The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
~Burton Hillis~
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Showing posts with label Merry Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merry Christmas. Show all posts
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
They Are Here
Holiday season is in full swing here at my house, and as I attempted (and failed miserably) to bake a batch of butter cookies (like Grandma used to make, only hers were edible), I began to think about all the family members who aren't here to celebrate with us. Grandparents, parents, cousins...all are missed keenly, and I think maybe more so at Christmastime. Then it occurred to me. They may not be here with us in the sense in which we'd like, but they're still here.
They're still here in the whisper of memories. Every time we laugh over a funny memory, they are here.
They're still here in the smile of a child. Haven't you ever done a double-take when one of your kids flashes you a smile and you think, "That's just like Dad smiles." My Dad's still with us, but my oldest son shares what I call "Dad's BLEEP-eatin' grin"...and yanno, come to think on it, I'm certain my Uncle, who sadly is no longer with us, had that very same smile. He is here.
Wherever butter cookies are made using Grandma's recipe, she is there. (Shaking her head with dismay during my attempts, but saying something positive about my efforts anyway.) She is here.
It's in a phrase you hear, maybe one of their favorites, that tells you they are here when someone uses it, even if it's used unknowingly or only means something to the one who hears it used.
Every time their favorite Christmas carol is played on the radio, they are here.
Every time someone says, "Hey, remember when Grandpa/Grandma/Uncle John/Cousin did this?" They are here.
Where there is love, we'll all be there.
So set out to make good memories to leave behind for that inevitable day when you're the one who is being missed. You'll be there, too.
~Burton Hillis
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
~Norman Vincent Peale
Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder
It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.
~W.T. Ellis
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
~Charles Dickens
Friday, December 10, 2010
Because We Don't Have Enough Wars
You learn something every day, and this week, I learned there's a 'War on Christmas,' thanks to Jon Stewart and The Daily Show.
Yes, I love Jon Stewart. I'd even consider marrying him if we both weren't married to other people. GGG. That said, I'll go back to my point.
Yes, I have a point, and I'm not referring to the one on the top of my head.
I googled 'War on Christmas' to see what I would find. Imagine my surprise to find references going back several years! A war I'd somehow missed? How could that be? Maybe I don't watch the right news channels or read the right books. There's a book out there entitled, The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday is Worse Than You Thought by John Gibson, who, according to the blurb, at least at the time this book was published in 2005, is/was a popular news anchor on Fox News. Yeah, that would be one of those news channels I don't watch, but that's another story and not part of my point.
Here's my point (I heard that deep sigh of relief!)---It's my opinion that there are them folks who just aren't happy unless they're fanning some insignificant flame into a full-fledged forest fire and pointing fingers at those they blame for whatever it is at which they're blowing their hot air.
Let's all blame the Liberals. Yes. Everything that is wrong with the United States of America can and should obviously be blamed on one group of people with specific political leanings. Never mind the fact that, hello? It took people from all political leanings to create the ginormous mess. Just sayin'. And as a political moderate who does tend to lean more towards the liberal end of the spectrum, I can't say I'm delighted to shoulder blame that is not mine for something I do not advocate. Please don't paint me with that generic paintbrush, that shade of gray looks dreadful on me.
I celebrate Christmas. I believe that Christ was born on Christmas Day. I also like to think that the people I surround myself with are intelligent, witty, opinionated folks capable of recognizing a "Merry Christmas" from me in the spirit in which it is intended and to not take offense because they're Jewish, Wiccan, Hindu, or Worshippers of the Great Hostess Ding Dong. Yes, I do believe I should be respectful of the traditions of other faiths, and I like to think that that consideration is how the "Happy Holidays" (now a phrase in the 'War on Christmas') wish arose---out out of a desire to wish for folks something appropriate, something that would be an all-inclusive---not an all-inclusive-except-for-Christians---type sentiment.
It's never wrong to want to not offend someone.
It is wrong, in my perhaps not-so-humble opinion, to attempt to turn one thing into something else entirely, something that it's not.
Okay, that said, yeah, I do see how Christians can/do feel like they're being picked upon for being Christians, but I'd like to point out, this type of persecution is nothing new under the sun---for any religion. In fact, it's so not new it's hardly remarkable, yet here are a vocal, offended minority banging on their drums and sending out war cries. Yes, the USA was founded, in part, on the principle of religious freedom. Yes, the Christian religion takes a lot of hits from all sides. So do other religions, as I said before---we are not unique in our feelings of persecution, but "we" sure do like to wail about the unfair injustice "we" perceive as being directed *only* at "us."
