There’s an old saying: "If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right." That’s a great ideal to live by, especially when talking about Christmas.
It’s that magical time of year, halfway through the 12 Days of Christmas, when folks are dashing about madly, trying to get their shopping done. It’s also the “magical” time when the last embers of Christmas spirit are finally crushed by the frantic pace of Christmas preparations.
While our children are about to explode in anticipation of the magical morning when they get presents from Santa, far too many adults are about to explode in anger over parking spaces.
Where has all the love gone?
Let’s all take a deep breath and reflect for a moment on what Christmas is all about: Christ.
No, I’m not cursing. I’m talking about why this holiday even exists: Christ.
Now, I could launch into a sermon on how stupid you heathens are for not believing Christ is the son of God, but you do what you want. If it makes you happy, that’s for you to decide. So I’ll skip the whole Truth of the Gospel and instead talk about Christ and His birthday.
Fact: Christmas is a holiday created by the Catholic Church to celebrate the birth of their Savior, Jesus Christ. And even if you deny that Christ is the Savior, you still can’t deny He existed as a historical figure. Savior or prophet, or just a nice carpenter from
But do the folks bustling around this holiday season really celebrate Christmas, or just Xmas?
I think for far too many folks, Christmas is just a chance to get something—Lots of somethings. They not only forget Christ was a real historical figure, they forget what Christ stands for and instead look greedily forward to free stuff and a day off from work.
But it wasn’t always that way. Once, we were all children and we looked forward to Christmas with wonder and excitement. We didn’t fight over parking spaces or fret over buying the right present for the right person. We just enjoyed the holiday and the chance to spend time with family and friends.
What happened?
Christ taught that we should all love each other- not flip the bird because we lost out on a parking space. Christ taught that kindness was a wonderful thing. He fed the hungry; He didn’t snatch sales items from their hands. And most of all Christ had compassion for all of those around Him- even the people that tortured and executed Him. If Christ could put up with all of that, surely during His birthday season, you can show better manners than you do the rest of the year.
Even if you don’t believe the religion, and want to believe your ancestors hung out in trees flinging poop at each other, if you’re going to celebrate the holiday, do it right. Otherwise, go invent your own holiday…Like Kwanzaa.
The Catholics stole Saturnalia from the pagans. It seems like all this commericalism and santa-ism and securlarism of the season is just the pagan effort to reclaim it. This doesn’t mean we have to give it back, of course.
That’s fine- do your own holiday- just don’t wish anyone a Merry Christmas, use Santa’s image, put up a tree or sing Christmas carols.
You don’t try playing basektball with a football, do you?
I know your comment was done tongue-n-cheek, Trog, but seriously, I don’t think the fact that FKIProf’s highlighting the vestiges of paganism indicative of the “holiday” season necessitates jettisoning Christmas in favor of something else. (I know you’re not advocating any such thing, but for those who might be eaves dropping, I’ll put my two cents in as well.) I do think the pagan roots of many of our traditions should give us pause for reflection. We should ask why we do the things we do. Why the wreath? Why the trimmed tree, etc.? After much research and soul searching, I have total peace, now, with most of these traditions. What me and my family have done is reinterpret these pagan abstractions, fitting them into a Christian paradigm. Instead of pagan trappings tainting the purity of Christ, guys, these symbols have become powerful reminders of the timeless truth of the gospel.
Merry Christmas guys! See you next year.