Talking about Christmas
Talking about Christmas on the internet is hard for me because I do not desire to offend anyone. I know that for some people any discussion of God, Christ, or religion is painful. I know for a fact that many of my readers and online friends have belief systems that differ from my own and I try to make sure that my blog is as friendly a place as I can make it. Sometimes this desire leads me to self edit. I change the shape of the things I want to say to make them as generally acceptable as possible. Sometimes that is a good change, because it forces me to look at my thoughts from other angles which opens up new ideas. Other times it means that entire posts don’t get written at all because I don’t want to offend someone else or open up for comment a subject that is sacred to me.
But then I remember how happy I was to receive the Eid al Fatr card at the end of the fast of Ramadan wishing me “Eid Mubarak.” I was delighted that someone with a different religious tradition than mine would reach out to me and ask me to share in the joy of their holy day. That card still hangs on my wall amid the Christmas Cards. If I ever receive Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or Solstice cards they will all receive a similar place of honor in my home. I love being invited to participate in the celebration, even if the celebration in question is one outside my personal belief system.
This experience makes me re-evaluate my expression of my holiday beliefs. Is my effort to not offed really depriving people of the chance to participate in a celebration I enjoy? Because I do believe in Christmas. I believe in, Baby Jesus, manger, angels, the whole thing. My Christmas celebrations try to center around love, acceptance, and giving. I also believe in the later stories of Jesus, crucifixion, resurrection, and salvation. Sometimes my logical brain argues with me about these beliefs. Sometimes I ponder and analyze and even doubt, but whenever I search my soul and ask myself if I truly believe these things, the answer is yes. This faith has given me strength in the dark times of my life, it has given me courage to do the things I know I must, it gives me hope that everything which is not right in this world will eventually be made right. I do believe, and because I believe Christmas is truly a holy day for me. I love it. I love sharing it with my children and watching them grow to love it as well. I know how I feel about my holy day, which is why I am so honored when others open themselves up to share their holy days with me. Because I expect they feel the same way about their beliefs as I do about mine.
And so I hope that all of you will take it in the spirit I intend when I say:
In this season of giving I am grateful for the gift of attention and caring that you have given me. Merry Christmas to you all.