MERRY WHAT?

     Who would have thought that a simple greeting would become so controversial?  Yet today, just wishing someone - a friend, coworker, or store employee - "Merry Christmas" - is considered RADICAL amidst all the "Happy Holidays" that are sent out among us this time of year.  One doesn't even hear about "Christmas trees" anymore - it's "holiday" trees! (At least here in the "Great Northwest," one of the country's most unchurched and ANTI-Christian areas of the U.S.!)  Hmmm - what other holiday do you know of this time of year that involves dressing up an evergreen or fir tree? 

     I like what Charles Stanley (Baptist pastor of a large church in Atlanta, GA) said this morning on his TV program.  He went into a store and the clerk wished him "Happy Holidays."  He politely but firmly responded, "NO - Merry Christmas!"  He pointed out that because of THIS holiday, they (store owners and clerks) get to take our money but many don't want to hear the name of the one whose birth we celebrate and whose name is right there in the name of the day - CHRISTmas.  We don't offend them by giving them our money, but don't remind them of the name of the One who is responsible for the reason behind the giving and receiving that they are benefiting from. 

     But this is where the Enemy of our souls, Satan, is working, and has become more blatant over the years.  There have always been athiests who have hated the idea of what Christmas stands for and others who have been "uncomfortable" with mention of CHRISTmas, those "Scrooges" who want nothing to do with the day. And they are entitled to their misery.  But today ONE such voice piping up can be responsible for nativity scenes being removed from small towns or government offices, Christmas carolers forbidden and even Salvation Army bell-ringers removed from the front of big-name stores, in spite of MANY others in the same town who love the celebrations!  All because we in this country have come to value what we call "inclusiveness" (aka tolerance or not offending others) above all other values, which on the surface sounds like a good thing.

     This is the M.O. of Satan - making wrong sound right, (but don't let me get started on that sermon!) He's been at it since the Garden of Eden!  We don't want to offend people unnecessarily, of course.  Rudeness offends me.  Needless violence and rage offends me.  And rightly so.  But celebrating a holiday?   Particularly one that, in our culture has already lost most of the outer trappings of the true spiritual meaning?  We are bombarded, from practically Halloween now (I've even seen some Christmas displays up starting in September!) until December 26 (when the "After-Holiday" sales begin) and into the New Year with "Holiday Shopping" ads all over the TV and radio, yet children in schools (having worked in one capacity or other in that environment for the better part of the past 28 years) cannot utter the word "Christmas."  (Though I still see pockets of children in school halls and out in playgrounds wearing Santa hats.)  Christmas as it is celebrated (where it IS) in our culture has largely become a cultural rather than spiritual holiday, which is very sad.  But even our  cultural celebration of Christmas is under fire by those who are "offended" by the thought of the day.  I wonder how offended they would be if they truly got their wish and everyone stopped buying all those items to put under all those unnamed fir trees. 

     I grew up in New York City and go back there every year.  The highlight of my trip is going to Rockefeller Center to see the gigantic Christmas tree, all lit up with multicolored lights, the skaters, and the rows of wire angels blowing their wire trumpets leading up to it.  Add to that all the "magic" of the creative and beautifully decorated store windows (not even speaking of what is INSIDE the stores) designed to entice people in to buy as well as to provide delight to the millions of tourists and New Yorkers who annually do the whole Christmas ritual - "Carol of the Bells" playing in the air from seemingly nowhere like in a movie musical,  horse-drawn carriages transporting all manner of wide-eyed children,  young (and older) lovers, and tourists alike,  the millions of dollars spent around the city to amaze and - oh yes,  get people to spend their money.  Take all that away and the city would probably go bankrupt in a month!  THEN who would be "offended"?

     I have no problem with the idea of "tolerance" as long as it is used in a blanket way.  This nation of ours has tolerated everything imaginable, not to start naming names.  But this idea of being offended by all things Christian, including our cultural celebrations (like Christmas and Easter, which has also been largely stripped of the great If they are so offended by our holiday, Spiritual significance it has for Christians the world over) needs to be reconsidered.  We live in a country that says it values "culture" yet seems to include (in it's inclusivistic ideology) every "culture" except our own.  For those anti-Christian "humbugs," maybe there should be a symbol created to put up in their store windows so that Christians could avoid offending them with our business. After all, why should they be forced to contribute to  (not to mention profit from) a holiday they are offended by?  Maybe this would teach our soul-stripped culture the true meaning of "tolerance."    I would love to hear what readers of this commentary think.  Feel free to respond, and

                                              MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Season of Miracles and Wonder

     Ring out those bells to proclaim this season of miracles and wonder, starting with the best one of all:  the birth of God in the flesh, or as Pastor Andy Stanley said in his sermon this morning, "God in a bod." 

      As with most of us, this has been a crazy and eventful year for me:  going from unemployment to getting 2 jobs, five months apart, working with preschoolers and school-age kids (a nice balance), getting into a car acccident resulting in neck and back injuries (and a new-to-me car), and then, best of all,  going to hear Mario Murillo on Nov. 9 with my new boss at the after-school program at Leschi Elem. and BOTH of us getting healed, me of my neck and back injuries from the accident and also from  long-standing back trouble! 

     I know I tend to be a pessimist,  and don't like my negative attitudes - it's something God is CONSTANTLY working on with me.  But my healing reminds me (maybe that's WHY God did it!) to praise Him.  Not just because He has healed me, though that's certainly the big picture, and reason enough but moreso because healing, especially the miraculous kind that happened to me, is spiritual warfare.  As much as we want to focus on the good at this time of year (and always), we also have to realize the truth that we are ALWAYS involved in warfare, and rarely moreso than after such a healing miracle!  For one thing, healing boosts our faith, which Satan obviously doesn't want to allow!  So, one of his tactics after such an event is to throw out what I call "phantom pains" - he wants us to doubt our healing and figures that if we feel a twinge of that "old pain,"  we'll give it up and doubt God - both His ability (did He really do it?  Could he?) and His goodness (Maybe it was just wishful thinking or the power of suggestion? Would He really have healed ME?). 
    So, what I've learned in this matter, which carries over to the rest of my life (when I think about it and practice it!) is to battle the doubts with words of praise and trust!  When I start to feel those "old pains,"  I've learned to point to Jesus and thank Him for what I KNOW He's done for me.  And guess what happens EVERY time:  the "pain" disappears!  And, to boot, my faith is once more boosted!!!  Now, to get that message across to myself in all other aspects of my life - not that they'll all change instantly, but that with that attitude of praise rather than complaining, I will change into a more grateful person. 
    Today at church one of the points my pastor made was from a verse from Philippians 3:16, "Only let us live up to what we have already attained."  A good place to start!