First of all … Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. The Holidays are upon us! Thanksgiving and then Christmas!
This time of year, I still picture Fall blazing yellow, orange and red … just before raking mountains of damp slimy leaves beneath the skeletal remains of once beautiful trees. Sorry, just trying to not to get too nostalgic.
With only subtle cues that the seasons are changing, time slips by unnoticed. So … Thanksgiving and Christmas pounce on me unsuspecting again this year. I wonder if the debate is still raging in the States about the public use of “Merry Christmas?” I think it humorous that secularist want to wish us “Happy Holidays” instead. They have obviously overlooked the meaning of the second word. According to Wikipedia (and several other online sources),
The word holiday comes from the Old English word hāligdæg (hālig “holy” + dæg “day”). The word originally referred only to special religious days.”
So, if you’re going to be up North for the holidays, I say run with it and put the Holy back in the Holidays. Can you imagine the conversations?
Cashier: “Happy Holidays!” You: “Thank you for remembering … this is a holy time. All this food is for our family feast celebrating how good God has been to us this year!”
Cashier: “Happy Holidays!” You: They are holy days aren’t they. What could be more holy than commemorating God coming to earth to live among us and save us from our sins. That is worth celebrating!”
Wherever you are for these Holy Days … try to work your faith into conversations. Maybe we’re the ones that forgot how holy the holidays are. Maybe we lost “Merry Christmas” because we were too shy in speaking about Christ.
