Merry Christmas

"Merry Christmas!"  Regardless of political correctness, despite religious differences, unapologetically I wish you a Merry Christmas.  I wish you a merry Christmas as an expression of my faith and my good will toward you. Whether you believe in Christ or even have a religious bone in your body has nothing to do with my expression of good will.

If I were Orthodox Jew, I would wish you Happy Hanukkah!  If I were Muslim, I would wish you Happy Ramadan!  If I were secular African American, I would wish you Happy Kawanzaa!  On the flip side, I do not expect a Jew, Muslim, Secularist or whatever else but Christian to wish me Merry Christmas. I would accept their expression of good will coming out of their faith story, not my own.

Additionally, I don't expect any sort of greeting, in particular. I am not offended if someone just nods their head or smiles or does nothing at all. No one is required to greet me or return my greeting. If it were a friend, who ignored me, I probably would feel slighted and likely ask them what was up but otherwise, I would have no dog in the hunt and therefore would not shoot off my mouth, so to speak.

While I don't personally believe that Christ was born on December 25th, convinced it was more likely sometime in late spring or early summer, I'm ok with picking a day to celebrate a date we can't nail down with certainty. People without birth certificates have often just picked a day to celebrate. Does it really matter?  The point is celebrating the fact one is alive. And, I believe Jesus Christ is alive!

I celebrate that fact in my heart and through expressions of my faith all year long, but I do like the special emphasis in December, commercial though it may be. I believe the words of the prophet Isaiah, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (9:6), were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. So I celebrate and express goodwill from my faith.

How you express goodwill or if you do at all, is your choice. Whether you accept the faith basis of my goodwill or not is also irrelevant - it is an expression of mine, not yours. So, say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings or whatever your faith informs you to do. Or, say nothing at all. But please, let's all get over this childish, whining and complaining about offensive wishes of goodwill.  Accept the goodwill of another or not, but don't expect him/her to speak from your faith or lack thereof.  Jus' Say'n Merry Christmas!