Merry Everything!

Have you noticed the indignation of people who are upset because people are saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"?  I am a bit confused by it all.  For most of my adult life the companies I worked for sent out "Seasons Greetings" cards in order to be all-inclusive so why now the big palaver?

I honestly wonder if when asked the people know what it is that they are complaining about. Now before you throw me under the bus, or should I say sleigh, by no means am I belittling or demeaning the Christian, Christmas traditions.  Christ Mass, the birth of Jesus Christ… that is after all what Christmas stands for.  There are millions of Christians around the world who will be celebrating with a tree, Santa, presents, lights and food, but also going to Church, Mass or whatever their Christian denomination denotes.

Some of my confusion stems from the fact that many of the people getting upset aren't necessarily the ones who follow the Christian tradition of Worship.  It is my humble opinion that the blatant commercialization of Christmas is causing far more harm than saying Happy Holidays. From now until December 24^th we will be bombarded with buy, buy, buy!  Christ is so far removed from Christmas it can’t be made any more ludicrous by saying Happy Holidays. In fact I feel they are doing us a favour by including all others.

I remember well when my children were young and we had been in North America for a few years; as I was preparing for Christmas I asked them if they knew why we celebrate Christmas.  I was taken aback when I learnt that they didn’t have a clue, all they knew was that they get presents.  Needless to say I remedied it that year and we went to a little Lutheran Church on Christmas Eve so they could learn what it was all about.  If we were to celebrate Christmas it seemed important to me that they know and understand.  The fact that I follow another path is neither here nor there.

What is this time of year really about, not just for Christian, Jews, people who celebrate Kwanzaa or even Pagans?  It is about peace, harmony, love, joy, letting go of differences and blessings. So, I say - say whatever you like, as long as you mean it and you are wishing the other person peace, joy and many blessings from your heart!

Love and Light