my friend michie sent this to me recently:
JONATHAN MILLER
It sure wouldn't be Christmas without the trees strapped to the tops of SUVs. It sure wouldn't be Christmas without crowded parking lots and lines at the cash register. It sure wouldn't be Christmas without a month of the same music year after year wafting its way down the aisles of the supercenter or the shopping mall or the grocery store. And it sure wouldn't be Christmas without the specter of some kind of Grinch who is out to spoil the holiday fun.
As a rabbi, I don't celebrate Christmas. Christmas celebrates the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus, the Messiah of all the earth. Jews don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah of all the Earth, and neither do Muslims or Buddhists or Hindus or atheists nor any of the other people in our country who are not Christians. Even the Eastern Orthodox Church, a large part of the Christian world, does not celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25. So Christmas, although it is ubiquitous here in America, is not universally observed.
That doesn't mean I don't like Christmas. I do, really. I like the lights, the food and the return of hope and promise that permeates our society. I enjoy listening to some of the less campy Christmas music. I even smile as I find myself humming Christmas melodies. Even as I watch from the sidelines as everyone scurries around to get everything in place for their perfect Christmas day, most people have good cheer and hopeful spirits, and they share that with everyone. And I like that, I really do.
But this year, I have turned on the television and the radio and read about Christmas in the newspapers, and I have learned that suddenly I, because I don't celebrate Christmas have become this year's Grinch. I don't like being the Grinch. I really don't.
It seems that some of the more mean-spirited people in our society are picking on people who don't celebrate Christmas. After all, what is Christmas without a Grinch? These Grinch hunters take great offense at the people in the stores who tell their customers to have a happy holiday without specifically mentioning Christmas. They feel as though we non-Christmas celebrators are removing the baby Jesus from our society. But we haven't done anything new. Last year we non-Christians didn't celebrate Christmas. And next year, no matter how much hollering there is, I don't suspect that we will be celebrating Christmas even then.
That doesn't mean that we don't like Christmas. It means that we don't celebrate Christmas. The non-Christians I know are rooting for Christmas. Deck your halls, by all means. Put up your lights and your mistletoe, enjoy your hats and stuff your stockings, be generous to the people you love and to the poor among us. Open your hearts to the joy and the hope that your belief brings you, and let some of that joy and hope permeate your lives all year long. What a blessing you will be as good Christians to all of us! Only don't make me your Grinch.
I am not at all offended if some store clerk wishes me a "Merry Christmas," and neither should anyone be. I know these people are wishing good things for me, because Christmas is good for them. I have taught my children to say, "Thank you" to those who wish us a Merry Christmas. But what could possibly be offensive about anyone wishing anyone else "Happy Holidays?" Christians know that means Christmas. And others know that means, "Even if you happen to be different from me, I wish you the very best at the festive season." Those are hardly fighting words. They actually seem like Christian words. These words should represent the Christmas spirit that all Christian believers cherish. Even a true Grinch (not me?) would be offended by someone saying, "Happy Holidays." A true Grinch would be offended by anyone saying happy
anything.
Like some of you, I am concerned that there is not enough Jesus in Christmas. I am also concerned that there is not enough Jesus in Christianity. I am concerned this year that non-Christians are made to be society's enemies. I can't believe that Jesus would endorse this view. I am concerned that some Christians see their numerical majority as the right to bully the rest of us. I can't believe that Jesus would endorse this view.
Jesus was kind and was open and was generous in spirit. At least that's the way I have experienced him through the eyes of many Christians who have shared their faith with me. And those Christians, I have learned, don't need a megaphone to make their faith known.
If these media bullies are really concerned about Jesus and Christmas, let them call to task those churches which plan to be closed this morning because too many Christians will choose to stay home to open their presents. Let them call to task those who buy for themselves and take for themselves, but who do not share enough from their bounty with those in need. Let them emulate Jesus' generosity of spirit, which, curiously, they seem to lack this year.
Christians, please bring Jesus back to Christmas. And if this wish makes me your Grinch, well I guess that is the burden that I bear for you.
And I do it with love.
7 comments:
Wow. Great post! I'm so in agreement on the christmas thing. I wasn't really raised with much, if any religion, so don't really consider myself a christian. It shocks me the way the commercial machine has ground Christmas up into a barely recognizable mess. And you'd think that the people who notice this most would be Christians, but last I checked I wasn't hearing any complaints from their side of the campfire.
You rock. I'm adding you to my blog linkage.
I don't htink anyone meant to offend, but I think they are making a sterotypical stereotype, that if you do not celebrate xmas, you are one of those people who are creating politics out of it, where you are not supposed to say merry xmas (opting instead for happy holidays) or have a nativity scene displayed downtown (i personally love these) or any other christian type thing about you. This personally pisses me off...I think like many do that this is primarily a christian country and therefore, we should neglect the other religions, as in other parts of the world, they would not change their religions to be more accommodating to ours. Fair is fair. That said, I'm sorry that you got tangled in the current political dillema, I'm sure you are not one of those trouble making folk, but there are many who are.
bee - you rock, too! and will be duly added. i'm absolutely tickled that you're with bobi. he's adorable!
rowan - i think saying that we should "neglect" other religions is a bit harsh. there's nothing wrong with tolerance and everything wrong with deliberately ignoring or pushing down others and intolerance. as a non-christian, i don't say merry christmas all the time, but i don't care if others say it to me. like jonathan miller, i know that it's said with good intent.
I love a smart Grinch.
with good hair. a smart grinch with good hair. :)
It's late, but here! here! all the same! I read an article similar to this where way-right (politically speaking) Christians were actually against Bush now (what a switch!) because his Christmas card said Happy Holidays. They even complained about the biblical verse that was enclosed, because it came from the old testament, not the new where Jesus' life is told.
Dude, I so wish that I'd had this article to fire back at the people who were railing against the phrase "Happy Holidays." Filing it away to use next year.
Sent the article on to my grandparents. Wonder what they'll think...
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