I’ve got cookie dough mixed up and am well on my way to a celebration of sprinkles, powdered sugar and crushed peppermints. That should keep me out of trouble this weekend. Should help keep the house warm, too, with the oven in overdrive and we could use that. I’ve noticed a little bit of hostility this year when some people say Merry Christmas and I don’t mean the grinchy kind. It started this year with the open invitation by e-mail to view and help decorate the “Holiday Tree” at work. It was quickly followed by “Don’t you mean “CHRISTMAS tree”? which was followed with “here here”. Oh man, here it comes….yep, the e-mails began to flow…including the eventual retrospective into the historical ramifications of the Christmas tree….geez loo-eez!
I’m a Catholic which I'm pretty sure makes me a Christian. I am not a CHRISTIAN. I don’t have a fish on my car. I am not a member of the Jesus fan club with the WWJD jewelry, the pin, the patch, the decal. I worship at the beach and the trees and the sunsets…occasionally in an actual church. I am not offended should someone sincerely wish me Happy Holidays or Happy Hannukah or Joyous Solstice. Consequently, I don’t understand why someone who is pagan or atheist would be offended by a “Merry Christmas” greeting. Nor do I understand the joy that Christians seem to get from snarling “MERRY CHRISTMAS” as if to say “I’m saying Merry Christmas not Happy Holidays because CHRIST should be in Christmas blah blah blah”. I feel as if I should question Christmas cards from years back that said Happy Holidays --- “what did they mean by THAT?” Isn’t the Happy Holiday greeting just a shortened version of Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Solstice….Enjoy your holiday of choice? Perhaps I should only wish glad tidings to those who believe EXACTLY as I do... Yikes..does anyone believe the way that I do?
Christmas should be about happiness and joy and love for your fellow man/woman/transgender/whatever. It’s about dropping a tip in tip jar when you don’t usually bother. Or dropping the money you were going to spend on a mocha in the red bucket and wishing the bell-ringer a Merry Christmas. Maybe even NOT snarling at the people begging with signs at the mall exit. It’s about warm and fuzzy not anger and confrontation. I want to hear “Merry Christmas” again and with sincerity dammit. So, as I head for my weekend of Christmas baking and last-minute shopping, I wish you all a MerryHappyChrismahannkwanzukah. Oh, a joyous solstice today as well since it signifies a journey towards longer days and hopefully warmer ones. It’s all good!
3 comments:
Beachcomber.....Season's Greetings to you and your family!
I just had to say "amen" to that. I'm an agnostic but I understand the spirit of Christmas a lot better than some Christians get angry about simple wordchoices. Lighten up and love one another and that goes for Non-Christians, too.
I think that many people take life WAY too seriously. I keep getting reminded that "Solstice isn't a holiday"....well hell, if people dance, it's a holiday in my book!
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