A New Christmas

It's that time of year again. Americans are gearing up to find plenty of reasons to take the "Happy" out of "Happy Holidays", whether it's through poor manners while shopping or being offended by whose holiday we should/shouldn't be celebrating. A few days ago, I watched some video done by a guy at Focus on the Family, who also used to be the chief meteorologist at my place of employment, and he was ranting about how he was offended, as a Christian, that so many companies were sending him catalogs in the mail that didn't contain the word "Christmas". To combat this, he was going to create a new holiday to go along with the other ones and call it "Tossmas". Everytime he got catalogs from companies that merely said "Happy Holidays", he'd wish it a "Merry Tossmas" and toss it in the trashcan.

Earlier this year, this particular hombre (whose initials are SS, BTW...just sayin') made national news when he made a vlog calling for Christians to pray that God would make it rain on the Democratic National Convention in Denver, thus thwarting Satan's plans to take over the US. Now he's against generic holiday greetings. I have to confess that I used to think like this. I thought stores should make their employees wish people a MC and it should be fashionable again. These days, I'm not really hanging out at church as much as I was back then and I'm not exposed to all the propaganda that goes along with. So I'm all about letting other cultures share in the celebrating too. If they want to celebrate another non-Christmas holiday this time of year, that's fine as long as there's a lot of food and I'm invited. (Kidding!)

Personally, I have a hard time getting into the "real" meaning of Christmas. I've celebrated Baby Jesus so much over the years it's just gotten old. Every year, He's still in that manger chillin with asses, shittin' in the hay right along with them. That's not to say I've stopped looking for some kind of redemptive meaning in all this mess. Finally, I'm learning to get over my cynicism towards the consumerism and fanaticism of the season and focus on all the inspirational things going on.

The Salvation Army has been a shining beacon, embodying all the potential human beings have for actually letting the holidays live up to their happy name. Every year when the bells and kettles come out, Heaven is loosed for people who had no hope. This is what I love about this time of year, even though I should be smacked for not participating in it more than I do. The SA does such a job of "disguising" the fact that it's a church that people don't realize they're actually giving to a church when they put money in the kettle. They figure they're giving it to a charity that does a lot of good around the world and it's going to a good cause--which it does. That's why I love the Sallies. It's so damn inconspicuous, but they actually do what Christ would want His people to do. They don't waste their time or breath drawing attention to themselves...they draw the attention to the poor and the hopeless and the needy and the ways to help those folks. This is Christ among us. Changing lives, giving hope, and doing good. To Christians, I would say this is how you say "Merry Christmas".

To non-Christians who hate Christmas and hate that Christians want to monopolize the holidays time of year, look at what the Salvation Army does every year. They do this because they're celebrating the coming of someone who gave them the idea and the calling to do all this good work in the world. While you don't have to believe in Christ, you can take something away from the Christmas story. Look at Christmas as a metaphor for birth and a new beginning in your own life to commit yourself to doing good work in this world for others. You don't have to be anything but a human in order to help someone else. You have a heart. You have a conscience. Listen to them and you'll know what you need to do here on earth. For Christians, Christmas marks the beginning of a mission. This can also be the same for non-Christians, too. To focus on doing good is to focus on God.