What does Christmas mean to you? I am a self-described moralistic heathen wandering the spiritual landscape. Christmas definitely means a great deal to me, not for religious reasons though. I think for me it speaks to the original reasons that people celebrated light in the darkest point of the year, because they had to have faith that the light would return and Spring would come. I look for the cozy fire, the sweet twinkly lights, and special times with dear friends and family. I want the warmth in the middle of winter’s chill. I also believe that Christmas, Saturnalia, Yule, whatever you call it, helps to re-center us on the importance of giving, of family, and of kindness.
It is bittersweet that I should be thinking contented Christmas thoughts and remembering anew how blessed I am in my personal life and I remember a sad fact. As I give thanks for my amazing family, for my lovely friends, and for my boyfriend, I am listening to this beautiful Christmas carol and realize that today marks the 45th anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon. I was eleven years old and in sixth grade. I was out furniture shopping with my parents at a local Levitz furniture store (it’s not there any more, it’s now a 24 Hour Fitness) when the news came over the radio that John Lennon had been shot and killed. I remember being really, truly confused. The only John Lennon that I knew of was a musician. He was a member of the Beatles. I liked their songs. Since when did someone shoot a musician? I thought only politicians, world leaders are targeted like this. Who would kill a person who brought the world so many beautiful gifts?
I think every generation has their, “where were you moment?” My mom knows exactly where she was when she found out that JFK had been shot. I know where I was when Princess Diana was run down, when JFK Jr.’s plane disappeared, and then where I was for 911. However, the day John Lennon was shot was the first of these grim milestones and carries with it a special kind of sadness. Lennon literally didn’t do anything to bring this about, other than do what he loved and speak truth as he saw it. He even talked to and signed an album for his soon to be murderer early in the day on his last day. Mark David Chapman would come back to Lennon’s apartment building later that day in the evening and shoot Lennon in the back in hopes of impressing actress Jodie Foster. (To this day, Foster will not discuss Chapman, not one word. She will not give that piece of human excrement one iota of the attention that he killed for. Good on her!)
I think that Lennon’s passing lends this song even more emotional weight that it otherwise would have. The lines,
“So this is Christmas, And what have you done, Another year over, And a new one just begun”
have an added pathos. Here’s another year over. He didn’t get another year. What would his sons have given for one more year? You, me, we got the time. What did you do with the time that you were given? Did you help someone? Did you make someone’s day? Did you hug your babies? I will confess that I am still bewildered by John Lennon’s murder. All that beautiful music, silenced. Senseless.
So, this is Christmas… and what have you done, my darlings?
“A very merry Christmas, And a happy New Year, Let’s hope it’s a good one,
Without any fear.”
So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let’s stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now…
