Merry Christmas

On my last day of work, I wished my colleague a Merry Christmas and he turned to me and said "No, Happy Holidays!"  I was struck by how one day of the year, Christmas, has been changed and re-labelled.  How the frantic purchase of gifts and yearly photo with Santa Claus take precedence.  As we sing carols, there is a strange blend of Jingle Bells, Santa Claus, Rudolph combined with 3 Kings, Away in a Manger, O Holy Night, Silent Night.  I feel confused since it is as if there are two distinct holidays being celebrated.  One focuses on a jolly man from an unknown area with 12 reindeers that can deliver gifts everywhere.  (Santa Claus, or St Nicholas, has been commercialised from his true nature.  If you trace back to the origins of St. Nicholas, there are a myriad of tales of his origins as a saint who gave gifts)  The other one focuses on a unusual and bizarre account of a baby in a manger surrounded by shepherd and farm animals.  

A clue to what Christmas is about is found in the first six letters of the word Christmas. Christmas also has mention of a baby born in a manger and Mary and Joseph and shepherds. There seems to be a clash between the spending of cash and a baby in a manger.  So, what is it about this baby that generates so much interest?  So, I quickly dashed to faithful Wikipedia and Google to research about this baby; who was born to die.  We seem to focus on the birth of baby Jesus and forget that baby Jesus grew up be a man who died on a cross.  It sounds so morbid and dark.  The celebration of the birth of a baby.  In four months at Easter time, we will remember the death of this baby.  

Perhaps I am morbid to speak about the death of a baby.  Perhaps the fact that the account of the birth of this baby should be remembered even after two thousand years is significant and worth considering further.  As a christian, I have the strong conviction that the greatest gift that was given is Jesus coming to earth.  The frantic and blunt focus on purchasing and buying simply detracts from Jesus.  I did enjoy receiving gifts; but, the true nature is that the greatest gift was one I did not deserve.  The birth of Jesus should be remembered and cherished every day not just once a year.  Let us not forget that baby Jesus grew to become a man who died for all people.  This will be remembered at Easter time (again, we are distracted by the Easter bunny - but thats another blog).