I thought we were through with holidays

December 2005


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        Well you made it through the idiocy of Halloween, lovingly eased your way through a grateful and bounteous Thanksgiving, and today you find yourself right in the middle of the final holiday of the year.

      Boxing Day.

     Ha! Fooled you!

        Even though it usually is about as noticeable as one more made-for-TV Christmas "special,"  in much of the world Dec. 26th is a big -- well, a semi-big -- deal. In Britain, Australia, Canada and other areas of the world that were once colonized by England (Hey, that is us!), today is a day off, an official state holiday.

        Ask someone what Boxing Day is all about and the most common response is that it has something to do with cleaning up after Christmas -- you know, getting rid of excess wrapping paper and boxes and such. But, believe it or not, Christmas has not always been as commercialized and ultra-excess-oriented as it is now. Boxing Day has nothing to do with unused Barbie and Battle-Bot boxes and piles of half-used ribbons and bows.

       Don't worry about the word "box" for a moment, and consider this day's honorable roots.
For centuries, this day was set aside for those in the well-to-do class to take care of those in less-fortunate circumstances. This was a day that owners of large estates would give presents to their servants -- to their extended families, so to speak. After concentrating a day of sharing with one's own family on Christmas Day, Boxing Day gave the giver a chance to extend to those who either were less fortunate or were in a service-related position.  

        This is the day that gifts of appreciation were shared with trades people and that feasts were held for the needy.

      In fact, on many calendars, the 26th is often listed as St. Stephen's Day or it might be listed both ways. In the carol about Good King Wenceslas, note that he was looking down at the Feast of Stephen. This, then, was a Boxing Day/St. Stephen-type celebration of service provided by the good king. He was feeding the less fortunate. The carol is an extension of that concept.

        Why boxes or boxing? Here the holiday origins get a bit mushy, but the name seems to be an extension of using plain boxes to distribute the goods from the more-wealthy to the less fortunate; setting a box of goodies aside for the tradesman; no fancy wrapping, just a simple box. Also, there is some reference to the alms boxes that were always open and promoted in churches on this day, to be given to the poor. Either way, the idea of using boxes to extend the Christmas spirit into another day turned into the expression "boxing day."

        Now, if you're saying to yourself, "My Christmas is hectic enough, expensive enough, chaotic enough that I don't want to extend it another day," well, you've got a problem.

        The first problem is that you need to shut down the greed machine. You need to get back to a time when Christmas was about peace and joy and not about Target and Dillards. You need to burn a few lists. You may have to rethink gift giving and the reasons behind it. You are never going to be able to change how others celebrate Christmas (it's fully out of control, I grant you), but you can change how you and your family celebrates Christmas.

        Extending it to Boxing Day would be a good start. Give the newspaper boy/girl a gift on Boxing Day. Treat the UPS man during this week (a plate of cookies only, though. I'm told UPS reps cannot accept money, as many such service personnel cannot). Mailman, milkman, grocery bagger, that poor secretary at the front office down at the junior high -- let's make Boxing Day a chance to give them a little boost.

        Plan a service project with your family. Use this day to visit a care center or some other less-obvious corner of the community. Decorated sugar cookies given by your child will taste just as good on Boxing Day as the week before Christmas.

        Organize a low-key potluck lunch or dinner and invite some of the folks in the neighborhood you donÕt normally invite. Stretch, extend. Let Christmas Day be for those close to you and the day after for those that could be closer.

        Find an alms box -- or a reasonable facsimile -- and drop something in. If you haven't got enough to drop in, go back up and re-read that paragraph about the greed machine.

      See, your holiday is getting better already.