It seems that the Christmas season each year gets more controversial every year.
On one side you have the group that is trying to rename the holiday so you do not offend any one. So instead of Christmas you get your choice of what to call that day:
Happy Holidays
Merry X-mas
Happy the next major holiday after Thanksgiving
Merry rhyme's with ShishMas
The local hospital has an annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. It is an elaborate event and they always have some local dignitary as the official tree lighter. Over the years I have seen it go from
"Come celebrate our Christmas tree lighting ceremony" to
"Come celebrate our Holiday tree lighting ceremony" to this year (no lie)
"Come celebrate our tree lighting ceremony."
Bah Humbug!!
It makes the headlines if someone sticks with the word Christmas. I read recently that Lowes was actually going to sell (gasp) Christmas Trees as the liberals jingle bells tremble.
This year however it seems like there is more (or maybe I am just aware of more) discussion within Christian circles about the evils of Christmas. I will be the first to admit we as Americans have turned the Christmas holiday into a gluttonous feast of materialism.
I will also admit that Christ needs to be the center of our Christmas celebration. That being said the American Christmas has many traditions that have emerged over the years, Christmas lights, Santa Claus, caroling, Alvin & the Chipmunks. So I think as Christians as long as you keep Christ the focus, it is harmless to enjoy the other festivities of the season.
Growing up we could not go down an open our gifts on Christmas morning until my Dad had read us the Christmas story. That was probably the longest scripture reading I have ever endured (that is saying a lot, because I sat through a lot of sermons). But it is probably the thing I remeber most about Christmas in our house.
We as Christians have a habit of demonizing things whether it be Santa, Teletubbies, certain books or movies. We seem to have a fear of fiction. The God I know & serve is bigger than any fictional character I have ever learned about.
The logic that if you teach your children about Santa and then they find out he is not real, they will likewise think that Christ is not real, does not hold with me. If my children do not believe that Christ is real because they find out Santa is not real then as a parent I have done a horrible job of teaching them about Christ. It means I have relegated Christ to nothing more than a bunch of stories. I have not lived the life.
Think about a child's life and how much of it is rooted in fiction and how much in reality. If we had to go by the above logic then when your child finds out that Barney, the Wiggles or the Tooth fairy are not real they could think the same about Christ.
It seems the real winner in the Christmas controversy is Satan. While half of us our worried that the government is trying to secularize religious holiday the other half is worried that participating in established Christmas traditions could set jeopardize or children's future. Satan sits back and laughs as he has successful taken the focus of Christ during the Christmas season.
I'm not saying I'm right in this, I am just thinking out loud. Love to hear your comments (except negative ones it is Christmas after all)
Merry Christmas
Robbie |
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