A lot of people talk about Jesus being the reason for the season. Honestly, does anyone actually know what day Jesus was born? I know some people get mad about the crass commercialism of Christmas. The thing is, when you do some digging, you find a lot of Christmas traditions have pagan origins. If we want to celebrate this day as the birth of Christ, that is fine with me. He was born. His death, I think, is more important though.
Then, there is the opposite viewpoint. Some people who are Christian refuse to celebrate Christmas because of its origins. When I was young, there was a time when my family did not celebrate Christmas. I never worried about whether Christmas had pagan origins or not. I just knew that I felt like a freak because I didn't celebrate it. In many ways, I felt cheated. As I said, I don't mind at all if people want to celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ. I also don't mind it if people want to celebrate it as a time of love and gift giving. A time of family and friends.
I also get a little annoyed with those who get bent out of shape whenever someone says, "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Christmas. There are several holidays that occur right at this time. Hannukah is one of them. I think it's showing respect for other people's beliefs to say Happy Holidays. In case some of you may have forgotten, Jesus was Jewish first and foremost.
I mentioned earlier that for a large portion of my childhood we did not celebrate Christmas. Still, there were times when my mom worked hard making and selling candy so that she could purchase some gifts. I never really wanted much. (We couldn't afford much anyway.) I do remember a couple of gifts that I got when I was a child that were meaningful. One of them was an electric football game. It was one of those games with the little plastic football players. The field would vibrate and the men would run all over the place. Another time I got a Buddy Charlie. He was a friend of GI Joe as I recall. He was the size of a Barbie Doll, but of course, he was no doll, he was an action figure. I remember another year when the only thing I wanted was a first baseman's mitt. My mom didn't know what a first baseman's mitt was, so she got me a regular fielder's glove. Though I was slightly disappointed, I used that glove for years. I did buy a first baseman's mitt from my friend later. I loved that glove. My favorite baseball players were Orlando Cepeda and Frank Howard. I liked Cepeda because he was a Cardinal. I liked Howard because even though he was a cool baseball player, he wore glasses as did I.
I'm happy to say that Christmas became a big thing with my family as we grew older. With my mom, Christmas became huge, and it was all about the kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. Today, we went to Warrenton to my nephew's house and celebrated Christmas there. It was fun, but it wasn't the same without Mom. It's going to be a hard holiday season.
My hopes are that all of you and yours will have a Happy Holiday and a Merry Christmas, or Kwanza, or Hannuka -- whatever you celebrate. In all things give thanks for what and WHO you have because you never know when they will be gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment