Happy Holidays! Are you ready for the holidays? Yes, holidays. I know that some people have a problem with saying “Happy Holidays”, but in my opinion that’s an all inclusive blessing. During this time of year, we celebrate several holidays–Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.
As quickly as Thanksgiving comes and goes, Christmas and the New Year seem to rush right up behind it and there isn’t a lot of time to separate the greetings. It’s like celebrating three different birthdays that’s close together at the same party.
When we have the kids over to do a birthday party, we usually have two or three of them celebrating at the same time, and although they all get their own cake, we only sing “Happy Birthday” once. And “most of them don’t feel slighted because we didn’t say their individual names, they just appreciate the celebration.
Oh, I know some people make a big to-do about saying or not saying Merry Christmas, but what makes that greeting acceptable? After all, the true reason for Christmas isn’t so we can all be “merry”, even though there is a song that heralds, “God rest ye merry gentlemen…”. But Christmas certainly isn’t a restful time, is it. And the purpose isn’t to be merry.
Christmas, just like all other traditional holidays, was celebrated for one reason and has slowly evolved to something different today.
And what about Halloween which was All Saints Eve, or Celtic’s harvest (or visa versa), or like I used to tell my kids, “the devil’s birthday”. I was kidding, but to hear them tell it, it was a practiced belief! (sheesh)
The 4th of July was set aside to celebrate America’s independence and show patriotism, but now it’s all about backyards, BBQ, and bathing (well, swimming, but I was forming an alliteration) J
What about Martin Luther King Day, or President’s Day (which was Washington’s birthday until someone decided to squeeze Lincoln’s in there), or Valentine’s Day (that was sweethearts day — not everybody you love day)? And don’t even get me started on Mother’s day, Father’s day, or Grandparents day!
Thanksgiving day commemorates the Pilgrims and Indians celebrating a bountiful harvest in the 1600’s, after the civil war President Lincoln suggested it as a time to unite the country (although the Congress gave us the official day as the last Thursday in November), and now we are scheduled to celebrate God’s blessings, gathering of family and friends, the consumption of an ungodly amount of food, and the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
And speaking of Christmas…what’s your reason for celebrating? (I’ll tell you mine in another post.)
The point is that we don’t have to take offense over this simple greeting, but be glad that someone has actually taken the time to wish us well, and understanding that most who say “Happy Holidays” are doing just that. So when you hear me say “Happy Holidays”, you know I mean:
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Wish you a blessed Christmas!
And may your New Year be blessed!
And an extra bonus is that those who think they are taking away the “Merry” out of Christmas by being Politically Correct, will unknowingly be blessing all three celebrations! (sneaky huh?)
