Christmas Lighting From Inside Out

‘Twas the week before Christmas

And all through the school

Only white lights were hanging--

a new ad hoc rule.

No red and green lights filled the holiday air

In hopes that the parents would feel this was fair.

And I with my note pad and reporter’s hat

Had just settled down to write this and that

When out from the phone there arose such a clatter

I sprang to my feet and asked, “What is the matter?”

*

“The matter” is the controversy at Mariners Elementary School in Newport Beach over lighting the facility during the Christmas season.

Christians say the practice is seasonal, traditional and well-meaning. Non-Christians say it is dominating, intimidating and inconsiderate. At the heart of the issue is the question: “Do red and green lights communicate the religious message of Christmas?”

Not from a liturgical point of view. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent (the season marking the birth of Jesus), the liturgical color is purple. It changes to white on Christmas Day and remains white for the most part until around mid-January.

The color green then ushers in “Ordinary Time”--by definition the exact opposite of holiday time! For the most part, red isn’t even in the picture.

Do these or other colors have an emotional component? Of course they do. If I mentioned a Southland football game, maroon and yellow vs. light blue and gold, lots of emotions would arise.

However, the purpose of liturgical color is not to incite institutional loyalty but to provide seasonal contrast and mood.

The controversy highlights one thing for sure: Our society is in serious transition.

The Rev. Mike Regele, a religious demographer who formerly served on the Irvine Unified School District Board, has given serious consideration to this issue:

“We’re in this time of transformation, where our economic structures, our intellectual structures, everything is shifting. The weight of tradition which we’ve had going for us for 2,000 years is gone.

“In the postmodern world, choice has become completely existential, so that, ultimately, I am a consumer for what I’m going to believe. And the problem for the church is that it’s not used to operating in an environment like that--kind of a free-market environment, where it has to go out into the marketplace of ideas and try and tell its story.

“We are now one of many voices, and we must adapt to that.”

The name of the new game is plurality, and we can work with the change or resist it. When I was in the seasonal shopping mood at South Coast Plaza last week, I noticed that the decorations were mostly white lights in the form of animals, trees, stars and bows.

It seems to me that our society is striving in its own way--without bulky legislation--to move to a kind of year-end festive decor that definitely downplays specific religious affiliations.

The upside is that the atmosphere is more accepting and generic, allowing people to add their own underlying meaning. The challenge for non-Christians is to maintain harmony as they add their diversity.

The downside is that Christians feel a loss of what they used to have. Their challenge is to let the “Light of the World” shine in what they say and do.

Adopting these attitudes will usher in what this season should be about anyway--peace on earth and goodwill to mankind.

Peace. Shalom. Salaam.

On Faith is a forum for Orange County clergy and others to offer their views on religious topics of general interest. Submissions, which will be published at the discretion of The Times and are subject to editing, should be delivered to Orange County religion page editor William Lobdell.