Creating Christmas Atmosphere

Although the biblical Christmas story's content remains the same, how it is understood from year to year depends on many things: attitudes, cultural context, geography, religion, language, music, etc. All of these influence the atmosphere created and experienced in and around the Christmas story and Christmastime. Perhaps one's celebration is satisfied by a secular atmosphere created simply by singing 'We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.' Nostalgia also plays a role in how Christmas is celebrated and remembered. Family and cultural traditions color the atmosphere one experiences, and decorations and symbols of religious traditions play a significant role in how Christmas is viewed. How the Christmas story is told has much to do with the atmosphere that it creates, above all an atmosphere of love. It can be told through stained glass, diverse cultural images, lyrics, melodies, and rhythms. It can be told in poetry, prose, songs, and paintings. The poems here address these things, but they also encompass less familiar images of a homeless and refugee child, the fall of the powerful, and the rich having nothing. These are themes that are part of the Christmas story, but above all, it is a story of love for all humankind.