Sweden, Swedes, countrymen and women. In castles and in huts.
It's almost Christmas. Very soon, Christmas peace descends on our dark and cold Nordic region and our long-awaited winter holiday begins.
In a stable in the city of Bethlehem in the Roman province of Judea, the land of the Jews, once upon a time a baby boy was born. The little boy, whose name was Jesus, he was so special that his relatively short time here on earth would change the world in a way that few other people's life's work has done.
You can do all that for sure, regardless of whether you are devout Christians or just ordinary, culturally Christian Swedes.
Because in one way or another, anyone who is Swedish also has a Christian heritage.
A thousand years of Christian tradition in our country has made Sweden, our culture, our traditions, our customs and customs and so on to what it is today.
But Swedish Christmas is precisely Swedish Christmas and it is so much more than a celebration of the birth of the little Jewish boy Jesus.
In the whole of the Christian West, the upcoming holiday is called something that has to do with Christianity, different variations on Christian mass, for example.
In our country, and our culturally closest neighboring countries, it is called Christmas instead.
Christmas as in the Vikings, so also in the past, Northern Europeans Christmas-blot.
Our ancestors refuse to give up their tradition, to pay attention during the absolute darkest time of the year that it is now the turn.
The distant, but steadily approaching spring, life returning.
I think it's very nice, now it turns around.
And even if it doesn't feel like it, the light, the rare Nordic light, will return to us.
Warm breezes will caress our cheeks, streams will pile up, and there will be a scent of spring in the woods and fields again.
And little chubby baby feet will eventually run on dewy grass again.
As it has always been, for thousands and thousands of years, right here in the north, in the land of the sharp seasons.
Back to our beloved Swedish Christmas.
In addition to the multi-rooted reason for our Christmas celebration, we have a plethora of Christmas traditions, which are either completely Swedish, or which are Swedish variations on traditions that have been taken from other cultures.
We have created our own Christmas in our country based on our conditions. It is even so Swedish individualistic that it differs in significant parts at the family level. For some, it's not Christmas Eve if you don't get a portion of rice porridge in the morning, for others it's a ham sandwich in the morning.
For the Andersson family, Christmas is something that can only be celebrated at the family farm in Jämtland, while the neighboring Pettersson family and indeed the Åkesson family like to celebrate Christmas in a warmer country.
The Lundström family rents a cabin near a ski slope, while the Kekkonen family visits relatives in Finland and so on. Thousands of different Christmases that are all perceived as the true traditional Christmas.
And that's totally fine. It works.
And yet it is our shared beloved Swedish Christmas.
And everywhere together lies a warm and fragrant web of different traditions and phenomena that we can all relate to and that make us a we, a community.
It smells of fir and hyacinth. Mulled wine and orange. It smells like toffee and crackers and Christmas ham and lute fish. It smells of childhood and an expectation in a way that can make the most cynic completely blank-eyed.
Christmas music is played, an Angels game sounds rhythmically, a sparkler sizzles quietly and Christmas wrapping paper rustles under children's clenching hands. Sounds that together embed the hearts of stressed Swedes in a warm and soothing, cotton-soft cover. And everywhere lights shine. Light that symbolizes Jesus, that symbolizes the star over Bethlehem, but that is also a quiet reminder of our and our ancestors' eternal struggle against the cold and darkness here in the north, our little place on earth.
Sweden, Swedes, countrymen and women.
As I said, very soon Christmas peace descends on our dark and cold country. Nowadays, the Christmas holiday mostly means a feeling in each of us. A feeling of relative calm, a little less stress, maybe a little time off, fellowship with loved ones.
In the past, a long time ago, it was different then, then the Christmas break was also a legal concept in the sense that it was forbidden to start conflicts or twists during Christmas itself. It was also subject to extra severe penalties for breaking the law during Christmas.
I had promised myself to keep this Christmas greeting free of politics as much as possible just for the sake of the Christmas holiday.
But I still have to say that there is inspiration to draw from for the upcoming negotiations with the governing parties.
The Christmas Peace Act.
Double punishment for violence against women, sexual crimes, humiliating robbery and other mischief. Double punishment for those who disturb the Swedes' Christmas peace with shootings, drug dealing, kidnappings and bombings.
With the already agreed tightening of double punishment for gang criminals, it would quadruple the punishment for gang criminals during Christmas. It would be a Christmas present worthy of the name to all honest and decent people in our country. I will take it with me into the future work.
But first we will enjoy our Swedish Christmas.
Sweden. Countrymen and countrywomen. Swedes in castles and Swedes in huts. In large families and in small ones. In the innermost city centers in rural suburbs and sparsely populated areas. Swedes in Sweden and Swedes in other countries.
Enjoy now. Unwind. Treat yourself to reflection, a little thought. Eat well. Drink well. Breathe.
Take care of all that we have inherited together from Christian ancestors as well as from those who refused to stop celebrating the return of light.
For further, this gift to the children. Nothing better than Swedish Christmas can hardly be found on this earth.
Sweden. Swedes.
I wish you all a very, very merry Christmas.
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