The Holy and the Jolly

In a great memorandum that John S. Tanner recently sent out to BYU faculty he explains how his parents divided what his Mom called the "holy" and the "jolly" time. And how there was room for both.The article reads in part:

"So much art depicts Christ as a man of sorrows. He is portrayed in suffering, solem, or serious mien. But surely Jesus smiled as well, and even laughed. His teachings are replete with references to feasts and reveling; his parables are populated with party-goers. And he himself is portrayed as a frequent guest at feasts. Indeed, he performed his first miracle at a wedding party, where he turned water to wine. And he was censured by the Pharisees for failing to fast and for eating and drinking with the sinners. Is it incompatible with his character as Savior to imagine Jesus as jolly? If 'jolly' conjures only Santa in the modern mind, how about a 'merry' or 'mirthful' Messiah?

"To be sure, some forms of merriment deserve censure and should be eschewed. Some revelry resembles the drunken Bacchanalia of many New Year's Eve parties rather than a merry Dickensian Christmas party. Some partying indulges in 'loud laughter' inimical to the Spirit and 'riotous living' of the sort that the Prodigal Son regrets- but not all. Remember, the same parable that condems a son's riotous living, depicts a father celebrating the returning prodigal by throwing a great party. The fater kills the fatted calf and invites the whole household to 'make merry' in a celebration that seems to perfigure the joy and merry-making in Heaven over the repentant sinner....

"Christmas reminds us that we embrace a gosple of good cheer...It reminds us that jollity merriment, mirth, and cheer have an honored place in Heaven and on earth."

So Merry Christmas!