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...