Am I The Only One Who Feels Melancholy At Christmas? Should I Be Happy All of The Time?
Posted: Monday, December 21, 2009
by Fran Larson
http://www.franniesquotes.com/
It's that time of year again. Its Christmas; the time of year that my emotions are topsy-turvy. I am so happy to be able to celebrate the birth of Christ with my loving family and friends. I even enjoy shopping, parties and most of all beautiful Christmas music.
However, underneath all the festivities and laughter is best described as a hole in my heart. I think about the loved ones who have passed away and how I wish they were still here. I also think about how short our life is here on earth and what I would do if/when my loving husband Jim passes before I do.
This beautiful poem expresses somewhat what I am feeling:
A CHRISTMAS OF LONG AGO
By Morton Bryan Wharton
I am thinking tonight in sadness
Of a Christmas of long ago,
When the air was filled with gladness,
And the earth was wrapped in snow;
When the stars like diamonds glistened
And the night was crisp and cold,
As I eagerly watched and listened
For the Santa Claus of old.
The forest was robbed of its treasures,
The house was a mass of green,
And I reveled in Christmas pleasures,
At the dawn of Aurora's sheen;
Some talked of the Savior's mission,
But I of my pretty toys;
Some knelt in devout petition -
I romped and played with the boys.
We went to the pond for skating,
To the stable to take a ride,
And we found new joys awaiting,
To whatever spot we spied
But the climax of my story
Was that evening's fireworks show!
Went out in a blaze of glory -
That Christmas of long ago!
But in sadness I think of that Christmas,
For many then happy and gay
Have gone to the realm of silence
And sleep in their beds of clay;
The hands that filled kindly my stockings,
I shall grasp in this world no more,
But when at Heaven's portals I'm knocking
They'll open the beautiful door.
They will lead me in tenderness clinging,
And place me before the throne,
Where the choirs angelic are singing
And the heavenly gifts are strown,
And there in the realm of glory,
With my loved ones at my side,
I'll repeat the old Bethlehem story
And join in the Christmas tide
I agree with Eric G. Wilson that melancholy shouldn't be shameful or something that one should always escape from. Here is what he had to say:
I, for one am afraid that American culture's overemphasis on happiness at the expense of sadness might be dangerous, a wanton forgetting of an essential part of a full life. I further am concerned that to desire only happiness in a world undoubtedly tragic is to become inauthentic, to settle for unrealistic abstractions that ignore concrete situations.
(From In Praise of Melancholy by ERIC G. WILSON)
I am not the only one who feels that Christmas brings out feelings of melancholy.
I read a sermon by a Reverend W. Anglin in which he reminded us about how sad some of our Christmas sadness is nothing new. Many of these Christmas songs were written in the 1940's, which was indeed a sad time in America. Here is an escerpt from his sermon:
Christmas has spawned its share of sad melancholy songs indeed. White Christmas, itself, if you really examine it, is a pretty depressing song. So are I'll be home for Christmas and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. These songs are actually laments about being far from home and separated from love ones. The popularity of sad songs reminds us that Christmas isn't happy for everyone.
Also, the sad songs show was that ours is a broken and lonely world and that's exactly why Jesus came to heal our brokenness and forgive our sins and give a story.
This Article has been viewed 43 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.