The TRUE Reason for the Season...

Today I saw something absolutely beautiful. This Sunday was the third weekend in advent, meaning it was time for my church's annual Christmas Contada. This is one Sunday where it's not about the messages, or even your own personal feelings. It's a time to rejoice in the breathtaking splendor of muscians, and chancel choirs. To bask in the glow of children singing and the expressions of a proud parent.

Today I got to see a young boy, who's name is Matthew, sing a beautiful solo during the performance. I couldn't tell you the words that he sung, or even the title of the song itself. I couldn't tell you how long it lasted, or even whether the little boy was nervous or not. But what I can say is that for one bright and shining moment all eyes in the church were on him. He carried the tune well! He hit his notes on cue, he was in sync with the conductor and if he was nervous, and I'm sure he was, it never showed. It was truly an awe inspiring moment to say the least, to see a young boy sing with all his heart and all his soul in front of hundreds of people. What was more inspiring was that I had the honor of sitting directly behind his parents as he sung.

I can never think of a more touching moment than to see a parent that is proud of something that their child is doing. You expect to see a mother cry at a moment like this, which I'm sure his mom's eyes were quite teary eyed. But, I was able to see his father. As his son finished the first part of his solo and the choir picked up from there, I looked at his dad. His dad began wiping the tears from his eyes, so proud of the moment his son had just had. That meant even more to me than knowing what the mother had done.

You see, a son longs for the approval of his father. It's almost a rite of passage in some respects. Young boys want to be like their dad. You would tend to worry about a young boy that wants to be just like their mother (in a literal sense, not figurative). But a father's love seems to go deeper. Now, there is no greater connection to a child than the one they have with their own mother. There is no question there. But when you see an outward expression of affection from a father for their child, which can sometimes be harder to come by, that's something to behold. Men are not known for showing their affections, their emotions. It's not manly to cry, nor is it professional. For a moment like this one though, even the most staunch and crass man's-man would turn into a blubbering, baboon of emotional seepage over the success and performance of their own child.

It kind of gives you the impression of what God must of thought of Jesus Christ. I know not all of you believe as I do, but when you read the scriptures and hear the expressions from the angels to Jesus that His Father was very proud of Him, that says a lot. You can only imagine the outrage, anger and hostility felt from Jesus' Father when he died.

I myself am not a father, yet. One day I would like to think God will bless my wife and I with a child. But, for now, I believe God simply wants me to be an observer. He wants me to see what being a true father is all about. As I watch Matthew's dad, I could not help but be touched by this display. The conductor gave the young boy the "ok" sign, just a simple reminder to this nervous young lad that he was doing splendidly. This made the boy's dad tear up more. It made me want to cry. I felt so happy for him, so proud of his son! I wanted to believe more readily in hope, faith and love! Besides, isn't that what we all hope for in the end?

I believe Chevy Chase, as Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, said it best. The following quote was in relation to one of the children seeing a bright shining light in the heavens, which Clark immediately pointed out as "The Christmas Star." He went on to say, "That's all that matters tonight. Not bonuses or gifts, turkeys or trees. You see kids, it means something different to everybody. Now I know what it means to me." Clark's uncle replies, "That ain't the fringin Christmas Star Gris, it's the light on the Sewage Treatment Plant." There's a naysayer in every bunch I'm afraid.

But not today! Today was glorious and enchanting. Matthew was a bright shining star in the darkness that can sometimes surround us all, even this time of year. He is a Christmas Star. That's something he should always be proud of, that his family should always be proud of. I thoroughly enjoyed the Contada and hope that if you did not get to attend the one at my church, that your's at your own was just as inspiring. Always remember what the season is truly about, regardless of your convictions. It's about faith, it's about hope and most importantly it's about love. A father's love, a parent's love is unimaginable. Show them some love today, no matter where you are, no matter where they are. I assure you, you'll never regret it!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

"Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays", does it really matter?

A few years ago I heard a statement from someone either at my church I attend or just in general passing, that someone made the statement "Happy Holidays" was taking the Christ out of Christmas.

Now, I'm a bit naive, gullible to the max. My whole life I have witnessed things that defy reason or logic, tested faith, and provided a sense of better understanding in some cases. Uproars ensued and were warranted in some cases. There were obvious things like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that garnered much attention. The Oklahoma City bombing, the incident with the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, the Persian Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom (or whatever it's SUPPOSED to be now), natural disasters (from Hurricane Hugo to Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes, floods, fires, and all sorts of carnage), Rodney King, O.J. Simpson's multiple trials, the Columbia disaster, the Challenger disaster, Y2K, the World Trade Center bombing, the Centennial Park bombing, Tonya Harding, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Susan Smith (not my cousin, that one that drowned her kids), the depletion of the Ozone Layer, Global Warming (or cooling if you just want to rattle Al Gore's chains), ridiculous gas prices, moronic presidents (just look at the last 16 years as a reference), assassination attempts on a president, an impeached president, the John Rocker fiasco (mostly because I'm a huge Braves fan and that was REALLY embarrassing), a new space station, new planetary systems being discovered and other planets being given a new "classification" (sorry Pluto), new understandings everyday about not only our own world we call home, but the universe as a whole.

So as you can see, in the grand scheme of things as it pertains to "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays", this dispute means precisely CRAP! It's petty, for the love of God would all you Christians get a grip!

