Hard times seem to inspire more folks to return to their Christian roots. We may still be a bit early in this current run of hard times, but I wonder if I'm not already observing some of that return.
It seems that people are divided into a few categories this Christmas.
The faithful joyfully go about the traditions of Christmas, many practicing those both sacred and secular. The faithful celebrate the birth of Christ while anticipating his triumphant return.
The nominal Christians enjoy mostly the secular traditions, perhaps considering making a rare appearance at a Christmas Mass or Service at the local church their parents took them to as children. They otherwise don't give the sacred meaning much thought.
The agnostics won't go to church unless dragged along by a friend or family member. They might enjoy participation in the secular activities, but give the sacred meaning little or no thought.
The atheists seem to spend most of the Christmas season angry. Inexplicably, as evidenced in the Washington State Capitol this year, they feel the need to insult and berate the faithful whenever possible. They try their best to remove all Christian symbols and speech from any public arena, and seem to make more progress on that agenda every year.
The Jews, excepting the atheists described above, go ahead and celebrate Hannukah, really more of a minor event for them, but it provides an opportunity for them to have their own alternative to Christmas.
The racially sensitive Black population embrace the relatively new Kwanzaa, which is a modern celebration created out of the ether by a communist college professor from California. I remain curious how many Kwanzaa celebrants truly understand how it came into existence, and how many of those also celebrate Christmas.
Islam doesn't seem to have a parallel celebration, except possibly the Islamic New Year. Other than the generally known plotting of the radical factions to exterminate Jews and enslave or convert Christians, I really don't know what the followers of Mohammed do during the Christmas season.
I've heard several times in the past few days people greeting each other with "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". Sometimes I hear someone greet another with "Merry Christmas" and hear the other person respond with "Happy Holidays", and other times I hear the reverse. My sense is that it's a sort of subtle argument happening, but everybody's generally pleasant in the greeting.
Personally, I use "Merry Christmas". My intent isn't to engage in the argument, but to sincerely wish a merry Christmas. As much as secularists would like to change it, this remains fundamentally the Christmas holiday season. And it will always be so, at least unless the enemies succeed in exterminating us and renaming the holiday to the pagan "Winter Solstice".
My best hope is that everyone will reflect on the lessons of the birth of that Hebrew baby that would change the world for the next 2,000 years. The story of his birth, life, death, and resurrection give us our greatest hope.
I'm sorry for those who choose not to believe, as their lives must be hopeless and empty. I pray more of them at least explore the faith enough to discover it for themselves.
Merry Christmas!
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