The Meaning of Christmas

 

Let me begin by saying, Christmas means different things to different people. So, I suppose, I should have titled this post: The Meaning of Christmas to Me. And you, my dear reader, are completely free to agree or disagree with my thoughts.

At base, Christmas is a Christian holy day that celebrates the birth of the Christ; the one who came to take away the sins of the world.

However, in this largely post-Christian era, Christmas has essentially become a secular holiday devoted to exchanging gifts and having a feast with family and friends.

For myself, even though I no longer believe there was a historical Jesus, I try to steer a middle way between the religious and the secular.

Now you may ask, how the heck can I do that? Isn’t it one or the other? Especially if I don’t even believe there was a Jesus?

For me, the answer is simple. The Christmas story expresses a hope. A hope that humanity can transcend its desire for self-destruction. That we humans can, in fact, become a species that values the other above self. That we can learn to practice the Golden Rule in our thoughts and in our actions. That we can learn to value peace over war, love over hate, freedom over slavery.

Stoicism is my life philosophy of choice. In particular, the Stoicism espoused by Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

Seneca’s Stoicism was pragmatic, not dogmatic. And that put him at odds with Stoics in his own day, and it puts him at odds with many of the Neo-Stoics of today.

For me, Seneca is a philosopher for the 21st century. Even though he lived two millennia ago, he could have just as easily lived today.

“All truth is mine,” he wrote to his friend Lucilius. Seneca was not a dogmatician. His Stoicism fit the practical needs of the Romans of his day, and it fits the needs of those of us who live in the first world of today. The times haven’t changed all that much.

With Seneca, I say, ALL TRUTH IS MINE. I basically follow the Stoic way, but deviate where I need to do so in order to follow the truth (more accurately, what is truth for me).

As a result, I can rejoice in the hope of the Christmas season without being a Christian, or believing that Jesus existed.

Because the truth is — everyone hopes the meaning of Christmas becomes a reality. That weapons of war are turned into tools of peace. That we all turn the other cheek, rather than get offended and strike back. That we forgive others, as we ourselves wish to be forgiven. And that we do to others, as we want them to do to us.

Christmas is our wish to transcend ourselves and become Human 2.0. And who, at heart, doesn’t want to become a better person? Merry Christmas!

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy living!

The Rocheport Saga-Part 2

Last week I talked a bit about my post-apocalyptic series The Rocheport Saga. I said it was part philosophy, part family saga, part satire, part libertarian thought, part action/adventure novel, and all post-apocalyptic speculation. I also noted that the series is written in epistolary form; that is, as diary entries. I’m very fond of the epistolary format because of the intimate picture it can give us of the main character’s thoughts. Provided of course he or she is a reliable narrator. If not, then we enter a mystery world of trying to figure what is real and what is not. Either way, the epistolary novel is an ideal vehicle.

The Saga is written in story arcs, not unlike television writing, and the first seven novels form the first arc. The arc itself is divided into three parts.

Part I comprises the first two books: The Morning Star and The Shining City. And might be called “Beginnings”. This is where the story begins. Where we learn about Bill Arthur’s dream and how he intends to go about it. His dream of creating a libertarian utopia and of returning to the 21st Century’s technology.

Love Is Little, The Troubled City, and By Leaps and Bounds form Part II. The little community of Rocheport faces enemies from without and within. Our hero, Bill Arthur, is struggling to hold it all together and to do so faces the ugly reality that he will have to betray a few of his most cherished beliefs.

Nevertheless, in By Leaps and Bounds we begin to see that it does indeed look as though the community has turned a corner and will in fact survive.

Part III comprises Freedom’s Freehold and the soon to be published Take to the Sky. Whereas Part II might be titled “Conflict”, Part III could be called “Hope”. The corner has been turned and Bill Arthur feels confident the people of Rocheport will usher in a new era of peace, freedom, and technological advancement.

While The Rocheport Saga is many things, it is all post-apocalyptic speculation. The series is a realistic attempt, I think, at speculating how civilization might come back from a massive catastrophic event — and come back better than it was before the disaster. Therefore there are no zombies or other monsters in the story. Nor are there aliens from space. This is a human story of human dreams and aspirations.

The Marquis de Sade wrote philosophy in the form of pornography. And pornography was a suitable format for him to present his philosophy.

The post-apocalyptic cozy catastrophe, I found, was the most suitable format for me to express my philosophy and social views. Because, at base, the cozy catastrophe is about building a better world.

Which makes it a vehicle by which the author can criticize the current world in which he or she lives and present a model of how the problems can be solved. 

S. Fowler Wright used Deluge and Dawn to portray the legal injustices against the labor class and to challenge certain social assumptions. John Wyndham used The Day of the Triffids to hint at the dangers associated with bio-engineering and to point out the dangers of military weapons orbiting the planet. In Earth Abides, George R Stewart points out how a poor black rural working family would be much more capable of surviving, than a white urban couple in New York City. Pointing out how fragile our urban worlds are. Stewart also pointed out that when push comes to shove, we are all equal by having his white protagonist marry a woman who wasn’t white. All that in a book written in the late ‘40s.

The cozy catastrophe is the perfect vehicle for world building. For creating our utopias. I’m surprised that few writers see this and utilize this form. For in the end, all writers are philosophers. Our books are either our ideal worlds or a graphic picture of what we think is wrong with the current world.

And so, in The Rocheport Saga, I present my version of what utopia would be like. No government. Sovereign and self-responsible individuals. Family centered. Social and intellectual freedom. A place where people follow the Golden Rule, respect each other, and help each other. I think it’s a vision that is very appealing and attainable.

As always, comments are welcome! Let me know your thoughts. And until next time, happy reading!