Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas (and here's why)

Merry Christmas to all!! 

I love Christmas for a lot of reasons.  Has it become totally commercialized?  Well, I would say yes and no to that question.  If I hear one more newscaster talk about the "short holiday shopping season this year" one more time, I swear I'm going to lose my eggnog.  Let's make it clear here that there is no rule that says you can only holiday shop after Thanksgiving.  None.  In reality, there is no such thing as a holiday shopping season.  There is simply a holiday season.  And let's not forget that it includes quite a few holidays.

But right now, I'm talking about Christmas. 

One of the reasons that I love Christmas is that you can celebrate it for so many reasons.

First, there is a religious Christmas.  Celebrating the birth of Christ and, therefore, the birth of Christianity.   It's a big religion followed my millions (perhaps billions) of people worldwide.  And to all of you, I say Merry Christmas.

Then there is historic Christmas.  A lot of people who don't follow the Christian faith, still find a lot of good in Christ as a purely historic figure.  There's a lot to be said for this.  He seemed like a nice guy.  His message to the world was basically "be nice".   Kind of hard to argue with that.  And to all of you who celebrate this, I say Merry Christmas.

Then there is the purely secular Christmas.  There are also quite a few people who do not follow the Christian faith and who aren't at all interested in a guy who lived thousands of years ago.  Yet the idea of the holiday--"Peace on earth, good will to all"--resonates with them and they celebrate it.  To all of you, I say Merry Christmas. 

To everyone who is left, I still say Merry Christmas.  Because I am celebrating it!!  And I believe in sharing celebrations with those around me. You can simply tell me to have a nice day.  I'm totally cool with that.

P.S.  And to all, I ask only one thing in return.  Please don't say or use Xmas.  You don't do "Xukah" or "IndepenX Day".  Don't do it to Christmas.