constant threat of arrest, torture and horrific death for 300 years until the Emperor Constantine became a believer himself and ended the pogroms against Christians. By that time, Dec. 25 had been firmly established in the West as the day to celebrate Christ’s birth and has continued to be so for most Christians, for the issue had never been when Christ was actually born but why. Read the promise of the angel to Mary (Luke 1: 26 -38), the prophecy of the priest, Zechariah concerning his son, John, (Luke 1:67-79), and the declaration of the angel to the shepherds (Luke 2: 8 -20). So what we celebrate at Christmas is the promise, not the calendar.

Yet there is something about celebrating the promise in the dead of winter that seems critical, especially for those of us in the cold and dark of the northern climes. Remember, for folks in the southern hemisphere, like in Australia, Christmas comes in the midst of summer! But for us in the midst of short days, long nights, blizzards and freezing cold of winter, the sight of bright lights and decorations — and especially the Advent wreath in the sanctuary — warms the soul if not the body.

In my youth, my dad introduced me to his favorite comic character, “Pogo.” Walt Kelly was a brilliant cartoonist and philosopher and often mixed a scattering of good theology into the strip. Many folks remember the quote: “We have met the enemy and he is us,” something our politicians, professional rabble rousers, and protestors on the right and left have seemingly forgotten. But there is another Pogo quote that I hang onto, especially this year as the government leaders, celebrities, media and TV/radio talk shows are working overtime to fan the flames of indignation and class warfare. It is remembering why we have Christmas — and also maybe why God allowed the early Church to celebrate in in late December. Pogo said, “Any year that ends in Christmas can’t be all bad.”

Charlie’s comment about winter on the Hi-Line being a small price to pay for the coming spring, summer and autumn kept me going in the darkest and coldest days and nights when the Alberta Clippers raged. And the chinook winds that came along in the midst of winter and reminded me of the sun’s promised return and the new cycle of life that was coming was, like those Christmas lights that cheerily shone through the darkest nights, a reminder that a new day was coming and “the darkness has not overcome it “ (John 1:5) 

Christmas is our chinook. Right now, with the loud posturing of politicians, entertainers, athletes, and media outlets who have made this a dark time in our nation, let us remember that these human “Alberta Clippers” taking center stage and blustering before the cameras, are still, like the real “Clippers” — just a lot of wind, and these loud and raging voices will “strut and fret his/her hour on the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing.” (MacBeth Act 5 Scene 5:19-28) Obviously some things never change — and Shakespeare ‘s observations were not new in his time any more than they are in our own.

Even more importantly, the “Christmas Chinook” gives us hope in our daily lives where the frigid blasts of death and despair have nothing to do with the dark political climate of the day. My own personal sorrows are as nothing compared to the horrible tragedies and sufferings so many others face this year. Last month, I shared the sorrows of one family whose child died, and this past week with another whose spouse just passed away. May the Christmas Chinook roar into their frozen hearts, and the glimmer of the why of Christmas begin to thaw the glacier presently filling their souls. Christ is real and so is His love and His promises. These sorrows will not last, though an “ice age” appears to have taken hold, the love of God demonstrated in the event we celebrate at Christmas remains and the ice will melt. 

How about you? What is dominating your soul today as Christmas approaches? Does the “Clipper” rage unabated? For so many Christmas is meaningless — just pretty lights, big sales, and Santa Claus for the kiddies. The frigid frost remains as Christmas is just a date on the calendar. But for those who look past the lights and decorations to the real meaning, the soft chinook winds will begin to take hold and the promise of the eternal Spring that is coming to us in Christ will begin to melt the Clipper’s hold.

We survive the Alberta Clippers and stay strong in the raging storms because we know the storms cannot last and Spring is coming. The chinook reminds us of that fact. In our personal struggles with the terrible blasts in life, God sends us the Christmas Chinook for the same reason — there is a power greater than the darkness and the ice age of our sorrows cannot prevail.

Be blessed.

Brother John Bruington