The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means God with us. Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23
So, I’ve been seeing a lot of, and I see it every year at this time, signs, stickers, Facebook posts, or whatever else that say something to the effect of “Keep Christ in Christmas.” This is usually has a tone that borders on hostile rather than being a simple reminder against overconsumerism (is that a word?) and the pitfalls that can accompany the holiday.
To some extent, the exasperation in the statement is warranted. Wish the wrong person a “Merry Christmas” and it will be explained to you, in no uncertain terms and at an inflated decibel level, that such a wish is not only unwelcome but terribly offensive. It shouldn’t be. Whether you are a Christian or not, somebody taking a moment to wish you a merry anything should be welcome. There’s enough ill will out there that I’ll take all the “merry” and “happy” thoughts I can get. No reason to be offended at all.
But…
The only people who care about keeping Christ in Christmas are obviously Christians and as such, are the only ones posting this message. So I guess my answer to them, and I’m Christian as well so no exemption here, is what are you doing to keep Christ in Christmas? If one is to demand the sentiment be left in tact, then this is a fair question. After all, who else’s responsibility would it be to do so? People of a different faith don’t care and atheists have no stake in the matter either way. Though it should be mentioned that atheists and non-Christians can embrace the spirit of christmas, small “c” as opposed to Christmas, as well as anyone.
Rather than scolding people for their political correctness, maybe we should do more to infuse this Holiday with Christ in more than just name.
The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—God with us.
That is the reason Christians observe this holiday. I know, I know, Saturnalia and all that and that Jesus was likely born in July. But this is the day that Christians observe the birth of Christ and rather than get wrapped up in all of that, just think about it for a moment, God with us, not in heaven or some other place that a GPS can’t find, but here, with us, down the street, at the coffee shop, on your couch, here with us, and as one of us. That should have some significance I would think.
What does that mean for God to be “with us?”
God is love, y’all.
Simple. That’s one of the most direct messages in the bible.
Deuteronomy 4:37 “Because he loved your forefathers…he brought you out of Egypt with his Presence and great strength.”
Psalm 44:3 “It was not by the sword that they won the land…it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…”
Jesus’ commands:
Matthew 5:44 “…I tell you: Love your enemies…” and verse 9:19 “…love your neighbor as yourself…”
John 15:12 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
And I could list examples like these for pages and pages. In a concordance (a book that catalogs the usages of any given word in the bible) the word “lord” has roughly four pages of entries (in my bible), the word love, just as many. That doesn’t take into account actions and where love is implied. For example, just before Jesus ascends, he says in Matthew 28:20: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” There’s a lot of love in that statement and it’s one of my personal favorites. Not to mention dying in the one of the most humiliating, and painful ways ever devised by humankind, or coming to earth at all from wherever Jesus came from, which brings us back to Christmas.
‘Kay so, if you want to keep Christ in Christmas, share a little love.
Does that mean give away a bunch of money? Not necessarily, unless you want to and have the means to do so.
Does that mean spending my time working in a soup kitchen? Sounds like a great idea, if you have the time.
What if you don’t have money or time? Welcome to the so-called 99%. But how about this: When the woman in a minivan who looks like she just went through pepper grinder cuts you off when she whips out of the Target parking lot and then looks at you with complete exhaustion on her face and mouths the word “sorry,” maybe you can smile and wave rather than flip her off, even though you might have spent the day in the salt mine yourself.
Maybe that homeless guy you see every day can stay under the cover of the strip mall and out of the rain for a little longer.
Maybe you can say “Thank you and Merry Christmas” to the checker at Wal-Mart who has a line at her register that stretches to Terre-Haute and looks like she hates her job more than anything else.
Maybe you can let the guy with the screaming baby go ahead of you in the grocery store without judging him about why the baby is screaming in the first place.
Lots of little things we can do to keep Christ in Christmas that don’t cost nothing or take much time. Most are a lot better than signs, stickers or Facebook messages.
Y’all know I love ya, and Merry Christmas.
