This is a great time of the year... in many ways... family, giving, all that music, remembering the birth of Jesus and how He impacts all of us, time off work... oh, did I mention family. From the time I was a teen in the 60's I remember people bemoaning the increasing commercialization of Christmas... that Jesus was being crowded out by our secular society. I could see that was true, but, interestingly enough, back then in Churches of Christ, we pretty much ignored the Christmas from a religious standpoint for two reasons: 1) nobody knew when Jesus was born, so how could we just pick a day God hadn't authorized, and 2) since God didn't command such a celebration, we dare not get involved. We didn't want to risk the fires of hell by singing "Joy to the World" in December. Instead, back then we majored in the family aspect, sent cards with Santa and Rudolph but no Jesus or angels, hit all the sales, and threw Holiday Parties for the youth group, but nothing that smacked of "Christmas"... except, of course, for we closet rebels.
I thought it was ridiculous back then, so I am thrilled that our fellowship has matured to the point that we can talk about and thank God for his miraculous entrance into our world... even if we still don't know for sure when Jesus was born.
Which brings me (in a rambling sort of way) to the current controversy about "Merry Christmas" vs "Happy Holidays" for Christians. Sigh.... get over yourselves, people. If you want to get technical about it, those of us with non-Catholic roots maybe shouldn't say Merry holiday" used to be "holy day." And we probably don't even want to get into the fact that Christmas on December 25 was a convenient Christian replacement for a pagan holiday after the Roman Empire legalized Christianity and it became the dominant religion, do we?!?
Seems to me that how you treat people, how thankful you are, and what's in your heart is probably WAY MORE IMPORTANT than what words you use to
characterize this time of the year. Somehow, I have a much easier time seeing a 21st century Jesus giving to the poor, enjoying family, and being with his friends than getting involved in this useless debate. Soooo... as the day approaches... Happy Holidays... Season's Greetings... Merry Christmas!!
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