Okay, time for the weird 4am garble to come out of my mouth, so this may only make sense to me. Here's what I've noticed in my town, and here's what I think Christmas is about.
Even as a Christian, honestly I've never seen a lot of Christ in this holiday to begin with. I mean, yeah, I went to mass on Christmas Eve, and the little school kids acted out the story of Jesus' birth. It was adorable of course and put me in the holiday spirit. (There was this kid who played the star, and his face poked out of this yellow star-shaped monstrosity as big as him...so cute!) There's of course the usual Christian decorations, too...nativity scenes, Advent wreaths, etc. But anyway...that's about all I see as far as Christ goes. It's not like I'm even seeing extra church stuff going on they way we do with Easter. Leading up to Easter, there's extra masses, more opportunities for sacraments, and more community involvement. So when I'm not even seeing anything worthwhile in my own church about Christmas, I don't particularly see a reason to whine and complain when the government won't let me...put up a nativity scene inside the Post Office, to have an example throughout this post.
Random thought: Isn't Christmas originally a pagan holiday anyway or something? Or at least some traditions stem from paganism. It's not like we made this stuff up from scratch.
So I suppose this just isn't that important of a Christian celebration for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing it at all. It just doesn't rank first for me as far as Christian stuff goes. (Nor does it rank last.) And I think Christmas is whatever you make of it. If you personally don't feel like there's enough Christ in this holiday season, there's plenty you can do on your own or with others without stuffing it down everyone's throats. Community service, a special prayer with loved ones on Christmas day, whatever you can think of. When we all start arguing over whether or not I can put up my nativity scene inside the Post Office...it's just a nativity scene, and I wouldn't whine about it to begin with...for me personally, I see a lot more to Christmas than just some cardboard decorations we all fight over. I understand completely that this is an important holy day for some people who want to shout it from the rooftops and decorate like the Griswolds (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...hilarious movie), but...tough. Not everyone's Christian, and we need to respect that.
Easter's the most important Christian day anyway for me. As long as Christ stays there, I'm happy.
Peace,
Jen
