Christmas Wish

Christmas always bring out a certain amount of nostalgia, sentiment, memories, etc. People get plum mushy this time of year. They also get their backs up if someone tries to be politically correct and use Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings rather than Merry Christmas. People will go out and spend lots of money buying gifts for folks they would not normally buy for. They will buy their children toys that they don't really need. They will attend some sort of Christian candle-light service when they may never enter a church any other time of the year. They will make a big to do about Santa, having pictures made with some strange man holding their children. There is just something about Christmas...I know it and understand it and love it and have a certain freedom from it.

Maybe it is because I spent most of my Christmases in a resort town where everyone worked their buns off making the holidays special for the tourist, but not much time for yourself and family, but to me, family and memories are what are important here. Maybe the reason that I like Thanksgiving so much is it, too, is about family and memories, but it does not have all the distractions that Christmas has. Let's be honest here. Christmas is suppose to celebrate the birth of Christ, anything else is a distraction. Santa, the tree, and the gifts are lots of fun, but they distract terribly from the true purpose. It seems most of our so called "Christian holidays" are so mixed with pagan celebrations, the real meanings are lost. So with each holiday, keep in mind the real reason for the season, and ask yourself, "Where is it mandated that Christians celebrate this (or any) holiday on a certain day of the year?" It is not. I think that is because we are suppose to celebrate the birth and death of Christ everyday of the year. How do you do that? I think we are suppose to love one another. And that is my wish for everyone this season.