I just received another one of those facebook comments by
someone that is upset that someone else is saying Happy Holidays instead of
Merry Christmas. I suppose that the problem is that by saying Happy Holidays
you will in some way take the “Christ” out of Christmas.
As my dad used to say, “Well, Christ on a stick! That’s the
dumbest thing I have ever heard.” He usually said that when I was talking to
him about how I saw the world, but I’m sure he would have used it if he had
been on facebook. I’ve noticed that the people who put comments like this on
facebook are Christians only at Christmas, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The
rest of the year they do their worship from under the covers.
We used to go to church on a regular basis when the kids
were small. We hoped that when they decided organized religion had many flaws,
they would make that decision with some real time experience to draw on. It
turns out that they didn’t learn much of anything other than that there are
some very odd people who go to church every Sunday. I kind of enjoyed the sense
of belonging in a way. The coffee was terrible, but it was fun to learn why
these people came to the church and what they get from it. Everyone was
different and they all had an empty hole in their lives that they filled with
religion.
I don’t know why people are bothered by the Happy Holidays comment;
as far back as I can remember it has been used at this time of year. I guess
the animosity began when some well intentioned person wanted to name a
Christmas tree the Holiday tree. I don’t care what
someone else wants to call the tree or for that matter, I don’t care if they
want to call Christmas by some politically correct name either. I will continue
to call it what I like.
The Christmas season is no longer just about a religious
holiday. It is about money and our economy. The season brings with it a frenzy
of spending on quite literally everything. There is no area of our economy that
is unaffected by Christmas. Retail stores are just apeshit crazy of course, travel
and all of the tourism industry, the oil industry benefits from increased
movement, the Post Office which helps pay for my pension, construction getting
everything ready for the season and on and on. I defy anyone to find a business
that doesn’t reap the rewards of the season.
Don’t worry what someone else is doing or saying, why would
you care? Enjoy Christmas or don’t enjoy Christmas, any stress is only there
because you allow it to be there. Smile at strangers, give generously to those
that have little, let the little children believe in the magic for as long as
possible, love those closest to you and call it whatever you want to call it.
Eat too much. Give too much. Get too much. Enjoy too much.
Don’t let the sad little people make you sad and small.
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