“'Happy Holidays'... 'Thank you so much, and have a safe Fourth of July as well!'”
What ever happened to Christmas?
I was driving along the other day and saw the ultimate in "Christmas" decorations. Picture in your mind the traditional manger scene. Instead of the wise men, Santa and two of his elves were attending Joseph and Mary. There was one sheep, Rudolph, and what looked like a shooting target in the shape of a wild boar. Suspended between two trees was a sleigh with Santa and the reindeer. Frosty the Snowman and sundry other "Holiday" decorations we scattered around the yard.
What happened here? I am not that old, but I still remember when it was not "offensive" to greet someone with the phrase, "Merry Christmas." I am so tired of the political correctness that has slowly, yet most assuredly, squeezed Christ out of Christmas. I hope to remind us all, in the following lines, of the reason for this season and encourage us all to Worship the Christ of Christmas this year.
I don't know if you have thought of this in this way, but what is it with "Happy Holidays?" I have had many enjoyable times when I was wished "Happy Holidays," I quickly respond with "Thank you so much, and have a safe Fourth of July as well!" If they look puzzled, most of the time they do, I ask them if I returned the correct holiday sentiment or were they referring to another holiday. You see the calendar is full of "holidays," everything from celebrating a rodent on February 2, to honoring our dead presidents on Presidents Day. There are days to celebrate mothers, fathers and grandparents. You see, you can find something that is being celebrated as a holiday on almost any day of the year.
So what ever happened to the day we choose to set aside as the celebration of the birth of just the most important person to touch foot on this planet in all of eternity? It used to be that Christmas decorations were not in your face until mid November. Just before Labor Day, I was in a local "we sell it all" store and what did I see in the back corner by the lawn and garden stuff? You guessed right! Rudolph and Santa. I live in South Florida. I was in the store in flip flops and shorts and here are "Christmas" decorations. I mean really, Dracula isn't even out for Halloween and "Holiday" decorations are being sold.
Don't take this as being completely against celebrating holidays, but like all other things, they each have a name. You don't go to the animal shelter and adopt just any animal. You adopt a specific animal, so why not let us celebrate Christmas as its own holiday.
Some years ago my wife and I were teaching a Sunday School class at our church. The age group was from four years old through fourth grade. The class was challenging in its own right, but I asked them which holiday was more important, Christmas or Easter. It was fascinating the theology of kids. Some said that Christmas was the most important because of the presents they would get. Others said that without Christmas, Easter would not even be an issue. As you could guess, for the next ninety minutes, we had the theological equivalent of which came first, the chicken or the egg. We came to the conclusion that both were vital to our faith and that when we got to Heaven we could ask God what the right answer was. Nonetheless, Christmas is the pivot point of all civilization whether you believe in God or not.
We are currently in the year 2005 AD. (year of our Lord) Time prior to Christ's birth is referred to as BC.(before Christ) Think of this way, from eternity past to eternity future, the whole reason for our redemption, is the life of Christ. His birth, life, death and resurrection, is what separates us all from Heaven or Hell. That, my friend, is the reason for the season. There is even a movement afoot to rename the way we tell time. According to this movement, it is now the year 2005 CE.(common era) The time before that is referred to either BCE or PCE. (before the common era or prior to common era)
Some times it is enough to make me want to scream. I am in no way an old "scrooge" at all. I truly enjoy the time leading up to Christmas as I anticipate celebrating the birth of my Savior. But I also find it a bit challenging, how do I act like Christ and be PC(polite and courteous) without being PC(politically correct)? Once you step into the process, I believe you too will find your own ways to challenge the status quo and lift up Jesus Christ as we celebrate Christmas this year.
May you and your family experience the most blessed Christmas you have ever had.
Your fellow servant in HIS service
Tim Meyer
e-mail: papaspipeline@aol.com
Tim Meyer lives in Florida and regularly contributes to Graceland through 'Inside Out'.