Last week I ran into someone that I had not seen in a long time. We chatted for a bit and then I had to get going, so I said goodbye and wished this person a Merry Christmas.
She scolded me, "NO - you shouldn't wish people Merry Christmas Dale - that is unacceptable. You are supposed to say Happy Holidays!" I didn't know what to say for a moment, then I said. "I'm sorry, I don't celebrate the holidays, I celebrate Christmas... so again, Merry Christmas!" Unacceptable or not - that's how it is for me.
If you look on any Calendar you will find Christmas written on Dec 25th. It doesn't say Holiday, it says Christmas! Jesus wasn't born at "Holiday" - he was born at Christmas! Even Santa comes at Christmas - not Holiday! Why must we say Holiday instead of Christmas?
So many people have told me that their Christmas this year is going to be "nothing special". I wonder why? Are they talking about gifts, or food, or family, or spirit? I never know what to think because we all have our own views of Christmas, and those views are often based on different things.
I guess if I was thinking Christmas was only about gifts, I would also say that this Christmas was certainly going to be "nothing special". Lucky for me I believe that the Special of Christmas is the birth of a little baby in Bethlehem so many years ago.
I love the story, I love the pageantry, I love the feeling of welcoming the Christ child into my heart anew year after year, again at Christmas. It is what I was taught to be important at Christmas as a child, it is what I believe to be very important as an adult. There is a certain calm and peace that comes over me when I sing Silent Night in a candle- lit church late Christmas Eve, it is a peace that I do not feel at any other time of the year, and it is Very Special.
Whatever Christmas means to you, and whatever your Christmas is going to be this year, I hope it will be something "Special". Whether you get that feeling from sitting in a church late at night, or sitting at a table filled with family or friends or family and friends, I hope that "Special" something happens to you to give you Peace and Happiness.
This world needs Peace, and we could do with a lot more Happiness too. We have to make it happen, and Christmas is a good time to start.
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