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Poking Fun at Christmas Cards and Other Things

‘Tis the season for sending and receiving Christmas cards. I’m not against it at all. I love getting Christmas cards. I even like sending them (Okay, I admit, part of the reason I send them is so that I get them in return). Phyllis McGinley has a talent for seeing the humor in all this. She’s not jaded or cynical, but she wants us to laugh at ourselves a little. She likes to poke a bit, with a little sarcasm and plenty of dry wit.

“Lady Selecting Her Christmas Cards” by Phyllis McGinley

Fastidiously, with gloved and careful fingers,
Through the marked samples she pursues her search.
Which shall it be: the snowscape's wintry languors
Complete with church,

An urban skyline, children sweetly pretty
Sledding downhill, the chaste ubiquitous wreath,
Schooner or candle or the simple Scottie
With verse underneath?

Perhaps it might be better to emblazon
With words alone the stiff, punctilious square.
(Oh, not Victorian certainly. This season
One meets it everywhere.)

She has a duty proper to the weather—
A Birth she must announce, a rumor to spread
Wherefore the very spheres once sang together
And a star shone overhead.

Here are the Tidings which the shepherds panted
One to another, kneeling by their flocks.
And they will bear her name (engraved, not printed),
Twelve-fifty for the box.

(Christmas Poems, p.139)

I don’t have many profound thoughts on this poem. It’s just fun. How can you read through it and not smirk a bit, or even chuckle? You can picture this fastidious woman. You might even know her. She is the queen of Pinterest and can replicate any Martha Stewart creation. Of course, she thinks she’s being kind when she says to her busier, more hectic female friends (usually those with children to care for) that it’s okay if they have to settle for a less than ideal Currier & Ives Christmas. Men aren’t necessarily excused here either. Men live on competition, and they can be just as judgmental as women, sometimes with a kind of reverse snobbery. Who needs fancy china or good wine? Paper plates and a few Buds are good enough for me.

Fine! So isn’t there room for various tastes? For the one who is particular about the decorations or for the other who doesn’t care about the food? This season can get us so turned in on ourselves and our importance, and so turned away from our God and our neighbors. But isn’t that just ridiculous? Imagine being so full of yourself that you would force the shepherds to herald your name! It’s absurd. But sinful hearts do absurd things. Perhaps the point of Advent and Christmas traditions is that we be taught to think less of ourselves and more of the community where the tradition lives.

In any case, cards and decorations and drinks need not be divisive. Enjoy what you receive. Bless God and thank your neighbor. Because “the Tidings which the shepherds panted One to another, kneeling by their flocks” must be the point of it all. Forget my name or yours (engraved or printed). Our God is a man, come to redeem self-absorbed, judgmental sinners. With every Christmas card you send or receive, give thanks that the Birth we announce means that there is peace with God. Take everything else as glorious bonus.

Oh, and when your holidays get you worked up and stressed out, read a poem, sing a carol, and don’t forget to laugh at yourself.