When toasting during Advent and on Christmas Eve this year, I heard people say things like: "Let's hope for a better 2024!" or "This year is finally over!". War and more war. Inflation, uncertainty, exhaustion.
You can always hope. But it's a tricky concept. The real unease that accompanies us at the end of the year is not the disaster itself, but the quiet realisation (or the dull feeling) that things will not get better in the new year. (A central element in the attempt to characterise hell: It's unbearable and it won't end).
But why doesn't it stop? Regarding hell: at the moment there is not only a mental hell, but a very real one, and it is in Gaza. Everyone knows that and the fact that Bethlehem is in the middle of this trouble spot somehow shames us. And rightly so. It is deeply disturbing that borders are being crossed that we previously thought would remain intact. That crises are once again assuming proportions that were unthinkable a moment ago. The latest war thus joins a series of shocks ranging from Covid and lockdown to the Ukraine war, the Hamas attack and the Gaza war. What is happening is a collapse on several levels. Orders that we thought were solid are collapsing, things are being done openly that we thought were impossible, the solid ground under our feet is collapsing, the civilisational and cultural ground that we thought we could start from. Now we ask ourselves how things should continue.
Episodes of doom involve revealing something. Biblically speaking: The apocalypse reveals a world to come. In Greek terms: the tragic downfall of the hero illuminates a truth and makes it tangible. In this way, they also give hope in times of need. And that is what Christmas is all about, the birth of an unheard-of bearer of hope. It is no coincidence that the date of Christmas Eve practically coincides with the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night - the moment of greatest darkness. But we painfully understand: no new light is dawning.
Earlier episodes contained this power of renewal. During the First World War, in which an entire world order collapsed and the old Europe disappeared forever, a revolution took place in Russia, the largest warring party withdrew from the carnage and realised a new model of society. Or: at the end of the Second World War, the global institution of the United Nations was founded. Genocide as a legal concept was also born shortly afterwards - such an offence had not previously existed. Hope was created, mistakes were recognised and corrected. But today, they are being brought back like stinking corpses from a cursed cellar. Apocalyptic seals are being opened and hells are breaking out - but nothing is being revealed. Nothing that we didn't already know. This is the deeper cause of our despair, even more than the chaos itself. A chaos from which nothing new is born.
But what does that mean, nothing is revealed? Catastrophes and tragedies always reveal something. If only a frightening nothingness comes to light today, it is not because the world is closed but because of our ignorance. However, it is precisely this ignorance that is both what is objectively manifesting and what continues to prevent us from recognising this connection. We ignore our ignorance. A very ominous inner logic, because: We ignore that our ignorance is the cause of those threatening excesses that cannot be further ignored.
And this ignorance today is cultural, institutional, political, media-related, etc. Because although we consider ourselves to be extremely innovative - as far as the prevailing structures are concerned, we are very conservative. We invest a huge amount of energy in maintaining a world view that is ripe for demolition and a dysfunctional system. Very un-Christmassy! Because: with the birth of Christ, God became dramatic, tragic, dynamic. He was born, he suffered, died and was reborn. He ceased to be an untouchable otherworldly substance, he became actual, existing, here and now. It changed from the mode of preservation to that of consumption and regeneration.
But we are clinging on. The über-narrative of the Ukraine war: a devil is to blame for everything, while we are only defending our tried and tested order - the West is good, does not have to change, does not have to admit any serious mistakes and the enemy is evil par excellence. No inner shock, no idea of our own co-responsibility in the genesis of this catastrophe - instead: external isolation, total armament, expansion of the enemy image, embarrassing regression into sad times.
The bloody war is therefore only the logical consequence of our spiritual capitulation due to a lack of courage. Because labour pains hurt, we shy away from them! The same applies to Israel: the good Western countries in general and Germany in particular do not have the courage to face the truth: "Never again" is a general principle that applies to everyone and to actions - but we only apply it to one state in particular. Our loyalty is to a specific group instead of a universal value, an immovable and exclusive eternal vision instead of an inclusive reality. We basically know that we are working against the spirit of Christmas.
Therefore: The fear of being ostracised and punished: Get rid of it immediately! The petty-bourgeois fear of being categorised as part of a weird fringe group that claims the unheard-of: For Christ’s sake - spit it out! Wasn't the flock around Jesus labelled a sect? And weren't trailblazers excommunicated at all times (if they didn't become secessionists of their own accord beforehand)?
