Hanukah v Christmas, plus some theoretical physics

 

This will be my first year of not ‘doing’ Christmas. 

I should probably explain that I never have been all that bothered by the religious aspect of Christmas.  Yes, I went to a Church of England school, but it was only that nominally, there weren’t vicars breathing down our necks.  Yes, I read out probably all the appropriate sections of the Christian bible at carol services over the years – I can still feel how cold my fingers were as I turned the pages at the lectern, whilist standing in that drafty old church, just desperate for hot chocolate and mince pies afterwards.

I wasn’t brought up in a religious household, and if truth be told, cast a wall eye at those who sent their kids to Sunday school, and so on.  But of course, we still ‘did’ Christmas, in the ‘Christmas tree, turkey with all the trimmings and giving gifts’ way, and also in the ‘watching lots of doubtful Christmas TV’ way as well.  It was just what we did.

As I’ve moved away from home and now have my own family (well, just me and my BH, but you know what I mean), we’ve continued the tradition.  But, we both agree, it’s all too commercial – in common with many things.  When you have a discussion about what to send someone for Christmas and you realise that you would be sending each other the same gift vouchers half way across the country, then what really is the point of doing it in the first place?  If you aren’t celebrating something meaningful, then really, why do it?  And in my opinion, celebrating something meaningful by spending too much money, eating too much, drinking too much and having an argument with at least one member of your family is no celebration at all.  I could do that any time.

So, here I am, on the cusp of Hanukah (spell it how you wish, please).  Me and my BH have donated the Christmas decorations to charity (well, they will be at the charity shop by the weekend).  And suddenly, I feel a lot less bothered by all the Christmas fever that is going on around me.  Here in the UK, there’s no Thanksgiving to break us poor souls in gently – the shops have been assaulting us with ‘Christmas’ since October!

However, it is interesting.  I had my first ‘Are you all ready for Christmas?’ conversation a few days ago with a friend of minr.  (I shall refer to him as ‘GB’ as he is indeed a Gym Bunny!). Firstly I said no, but then expanded and explained that Hanukah would be my festival of choice this year.  I also had to indulge in a bit of an explanation as to what it was, when it was (’You mean it moves?!’) and so forth.  Which was then followed up by a discussion on Quantum Theory.  I have to say, not my choice, but I’m always willing to learn new things. 

Interestingly, GB said that he wasn’t into religion, but he was quite spiritual and this was why he was interested in Quantum Theory, as (amongst other things) it claims that everything is related in some way.  Now, given that he didn’t ‘do G-d’, I found it intriguing that he was quite willing to wax lyrically and passionately about these theories, most of which cannot actually be proved.

I feel that we’re going to be continuing this discussion at some point soon – epsecially as I shall have more of an idea of what he’s talking about.  I am quite willing to admit that belief in G-d is not logical, in the basic sense of the word.  It confuses me, being a generally logical person, that I am willing to suspend disbelief up to a point and have discussions about an immanent, omnipotent being without running screaming for the hills.  But that’s it, you see.  If GB is willing to suspend his disbelief and cast his vote for Quantum Theory, then I can do the same for Judaism. 

And, whilst we disagreed about some things in a healthy banter kind of way, we did agree about one issue.  Whatever your festival of choice, for whatever reason, shouldn’t it be more about spending quality time with your close family and friends and making the most of each other’s company, rather than consuming, buying affection and eating too much?

GB, if you’re reading this – if we’re all made up mostly of nothing (as we are indeed made of atoms that are 99.999999% nothing) then clearly, me subjecting myself to one of your gym sessions tomorrow is a waste of time and money as I am exercising vast swathes of nothingness, rather than the muscles you claim to be putting into action.  And if we are made of nothing, then how come it hurts so much two days later?!!  As Marcus Chown so eloquently puts it in his book ‘Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You’: ‘If there were some way to squeeze all the empty space out of the atoms in our bodies, humanity would indeed fit into the space occupied by a sugar cube.’

The truth is out there.  I just don’t believe that we’re meant to find out what it is.