Happy Holidays

I don't normally write holiday themed posts, but I've had some things tugging at my heart lately that I wanted to put down in writing. Christmas feels different this year for some reason. It feels… tired. I feel sad about a number of things, but also at peace. I am at peace because I feel as though on a personal level I am coming through a short but very trying period of life. The birth of my daughter so soon after the birth of my son brought with it a lot of stress on my family and marriage. My job situation has changed several times in the last year. These added stressors have been good for us though, because I believe it has and still is bringing to light some of our ugliness that we normally can't see, and we are dealing with it one step at a time. I feel closer to my wife and more proud to raise a family with her than I ever have before. That's not to say that we will be on easy street from here on out - ha! But these are not the things that make me sad, they bring me my deepest joy and fullest peace.



There seems to be an awful lot of offense taking going on lately. With all of the scandals and conflicts that have been blowing up in the media lately, everyone has an opinion about what's right, what's ok to say and not ok to say, how to say it, what to do about it, and who to punish. Sadly, I've seen many fellow Christians right in the thick of it all - Christians name-calling, judging, scoffing, mocking, accusing, bullying, and abusing all in the name of standing up for their faith. Now, I know that these people do not necessarily make up the majority of Christians around the world, but let's face it, they shout the loudest, and the world listens. However, rather than stir the pot about any of the most current issues and controversies, I'd like to dig into something a little less inflammatory but which nevertheless I think sums up nicely an attitude that I find to be entirely un-Christlike. The attitude I am talking about is the reaction to a simple phrase - "Happy Holidays."



I'll be blunt - sometimes I think Christians get more offended when someone wishes them "Happy Holidays" than non-Christians do when wished a "Merry Christmas." We get all huffy because apparently the rest of the world wants to take Christ out of Christmas, and by eliminating the words "Merry Christmas" from everyone's vocabulary they have accomplished just that. First of all, no, just no. There is not a single person, people group, religion, government, or alien invasion force that could ever take Christ out of Christmas. Our faith is our own, and no one can take that, no one can take God away from us, and no one can change what Jesus did for us. He is unchangeable - that's why He is God.



This is a silly issue, I know. It's the mindset behind it that I am targeting though. We think that we are being noble as we put "Christ back in Christmas" when we wish a random stranger a "Merry Christmas," but what we are really doing is avoiding an opportunity to have a actual conversation with a fellow human who has a life separate from our own and beliefs thats have developed in a different way than our own. Now, I understand the mindset that by saying "Merry Christmas" we are proclaiming our faith and witnessing to someone in the shortest amount of time possible, and I get that sometimes there simply isn't the time for anything more than that. I get that. But that's not what those words actually mean. What it means when we say "Merry Christmas" is literally "have a happy celebration of the holiday of Christmas." Why would you say that to someone who doesn't actually celebrate Christmas? If someone walked up to me and wished me a happy Eid Al-Adha (a Muslim holiday), I would be well, confused, first, but also a little irritated at the assumption that I actually celebrated that holiday.



It's probably not really that big of a deal. But I've seen people make a HUGE deal out of it. I've seen people get literally angry when they hear the phrase "Happy Holidays." Reacting that way is not Christ-like. It's not taking into consideration that there are actually a lot of people out there who haven't had the same upbringing and life circumstances as our own. Wishing them a "Merry Christmas" is not going to switch on a magic light bulb in their heads and bring them into a life with Christ. Being sensitive, kind, and loving might though. It might change the world. So Happy Holidays, and if you celebrate the birth of Christ, Merry Christmas as well.