Merry Christmas?

It seems like every year about this time I receive forwarded e-mails reminding me to say “Merry Christmas” and not “Season’s Greetings.” It is Christ – mas! We are celebrating the birth of Christ! Remember? Okay, point well made, especially if you are a Christian. Unfortunately, like it or not, Christmas has become a secular holiday to many. Other religions also celebrate their particular beliefs around this time as well. It all gets rather confusing. What should the proper greeting be at this time of year when meeting people where their faith, religion or beliefs are an unknown? Should I assume everyone I meet is Christian and wish them a Merry Christmas? Should Christians or Muslims be offended if someone, let’s say of the Jewish faith, wished them a Happy Chanukah at this time of year? It can almost make you paranoid.

I grew up with a holiday tradition filled with a mix of Baby Jesus, shepherds, angels, Santa Claus, reindeer and Christmas trees, but most important…PRESENTS. Even our Christmas music reflects this mix of secular and religious themes when we listen to Here Comes Santa and O’ Little Town of Bethlehem play in the stores as we shop for our Christmas gifts. Our memories of the sights and sounds and the smells of how we celebrated Christmas growing up are so ingrained that we do not even realize the secularization of the holiday. It has become a part of us, our culture.

This really hit home when last year Wal-Mart announced that Santa would no longer be in the stores during the Christmas holiday. This caused an uproar among leaders of several Christian Churches here in San Antonio. There were editorials calling for a boycott of Wal-Mart stores unless they agreed to bring back Santa Claus, this symbol of Christmas. It was really quite amazing to see such an outpouring of emotion from the Christian community. For some reason I never thought of the image of Santa Claus as a symbol for the birth of Christ, yet all my life the two have gone hand in hand. Again, it has been our cultural mix at this time of year and we accept it.

My daughter and her husband have an interesting way of keeping the Christ in Christmas and yet preserve the tradition of gift giving and celebration. Our granddaughter was brought up with the idea that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. She gets to wear a party hat with noisemakers and mommy bakes Baby Jesus a birthday cake. Everyone gets presents to celebrate the event. Yes, Santa is still out there in the malls, but in this Christian household, they celebrate Jesus’ birthday. I think it brings up a very good point. If Christians wish to keep Christ in Christmas, it has to start in the home. What will your family TRADITIONS be? You have the power to create them. They are the ones you will remember the rest of your life.

Lisa and I have scaled back our Christmas gift giving and celebration since our move to San Antonio. We spend a quieter day with her mother, brother and his wife exchanging one or two inexpensive gifts. My memories still linger this time of year, however, to other family Christmases past when my mom was still alive. Our extended families would gather for the big present blowout and feeding frenzy. It was stressful, beautiful, exciting and noisy with laughing children running throughout the house with their treasures. There was plenty of wonderful food and time to get caught up on our lives. That was my tradition for many years, but it was a more secular celebration. Not much room for Baby Jesus. I guess the bottom line is Christmas is what we choose to make it…

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings to all of you!

FOOD for THOUGHT...

Of Moths and Men

Before Lisa and I moved to San Antonio, we voted for Rob Blagojevich as he ran for governor of Illinois. He was young, a democrat and promising reform. His opponent, Governor George Ryan, was an old guard republican steeped in institutional corruption. There was talk that Ryan was about to be indicted on federal charges. It seemed like a “no brainer” at the time. Rob won the election and a few years after our departure won a second term as governor.

So, what happened? How did he go from this fresh faced reformer full of promise on the Illinois scene to a common thug, a shakedown artist selling President-Elect Obama’s former senate seat to the highest bidder among other despicable scandals designed to bring him more wealth and power? At one time, he had it all and now he faces a criminal trial and impeachment. His political career, his reputation has been destroyed. What didn’t he get?

Too many politicians enter public service for the wrong reason or they allow themselves to be corrupted along the way. The allure of personal wealth and power become addictive. Politicians become adept at telling us what they think we want to hear so they can win our votes. We just finished a two-year presidential campaign where the charges and counter-charges crowded out the issues that should have been at the forefront. If you want to win, if you want to be effective, you have to “play ball” or you are left in the dust of history. Such is our political system today. Perhaps it has always been thus.

We want to believe what politicians tell us. We want to believe in their virtue, but deep down we know how the game is played. We know there are compromises and deals behind the closed doors away from the light of public scrutiny. When their greed and arrogance finally expose their misdeeds, we are shocked, disillusioned and outraged at their betrayals or we become cynical and come to distrust all who would seek public office. Those who seek office with the courage of their convictions, to actually serve the public and make the world a better place, are rare. To be an effective leader in a sea of self-serving politicians…is rare indeed. The lure of wealth and power are like moths to the flame.

Eventually they are consumed.

FOOD for THOUGHT...