Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. For starters, just a word on the War on Christmas, ironically, to recognize I shouldn’t be spending time thinking about it. And, yet, it gets me riled up — which is, I am sure, the point of those stoking the fires. Get people emotional and interested for fun and profit. The latest news of interest on this front is learning that the Pilgrims viewed Christmas celebration as pagan or, at least, not sanctioned by the Bible. The Founding Fathers didn’t seem to think much of the day either as they traditionally treated December 25 like another work day.

My guess is that we started celebrating Christmas in a modern fashion sometime after Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” And, I’ve been hearing for decades that we no longer celebrate it The Right Way. So, we must have peaked on celebrating properly somewhere between Dickens and maybe the McCarthy Era.

For my part – and it’s probably easier for me to be laid back on the subject because I’m not religious – everyone should celebrate the holiday as they please. And, if they have religious beliefs of their own that preclude them being associated with an event associated with the divinity of Christ, I get that. But, for my part, the holiday is valuable because it’s a time to be with my family and take a moment devoted to them, watching the joy and wonder on the face of my kids; getting my wife a gift as a token of the fact that I love her. And, when they get me gifts, it’s still nice. Even though I could buy the stuff for myself, if I was so inclined, it’s better when it comes with surprise and the knowledge that someone expended the time and the effort because they care for you. The stuff itself is incidental.

Whether Jesus was born any time near December 25 or not, the timing does have an inevitable symbolism that I like because of its proximity to the solstice. The loss of light is at an end; and the sun is beginning its come back. Even though it’s cold and the days remain short, you know it’s just a matter of time before longer days and spring.

Merry Christmas, every one!