So, no, I don't buy into this 'War on Christmas' horse hockey. I *will* wish you Merry Christmas, as that's my preferential greeting for this wonderful season. I also reserve the right to wish you 'Happy Holidays'---because, yanno, I think that also reaches out there and pulls in the New Year's holiday, which comes a mere week after Christmas, as well as acknowledges the fact that you may celebrate a different tradition and that I hope you find all the peace, joy and love in your tradition that I find in my Christian observances. Just because I may use the phrase 'Happy Holidays' doesn't mean I'm making any declarations against Christmas, either. It means exactly what the wisher intends it to mean, and I believe I stated what I personally think it means clearly a couple sentences up there. It's your choice to be offended by either greeting I give, or to accept my greeting in the loving spirit in which I intended, but yanno, if you wanna be offended, please go do it somewhere else and don't rain on my Christmas Parade.
Yes, I love Jon Stewart. I'd even consider marrying him if we both weren't married to other people. GGG. That said, I'll go back to my point.
Yes, I have a point, and I'm not referring to the one on the top of my head.
I googled 'War on Christmas' to see what I would find. Imagine my surprise to find references going back several years! A war I'd somehow missed? How could that be? Maybe I don't watch the right news channels or read the right books. There's a book out there entitled, The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday is Worse Than You Thought by John Gibson, who, according to the blurb, at least at the time this book was published in 2005, is/was a popular news anchor on Fox News. Yeah, that would be one of those news channels I don't watch, but that's another story and not part of my point.
Here's my point (I heard that deep sigh of relief!)---It's my opinion that there are them folks who just aren't happy unless they're fanning some insignificant flame into a full-fledged forest fire and pointing fingers at those they blame for whatever it is at which they're blowing their hot air.
Let's all blame the Liberals. Yes. Everything that is wrong with the United States of America can and should obviously be blamed on one group of people with specific political leanings. Never mind the fact that, hello? It took people from all political leanings to create the ginormous mess. Just sayin'. And as a political moderate who does tend to lean more towards the liberal end of the spectrum, I can't say I'm delighted to shoulder blame that is not mine for something I do not advocate. Please don't paint me with that generic paintbrush, that shade of gray looks dreadful on me.
I celebrate Christmas. I believe that Christ was born on Christmas Day. I also like to think that the people I surround myself with are intelligent, witty, opinionated folks capable of recognizing a "Merry Christmas" from me in the spirit in which it is intended and to not take offense because they're Jewish, Wiccan, Hindu, or Worshippers of the Great Hostess Ding Dong. Yes, I do believe I should be respectful of the traditions of other faiths, and I like to think that that consideration is how the "Happy Holidays" (now a phrase in the 'War on Christmas') wish arose---out out of a desire to wish for folks something appropriate, something that would be an all-inclusive---not an all-inclusive-except-for-Christians---type sentiment.
It's never wrong to want to not offend someone.
It is wrong, in my perhaps not-so-humble opinion, to attempt to turn one thing into something else entirely, something that it's not.
Okay, that said, yeah, I do see how Christians can/do feel like they're being picked upon for being Christians, but I'd like to point out, this type of persecution is nothing new under the sun---for any religion. In fact, it's so not new it's hardly remarkable, yet here are a vocal, offended minority banging on their drums and sending out war cries. Yes, the USA was founded, in part, on the principle of religious freedom. Yes, the Christian religion takes a lot of hits from all sides. So do other religions, as I said before---we are not unique in our feelings of persecution, but "we" sure do like to wail about the unfair injustice "we" perceive as being directed *only* at "us."
So, no, I don't buy into this 'War on Christmas' horse hockey. I *will* wish you Merry Christmas, as that's my preferential greeting for this wonderful season. I also reserve the right to wish you 'Happy Holidays'---because, yanno, I think that also reaches out there and pulls in the New Year's holiday, which comes a mere week after Christmas, as well as acknowledges the fact that you may celebrate a different tradition and that I hope you find all the peace, joy and love in your tradition that I find in my Christian observances. Just because I may use the phrase 'Happy Holidays' doesn't mean I'm making any declarations against Christmas, either. It means exactly what the wisher intends it to mean, and I believe I stated what I personally think it means clearly a couple sentences up there. It's your choice to be offended by either greeting I give, or to accept my greeting in the loving spirit in which I intended, but yanno, if you wanna be offended, please go do it somewhere else and don't rain on my Christmas Parade.
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