Dear Readers,It is a very interesting time. I become very concerned when people say, “They are taking the Christ out of Christmas”. Who is “they”? When I see statements like that and how many people believe that I am kind of confused. Who is waging this new world religious psychological warfare? No one can take the Christ out of my Christmas. How does one believe that “they” are in control of what “you” believe? Sounds, tricky to me. When I see Christians being mean about it and using aggressive language, in my humble opinion, those types of statements do nothing for peace, joy and happiness on earth. Behaving badly over saying “Happy Holidays” is not very Christ-like. We live in an amazing world with so many different people and we should embrace who we are and respect who they are.
The Christmas story basically is about God sending Jesus to earth and being born to the virgin Mary (my daughter who is 10-years-old is still asking me how she had a baby and do I know anyone who had a baby like Mary. She also asked a pastor recently how did the whole world reproduce if the world started with four people and three were men. Imagine the look on his face. Well, I was even more mortified.)
Jesus was given three gifts; gold, frankincense and myrrh for his birth by the three wise men or Magi, which serve as the inspiration for Christmas gift giving today. (We won’t even touch my daughter’s question of how fast did the camels run to get to Jesus when he was born? Sheesh. When she reads the Bible, she is studying it and she has been reading it ever since she could read.)
I am not ashamed to tell anyone that I am a Christian. I am a born and raised Christian and probably will die being a Christian. The one thing I do know is that according to the Bible, Jesus got gold, frankincense and myrrh for his birth.
One of my Facebook friends sent me this “I’m inviting all my Facebook family and friends to join me in returning to the traditional greeting of “Merry Christmas” instead of the politically correct “Happy Holidays”. If you agree with me, please re-post this message. Merry Christmas! repost”.
I would have a problem if someone told me not to say Merry Christmas if I was specifically talking about Christmas. When did you “leave” saying Merry Christmas? The holiday season is to be enjoyed happily.
In regards to her post about the term “Happy Holidays”, I wrote: “They are just words. No one can take the Christ out of Christmas. Besides we live in a huge world! Peace on earth! Happy Kwanza and Happy Hannakah too. Love people! Happy Holidays to me indicates Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year! Nothing more and nothing less. No one can take Christ away from you unless you allow them… one issue I will not fight… it is unnecessary. :)”
For some, Christmas is not a happy time, whether they are missing loved ones or just suffer from winter depression, they need some cheering up too.
I was born on December 27 and when I was younger I always felt as though I was ignored during Christmas. I thought people paid so much attention to giving material things on Christmas and would forget about other birthday’s close to Jesus’. As an adult, I wonder what does waking up at 2:00 a.m. to stand in a line for hours to fight over the latest toy or gadget has to do with Christ? What does an Xbox have to do with Christ? Should I go on. No.
So why not Happy Holidays as opposed to nothing at all.
Love people and Merry Christmas to all, including “they”,
Rina Risper
This was printed in the December 18, 2011 – December 31, 2011 Edition
