No matter how you slice it, December has come to mean Christmas. In time, all of November may be consumed by the commercial Leviathan Christmas has become. I was horrified the first time I saw tinsel-trimmed decorations sold before Halloween. Not surprisingly, a whole counter-movement of simplicity has arisen into opposition to this phenomenon. I admit being torn. On the one hand, I like the beauty and glamour that comes with celebrating Christmas; on the other, I find the crassness and over-consumption to be both aesthetically and morally repugnant. A mediating spirit admonishes me not to meddle with others' spending habits; after all, I don't like being reminded that I have spent less than average on those near and dear. All I know for sure is that by December 26, I'm exhausted, and my mediating spirit isn't talking to anyone. What a shame, too, for December 26 is only the second day of Christmastide. The preparation has overcome the celebration. I suppose the Universalists deserve some of the credit (or blame) for this happening. Imagine Puritan New England; Christmas went uncelebrated. Unruly it was, and heathenish to mark an occasion acclaimed by the Roman church and unwarranted in sacred Scripture. It was even criminalized for a time. Scrooge would have had a field day, or rather a work day, of it. Universalism was one of the responses to the dominant Calvinist theology. Because of its distinctive insistence on God's great act in human salvation and reconciliation, they gravitated to the Lukan text (Luke 2:9-14), here in the King James version:

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."