From time immemorial, people have celebrated Christmas. I could have said Christians celebrated Christmas, but that would not be true. For most of the history of the U.S., most people have celebrated Christmas and known it’s meaning. The first six letters in Christmas describe what the holiday is all about; it’s about the birth of Christ.
In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to wipe the country clean of this wonderful holiday. Law suits and legislative enactments have attempted to remove the true meaning of Christmas so that it is just “the holidays” and a time to say “happy holidays.”
To that, I say “Bah, humbug.”
Christmas has only ever been about one thing and that one thing involved a manger, a baby, angels, a mother and father, some farm animals, a brilliant star, three wise men and the hope of salvation. Today, it means fights at stores, some “popular” toys (for a month or two) and more lawsuits by people who don’t want anybody in the country celebrating the birth of a special baby.
To these scrooges, I say, leave us alone. If they think that their actions are making America better, I have only one answer; wrong. America was better before when most people unabashedly celebrated Christmas. Even many Jewish people celebrated the holiday alongside Hanukah.
The spirit of giving, and the joy on the faces of the receivers of those gifts, is worth having at least one day a year to do that one simple act. It was that baby, who grew to be extraordinarily important, who said; “It is better (more blessed) to give than to receive.” To see the happiness of a child unwrapping a gift they really wanted brings that principle home. The same goes for the person living on the street who can enjoy a special meal that day.
For those of us who grew up in the 50′, 60’s and even the 70’s, we can remember the Nativity scenes that graced the front yards of private homes and churches and municipal buildings from sea to shining sea. It wasn’t an endorsement of a particular religion, it was a declaration that “this is Christmas” and this is a reminder of what it is really about. Lest we forget.
Today, nary a Nativity exists in the public square of even the smallest towns. Hundreds, if not thousands, of judges have been persuaded that the scene with the baby and his parents might insult the sensibilities of an Atheist somewhere. So, for a generation of kids and the generation behind them, America will be wiped clean of this wonderful time and it will be sanitized and made into just a winter holiday. Pity those poor young people that they will never really understand what Christmas is really about. Even Charlie Brown can no longer tell the true story of Christmas. As America decays, so does America’s institutions and traditions.
To anyone reading this, I say Merry Christmas. “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
There is a reason for the season.
