Magyar News, 1998. szeptember-1999. augusztus (9. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1999-02-01 / 6. szám
Maybe this article should have been in the January issue, but the event I want to write about came after our deadline. The subject is related to Christmas, more specifically to a Hungarian style Christmas. Also it is about the celebration we do here in our community, that is, in the Hungarian community. It really is for all our emigrant, exiled, refugee, second, third generation, and so on, groups away from the homeland, away from Hungary. m Come to think of it... These thoughts came around when the lovely ladies, leaders of the Pannónia Club, were organizing the Christmas celebration this past year with Hungarian children, in the Hungarian language, with Hungarian traditions for a Hungarian audience, in a Hungarian community. One could say that there is nothing special about it because other ethnic groups have similar problems cut out for them too. Well, this is where I disagree. Ü Come to think of it... many things crossed my mind when I entered Calvin Hall with the darling ladies I mentioned above. As you might know the hall is rented out to a preschool school. Therefore all the furniture, toys and other things like sleeping cots and diaper racks occupy the hall that is made up into two rooms during the week. The pictures, finger paintings and posters remind us that we are in a place where children get their first experience in education and in many other matters too. I looked at what used to be the stage. The full width of it was taken up with very well organized racks and drawers filled with diapers. Even though that all this is for babe children, it was hard to imagine the scene of the Christmas play taking place there. But then again, it is more sophisticated than the stable in Bethlehem. Well there were some similarities that crossed my mind. I also remembered the biblical words of Luke: “... wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in the manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ” M Come to think of it... There is a big difference between the Hungarian Christmas and what other nationalities have in their history. If we just emphasize the question a little bit, then we might reach the conclusion that all Christian nations west of Hungary, including the continent we live on now, would have a life style different from what is known today. Besides, Christianity would not be the dominant religion of the mentiond nations, including the United States. H Come to think of it...First of all, the Hungarians organized a strong statehood in the Carpathian Basin and established Christianity for their people. It was a buffer zone between East and West with all the disatvantages. Hungary shed blood and lost enormous amounts of people fighting the Tartars, then the Turks, all invading from the East to take over Europe. During this time the West was unaffected from these brutal forces that would have put an end to Christianity there. The role of the Hungarians didn’t end there. In modern history Hungary drove the wooden stake into the heart of the expanding Soviet in 1956 and later opened the road for the East- Germans to find their long awaited freedom. All this gives the Hungarians a different historical position on Christian religions and traditions. H Come to think of it...Hungarian children, also in adopted countries, have more rights than many other nationalities to celebrate Christmas. They are not doing it just for the religious tradition, but they also are paying tribute to the Hungarian ancestors who made the sacrafices, who gave their lives in historical periods to secure life, life-style, civilization, tradition and devotion to what we have today. 11 Come to think of iT...lt would have been nice to see the many Hungarian churches and organizations that have an obligation to thank those Hungarians who laid the foundations of these, and make a special effort to get together for this special celebration. It is something that should have been done a long-long time ago. 1 Come to think of it... Nobody in this world can find grounds to object to this proposal. If there is a will then anything could happen. Just like it did with the Calvin Hall By Sunday afternoon, with the exception of a few reminders of the nursery school, the hall had a stage and ample seating for the audience. It would be so nice if the whole Hungarian community would express its appreciation to all those who made this event possible. This includes the staff of the preschool, also Reverend Poznan, Chief Elder Gilliam of the Calvin Church, who worked up a sweat in the transformation of their hall back to a nursery school. Come with me to think of it ... Page 1 Joseph F. Balogh