© Carl Mealie, 2011
So, I’ve been seeing a lot of, and I see it every year at this time, signs, stickers, Facebook posts, or whatever else that say something to the effect of “Keep Christ in Christmas.” This is usually has a tone that borders on hostile rather than being a simple reminder against overconsumerism (is that a word?) and the pitfalls that can accompany the holiday.
To some extent, the exasperation in the statement is warranted. Wish the wrong person a “Merry Christmas” and it will be explained to you, in no uncertain terms and at an inflated decibel level, that such a wish is not only unwelcome but terribly offensive. It shouldn’t be. Whether you are a Christian or not, somebody taking a moment to wish you a merry anything should be welcome. There’s enough ill will out there that I’ll take all the “merry” and “happy” thoughts I can get. No reason to be offended at all.
But…
The only people who care about keeping Christ in Christmas are obviously Christians and as such, are the only ones posting this message. So I guess my answer to them, and I’m Christian as well so no exemption here, is what are you doing to keep Christ in Christmas? If one is to demand the sentiment be left in tact, then this is a fair question. After all, who else’s responsibility would it be to do so? People of a different faith don’t care and atheists have no stake in the matter either way. Though it should be mentioned that atheists and non-Christians can embrace the spirit of christmas, small “c” as opposed to Christmas, as well as anyone.
Rather than scolding people for their political correctness, maybe we should do more to infuse this Holiday with Christ in more than just name.
The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—God with us.
That is the reason Christians observe this holiday. I know, I know, Saturnalia and all that and that Jesus was likely born in July. But this is the day that Christians observe the birth of Christ and rather than get wrapped up in all of that, just think about it for a moment, God with us, not in heaven or some other place that a GPS can’t find, but here, with us, down the street, at the coffee shop, on your couch, here with us, and as one of us. That should have some significance I would think.
What does that mean for God to be “with us?”
God is love, y’all.
Simple. That’s one of the most direct messages in the bible.
Deuteronomy 4:37 “Because he loved your forefathers…he brought you out of Egypt with his Presence and great strength.”
Psalm 44:3 “It was not by the sword that they won the land…it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…”
Jesus’ commands:
Matthew 5:44 “…I tell you: Love your enemies…” and verse 9:19 “…love your neighbor as yourself…”
John 15:12 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
And I could list examples like these for pages and pages. In a concordance (a book that catalogs the usages of any given word in the bible) the word “lord” has roughly four pages of entries (in my bible), the word love, just as many. That doesn’t take into account actions and where love is implied. For example, just before Jesus ascends, he says in Matthew 28:20: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” There’s a lot of love in that statement and it’s one of my personal favorites. Not to mention dying in the one of the most humiliating, and painful ways ever devised by humankind, or coming to earth at all from wherever Jesus came from, which brings us back to Christmas.
‘Kay so, if you want to keep Christ in Christmas, share a little love.
Does that mean give away a bunch of money? Not necessarily, unless you want to and have the means to do so.
Does that mean spending my time working in a soup kitchen? Sounds like a great idea, if you have the time.
What if you don’t have money or time? Welcome to the so-called 99%. But how about this: When the woman in a minivan who looks like she just went through pepper grinder cuts you off when she whips out of the Target parking lot and then looks at you with complete exhaustion on her face and mouths the word “sorry,” maybe you can smile and wave rather than flip her off, even though you might have spent the day in the salt mine yourself.
Maybe that homeless guy you see every day can stay under the cover of the strip mall and out of the rain for a little longer.
Maybe you can say “Thank you and Merry Christmas” to the checker at Wal-Mart who has a line at her register that stretches to Terre-Haute and looks like she hates her job more than anything else.
Maybe you can let the guy with the screaming baby go ahead of you in the grocery store without judging him about why the baby is screaming in the first place.
Lots of little things we can do to keep Christ in Christmas that don’t cost nothing or take much time. Most are a lot better than signs, stickers or Facebook messages.
Y’all know I love ya, and Merry Christmas.
© Carl Mealie, 2011
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