December 23, 2009
In the United States of America, we the people strive to maintain a separation of Church and State. With this separation of Church and State, we still celebrate Christmas as a National Holiday. Is that inconsistent with the values that created this country? A handful of Americans believe it is and it is their right, as Americans, to hold that belief. I, however, believe the celebration of Christmas is NOT inconsistent with American values.
The spirit of Christmas in America transcends religious beliefs. Christmas has become an annual celebration of humanity. Mankind has its positives and negatives, but at Christmas time, the positives come to the forefront and greatly overshadow the negatives. The effects of such a massive outpouring of positive energy can be quite profound. And for those that celebrate Christmas purely as the birth of Jesus and may opt to take a degree of offense to my words here, I am reasonably certain that Jesus would be very proud of the humanity that is most evident in America during the month leading up to Christmas Day.
At a time of year when many psychology professionals feel that people are most likely to be depressed due to the short hours of daylight and increasingly gray skies, instead they find smiles on faces that wouldn’t be smiling as much during brighter times of the year. Strangers pass each other on the streets with cheerful greetings when, at other times of the year, they wouldn’t even acknowledge the existence of one another. Communities come together to decorate neighborhoods. Christmas lights by the billions and candles burning brightly in millions of windows give light and hope to an otherwise dreary time of the year.
During the other eleven months of the year, we tend to focus on our individual lives with thoughts only of the people and objects within our immediate wing span. Work, sports for the children, daily chores, and other activities in our increasingly busier lives consume all of our time during those eleven months. There isn’t time for all the other important people and things that have made us who we are. Then comes Thanksgiving, an exclusively American holiday that traditionally kicks off the Christmas season. For the next month, everything changes and usually for the better.
Parents rack their brains trying to determine what activities and gifts will bring the most joy to their children. Christmas cards get mailed to extended families and good friends, both old and new. Schools, public and private alike, shut their doors for several days. People take time off from work to spend some extra time with family. The spirit of the Christmas holiday season proves to us year after year that being good to one another is contagious.
Like Thanksgiving, Christmas is a very important AMERICAN HOLIDAY. Though it has special meaning to Christians worldwide, it is also a special time for everyone that lives in America, regardless of religious beliefs. I believe it is time for us to put Christmas back where it belongs, as an American holiday promoting peace and good will toward all. Let’s do humanity a favor and put Merry Christmas back into our Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas to ALL!
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