It was meant to express their opposition with saying anything but MERRY CHRISTMAS.
I guess this struck a note inside me, because I stopped what I was doing, to write a response to the person I know who forwarded the message to me. And, for what its worth, here is what I wrote:
I always use the term MERRY CHRISTMAS when greeting other CHRISTIANS. It is almost Dickensian in its existence. Although in Dickens 'A Christmas Carol', people said, 'A Happy Christmas!'
Now, I am going to need to share a little story of How I came to Understand the point of view I hold true today. And it is fine with me to share this with our friend who sent it to you as well, because I know you all.
As I was growing up in the fifties and sixties, it didn't seem like Christmas without snow, and Santa on the corner ringing his bell. And all the Christmas Lights on the streets, and in the shops with their store windows done up in a cornucopia of toys. And on the houses, families hung their displays with big lights and reindeer, and Santa on their rooftop. A White Christmas in New England, with fresh snow and crisp air was the ultimate blessing.
And getting together for a Christmas Feast, inviting the Grandparents to the house for the day, and the presents.
I said Merry Christmas to everyone I came in contact with in those days.
Of course, I never saw people of different color or nationality. I never gave a thought to other cultures or faiths from other countries. I just assumed that all people and families were just like my own, where ever they lived, experiencing no difference at all. And as a child and teenager, that was my world view.
My first church experience memory was when I was four years old, until the age of twelve. (That was the year my father's Mother died.) We attended the very affluent First Baptist Church on Park Avenue & Salisbury Streets in Worcester, Massachusetts. (it was so rich, there was two bowling lanes for the youth, too!) On Christmas every family received a huge poinsettia plant. And at Easter, each family received a huge Easter Lily plant. I would marvel at the beauty of 'Big Church' on those special occasions. Seeing hundreds of poinsettias up at the business end of church, they were flowing like a red river.
Throughout those years, I learned all the verses, and scripture by memory. At twelve years old, I received a bible with edges gilded in gold, and my name in engraved in gold on the front cover. Yet, even after attending for most of my childhood, I still did not have a personal knowledge of Christ as my Saviour.
Even after I was a wife and mother, caring for my own children in California, I knew Hispanic and African American people as being Christians. To me the whole world was Christian. Until I met a neighbor of mine, who became a friend, and later on, my first husband. He was born in Egypt, and became very earnest in his Jewish faith, after we were married. His faith required that I convert to Judaism, so I attended the University of Judaism for a six month course, and received an education in Jewish History, Dietary Laws, and a bit of Jewish Philosophy, leading to a conservative Judaism conversion.
It was then I experienced what it was like to be treated with disdain, because people defined ME by my Jewishness. (That was a brain tilt!) Then later on, after a painful, broken and troubled six year marriage, I divorced my husband, and soon came to true personal faith in Christ as a result of watching a television program. It was the ministry of Jim Baker, of the P.T.L. "Praise the Lord" program. The Holy Spirit worked the unmistakable transforming Power of God in a moment, and brought me to my knees, and to personal trust and faith in the finished work of Christ on the Cross.
As a result, my daughter and I moved back to Massachusetts to live with my relatively recent widower Father, in the house where I grew up. And once again, I experienced Christmas. But this time it was in a much more REAL way, celebrating the birth of my Saviour. My father was the one who suggested I attend a little Baptist church in Cherry Valley, and we attended there for the next seventeen years, My son and daughter met their helpmates, and were married there. And in His time, I met my husband Clair, and he attended church with me there, when ever he was visiting me from Michigan. Those were good years indeed.
And even then, I didn't think much about other cultures or faiths. I was focused only on the work of being a Mother, sister, friend, woman in Christ, and a soon-to-be wife.
However now, having traveled, and learning more about other cultures and faiths, I do feel that other cultures and faiths have been marginalized by government, business, and those of us who have had all the attention on our Christian faith in terms of holidays. The simple truth is the world populations are changing. Caucasian is soon going to be a minority, in America and elsewhere. The cultural equation is changing. Despite a persons contribution to society, and the cultural differences between us; many people have problems with those of other faiths wanting equal consideration and respect.
I think the key is not just big business and government. The key is in demonstrating Christian Love toward others, especially in view of our differences. Instead of being inclusive, some folks adopt an 'all or nothing' attitude toward religious celebrations. And sadly, they have chosen 'nothing' in the case of folks who do not share or understand our faith in Christ. America was founded on Christian principles. To this day, local American government is challenged on issues such as posting the Ten Commandments at the county courthouses, and sometimes we win. Other times, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) win cases which show bias exists toward other faiths and ethnicity. It is a struggle which will go on and on and on, just like the Palestinian and Israeli conflicts do.
So, as I see things now, I wish those I know to be Christians a "Merry Christmas" And to those I am unsure of what they honor in their life; I say "Good to see you, have a good day".
I choose LOVE as the language Christ honors in a Christian heart. The only way to learn more about sensitivity, is to follow and to live in Christ's example.
Merry Christmas! with love to you all!
