If your Facebook feed looks anything like mine, you have probably seen one too many memes and posts defending the right to share a Merry Christmas greeting. What you probably have not seen, are any posts (at all...not a one...) of anyone alleging or suggesting that people shouldn't be saying Merry Christmas, or that wishing someone a Merry Christmas is either inappropriate, offensive, politically incorrect or unwelcome.
I would hope that the holiday season would bring joy and humanity to the forefront, but we've instead supplemented our election rants for the fight to save Merry Christmas -- from no clear or suggested threat.
Like any sane person, I wish people a greeting that is relevant to their life, as well as the date. During the holiday season, I wish people happy holidays! It's not because I hate Jesus, it's because I feel it's more representative of what I'm feeling at the time. I consider Thanksgiving through New Years, the holiday season, and during that time, that's what I'm celebrating. I wish my Jewish friends a happy Hanukkah, even if I have to Google the spelling more times than I care to admit. (In my defense, there's like 12 ways to spell it...)
I celebrate Christmas, and I wish people a merry Christmas when it's Christmas. I even wish some of my Jewish friends a merry Christmas, because many of them celebrate both. I don't know anyone who celebrates Kwanzaa, but if I did, I'd be more than happy to wish anyone celebrating, a happy Kwanzaa. It's like when it's someone's birthday, and you wish them a happy birthday, even though it's not your birthday... because it's theirs and they are celebrating. I also wish people a happy anniversary, even when I'm not celebrating an anniversary. I'm really just a heck of a person that way.
So let's talk about Jesus, and your God given right to wish people a Merry Christmas. I'm pretty sure Jesus was born in the spring, but I think we all know it wasn't December 25th. So why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th? Well that's because we wanted to "Christianize" the ongoing pagan celebrations of the sun, that occurred on December 25th... So after the church overtook an existing holiday, we are now upset that not everyone on earth is not using our preferred holiday greeting?
But if that wasn't enough, we've chosen to honor the birth of Christ, a life lived in humility, idealism, kindness and generosity of spirit by having the largest single event celebrating materialism, waste, and debt known to our modern world? Jesus said, If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor.
I love Christmas, and I love Jesus. Even though Jesus wasn't born on December 25th, I still enjoy having a day to reflect on his birth, and a reminder before I enter every new year, that I want to live a life like Jesus did. If I'm honest, I also like the presents.
Faith is a personal matter, and if we cannot respect other faith traditions, how can we expect respect for our own? Before we shout Merry Christmas from the roof tops, perhaps we should first live it in our hearts.