A friend recently showed me some pictures of the sidewalk windows on State Street in what used to be Marshall Field’s. She couldn’t believe her eyes. After looking at the window displays, I wondered just why she couldn’t believe her eyes. The windows were so simple, so plain and unimaginative. A big star, a simple teddy bear, and one with just some streamers of different colors. “What’s so spectacular about that?” I inquired. “Nothing,” she replied. “Nothing?” I answered. 

“Those windows used to be half the fun of going downtown to do some Christmas shopping. As children, we’d stand in front of them for a long time, looking at all the intricate animals and animations and there was always the most spectacular nativity scene imaginable. Now look at them. Nothing spectacular. I took my grandchildren there hoping to recreate some of the wonderful Christmas memories of days gone by. But they weren’t impressed. They walked by them as if they were walking by the windows of a gas station, covered with a few sale posters. Coke for $5 a case. Two hot dogs for $3. I tell you it is sad, really sad. What have we done to our culture?” lamented my friend. 

St Luke in our Advent gospel goes overboard to make sure we, his readers, can pinpoint exactly the historical fact that Jesus Christ was born in a certain place on a certain date. They didn’t have calendars back then, but Luke did the best he could by explaining who ruled where and when. It’s as if he needed to convince his readers that all the wonderful societal improvements that Jesus and the Christians who follow him brought are real. Christ really came. Christ is really still with us. 

Let’s return to the Marshal Field’s windows. Why are the windows so plain? Why don’t the children stop and admire them? Our modern society, with its absolute reverence for Thomas Jefferson’s doctrine of the separation of church and state, requires public spaces like sidewalks in downtown cannot offend any passersby. It takes effort today to keep Christ in Christmas. We all need to prepare ourselves to be a little obnoxious in public, just to remind others that the birth of Christ really happened. Without a little “in your face Christmas” the most magical time of the year turns into a “ho hum” shopping season. I doubt very much that Thomas Jefferson thought his doctrine would ruin the spectacular windows of Main Street USA but there is a direct link between the two. 

A couple of years ago there was a Christmas movie out called “Spirited”, starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. It had potential to be a classic. It told the story of a “reformed saintly” Scrooge who now had the assignment of converting other scrooges. But it failed because it ignored and even ridiculed the connection between Christmas trees and nativity scenes. An obnoxious salesman sings about artificial Christmas trees and the artificial baby Jesus dolls whose main purpose is to help him sell more trees. The message is obvious: get past those things and you’ll find the better meaning of Christmas. Give me a break. As a kid, I marveled at every nativity scene, thinking about my Savior shivering in the cold. The theme of the movie turned out to be a politically correct mildly interesting love story that got it wrong. The simple big red star, all alone in a store window means nothing to children because it is ripped apart from what is below. The stars in the heavens might be neat, but God in a manger is spectacular.