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Zeitgeist| "The Christmas Mystery" By Jostein Gaarder, reviewed by Claire Shelley |
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| Christmas through the eyes of children | The essence of Christmas l Scripture l Mystery and wonder l |
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If at dusk you were to stand in your local high street, and half close your eyes whilst staring at the Christmas lights you might just get a tiny sense of the wonder and the mystery that is hidden behind the consumers madness. At this time of year it is difficult to avoid the overindulgence that has become Christmas in the West - mountains of turkeys, nuts and puddings in the supermarkets, piles of decorations and expensive useless presents in the department stores. But this Advent, it would be worth your while to stop for 15 minutes every day and read a chapter of one particular book, The Christmas Mystery. Jostein Gaarder, known to most of us for his incredibly popular introduction to philosophy Sophie's World, is also author of this seasonal best seller that has been reprinted this year with the most fantastic illustrations. Similar in style to the spiky silhouettes of Jan Pienoski the gently, whispered illustrations by Sarah Gibb add to the sense of wonder already created by a story seen through the eyes of a child. Christmas through the eyes of children Little Joachim is out searching for an advent calendar with his father in the snowy dusk of a Norwegian town when he comes across an old and dusty one hidden at the back of a bookshop. It is not really for sale, but in the manner of many excited pre-Christmas children Joachim persuades both the shopkeeper and his Papa that he must be allowed to take it home. And so begins an adventure, for behind every little door is not only a beautiful picture but a tiny, folded piece of paper, containing step by step the story of little Elisabet, who escaped from a department store whilst Christmas shopping with her mother. Day by day Elisabet travels further back in time, following first a lamb, then gathering a collection of angels, shepherds, sheep and wise men as they traverse the centuries and continents until they arrive, splendidly and with great joy in Bethlehem just in time to witness the birth of Christ. As the story falls out from those tiny doors so Joachim begins to unravel the meaning of that Christmas story, and share his joy with his Mama and Papa who, inevitably, find out that their son's Advent calendar is far from ordinary. Jostein, who for many years taught both religion and philosophy at high school in Norway, was asked to write the story for daily broadcast on national radio throughout Advent a few years ago. Considering how to make a children's advent series sound exciting, he told me that: "I began to think a little bit, and I realised that it had to be a magic calendar! Also, for people all over the world, including me, this story about the birth of Jesus is a very beautiful story with a lot of elements." The essence of Christmas He has managed to capture the essence of Christmas, whilst realising that for many readers the festival will start with shopping. "The story starts in a department store - Elisabet is escaping from the shopping part of Christmas and going back to the real context of it," he explains. "I have been into Oslo this week and everywhere people are shopping, shopping. They don't know what the real Christmas is about." Scripture Although he comments that "today I don't really think I say that I can believe in the revelation" of Scripture, and is not sure about the virgin conception of Christ, Jostein attends his local Norwegian Lutheran Church and is a keen advocate of reading the gospels. "The gospels really still mean a lot to me," he comments. Jostein worked in his youth with the World Student Christian Federation, which he describes as "quite a radical organisation from a theological point of view. It cares not only about religion but also about trying to help poor countries, it has a very social, ethical profile." Jesus is, for him, "the most important ethical teacher through history," and his birth therefore also "a legend". Christ's birth is therefore also "true at another level than the level of precise science or history," Jostein comments. "All the characters in The Christmas Mystery do what they have to do - Elisabet at the end is knocking on the door of Joachim's home, and he says 'You may come in to see Jesus'. In a way you may say that during the year, or at church when we celebrate Jesus being born every year." Mystery and Wonder Though 50 and married with two grown-up sons Jostein has lost none of the sense of wonder that first struck him at the age of 10 or 11. He says all his stories hark back to that moment when he woke up and thought: "I am part of a mystery; it is a miracle that I am alive and that the world exists. I turned to adults and my parents and said, 'Oh, don't you think it is strange that we exist and that there is life or do you think life and existence is just normal?' "They said, 'yes it is normal', and that I shouldn't go around thinking about all these things. I knew I was in the right! I am now 50 and I am struck by exactly the same feeling." This mystery and wonder is very much evident in The Christmas Mystery, which Jostein hopes will inspire people to turn to the Bible, "even if they don't think they will be able to believe in the revelation part of it." It is a story both of two young children's discovery, and also of the way Christianity has travelled through the centuries. As Jostein commented: "The story of the birth of Jesus came to Norway 1,000 years after the birth of Christ," and he is hoping that more people will still come to make that discovery. The Christmas Mystery By Jostein Gaarder, Illustrated by Sarah
Gibb, is published by Orion Publishing , ISBN 1-84255-050-0, price
£12.99 Claire Shelley is news editor at the Church of England Newspaper and managing editor of CounterCulture. email: claireshelley76@hotmail.com |
Development and administration: Rachel Jordan
© CounterCulture 2001