Seriously, when I was growing up, until about 2005, I never distinguished between the two phrases. Christmas was a part of the "Holiday Season." The "Holiday Season", as it is, incorporates a multitude of holidays other than Christmas. For instance, Thanksgiving is included in this season (just watch an NFL game that day, you'll see this phrase several times). That holiday has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas as it pertains to Christ, yet it is included as part of that season. Hanukkah is most definitely during that season and should be incorporated. It's a Jewish holiday and, unless somewhere this has been changed, Jesus was in fact a Jew as I recall. Are you telling me Jesus never celebrated Hanukkah growing up, never even once? There are a bevy of other holidays included that I won't go into here (mostly because I don't know them), but you also have to include New Year's Eve and New Year's Day into the equation as well.

So why then does it have to ONLY be "Merry Christmas?" What's so wrong with saying "Happy Holidays" that has so many Christians in an uproar? They're just words, nothing more. You can express them to mean in the same manner, regardless of your religious convictions. From my perspective, whether you believe as I do or not, I want EVERYONE to have a "Happy Holiday." There's a great sign in New York on a bus, I believe, that sums it all up. "Why bring God into it? Just be good for goodness sakes!" It has a picture of the Grinch and the implication is, even if you don't believe in God, Christ or anything, still try and have some joy during the Holidays! Isn't that what it's really all about anyway, the joy of the season?

If you really want to get technical, shouldn't Easter mean more to Christians than Christmas? Think about it for a minute. What happens at Christmas besides the birth of Christ? Yes, a pivotal moment to say the least, but he hasn't done ANYTHING yet. He's just born! Now, that being the case, at Easter time it is the celebration (or mourning for some) of a man, who at the ripe old age of 33, gave his life, WILLINGLY, to a group of people that hated him, they beat him half to death, hung him on two enormous pieces of wood, nailed him to it, hung him out to dry for all to see (while his Jewish buddies fled might I add), and died only to "disappear" from his tomb 3 days later and caused a stir the likes of which has never been duplicated since.

Hmmm, now that I've said that, let's examine for a moment how "society" as a whole stipulates these traditions. Number one, the average school system (state and government run by the way) acknowledges the holidays at Christmas by giving most students 2-3 weeks off! It's the most heavily requested time of the year for people wanting time off from work! Families, typically, unite during this time to celebrate in gift exchanges, "Dirty Santa Claus", "Ho, ho, ho and stuff." There are parties galore, from the beginning of December until New Year's Day. The radio stations start blaring "Christmas Music" as soon as Halloween ends. Stores decorate for Christmas as soon as Halloween ends (Thereby by-passing Thanksgiving altogether). The "Season of Giving" totally overshadows some important events in history, not related to Christmas, such as Pearl Harbor, where thousands of American servicemen died at the hands of the Japanese as a living sacrifice to the American way of life (which stands far more for what Christ truly represented and believed; they gave their lives so we might live). Don't forget THE LIGHTS! I can't really talk here, I love decorating my house for Christmas. I still have to wonder though how we all rationalize that power bill in January! Don't even get me started on weight gain and credit cards!

Now, at Easter, a much more important time to be honest for the Christian faith, it only receives one weekend. You might be out of school for Good Friday, but that's it (and what's so good about it anyway, he died that day?). There's no lights, very few decorations and some dumb bunny with eggs! At least with Christmas you get Santa and real gifts! The songs played are only heard in churches, very few on the radio unless it is a Christian station, and they are typically songs you've never heard of in your life. There's no parties, just services. People still get up at the crack of dawn, but no gifts. Families still get together, but not as much as they do at Christmas. Another confusing thing about Easter, it moves every year! So for that reason, if it doesn't hit a weekend you're already off (like for some that must work a job that requires it), getting off for it is no big deal. No one buys anything for anyone. For the most part, everyone seems rather sad.

I think if Jesus were here right now, he'd look at all of us and say, "I appreciate the gestures, whole heartedly, but you've got it all backwards." He'd probably tell us when his birthday really is too. I'm betting on July (because so many relevant things have happened Biblically in the month of July, Noah anyone?). But, I believe Jesus would say his birthday, although important, was not as big as Easter, at least to him. Much more important stuff happened at Easter than ever occurred at Christmas. It's important, and should be remembered, but the priorities people place on the Christmas holiday are a bit misconstrued.

Besides, when was the last time you saw a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas morning? It's under there, somewhere, nestled beneath the Christmas Tree, under all that wrapping paper you tore apart with your bare hands because you just couldn't wait to get that toy you've always been wanting, or those shoes, or that diamond neckless. Oops, you smashed it, oh well!

Hey, listen, I can't point the finger at any of you. I'm guilty too. All I'm saying is, based on some of the stuff I have mentioned here, why does it matter whether someone says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays?" I mean really, in the years to come, who's really going to care? Just make it a happy one and remember, no matter what you believe in, the season is truly about showing love, compassion and being the type of person that the other 11 months of the year, you wish you could be. You know what you believe in, as do others. Let them be and take care of yourself. Because from my perspective, if you hear the words "Happy Holidays" and cringe, you and you alone are the one having issues. Maybe that means you need to reconcile something with yourself. Guess what, Christmas is the time for doing that too.

So Merry Christmas and I hope that everyone has a Happy Holiday Season!