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Saturday Musings - Putting the Christ Back into Christmas

20181222_christmas Christmas - love, compassion and sacrifice.

I do apologise if I offend anyone in this post….it is not my intention. Over the years I’ve noticed that Christmas has become more about commercialism and political correctness than it is about the true spirit of Christmas and the reason for it’s being.

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Christmas is a derivation of two words, “Christ’s mass”. According to etymology, Christmas is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038 followed by the word Cristes-messe in 1131.

Christmas is all about Christ and the spirit of love, compassion and the ultimate sacrificial gift that he brought to the world. When I say, “Merry Christmas” to someone I’m wishing all of these Christ-like blessings upon them.

Whether you are a Christian, of some other faith or of no faith at all, you would have to acknowledge the fact that there was an extremely influential man about 2,000 years ago that walked the earth. Our whole dating system has been based upon him. BC is Before Christ and AD anno-domini or “in the year of our Lord”. In fact, many historians now acknowledge there is more historical evidence for Christ than there is for Julius Caesar.

If someone wishes you “Merry Christmas” they aren’t trying to force their faith upon you but rather wish you rich blessings. Likewise, if a person of Islamic faith says, “The peace of the prophet be upon you,” then I wouldn’t get upset either. They are wishing blessings upon you from their perspective and we should respect the giver and the gift appropriately.

Likewise, Jews didn’t kill Jesus, bad people who happened to practice the Jewish faith did. The birth of Christianity also came from people who practiced the Jewish faith. So for all you Christians that are tempted to have angry thoughts about Jews this time of year….I would recommend you spend some time reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas.

In the name of commercialism and political correctness we have removed some of the culturally significant meanings from celebrations like Christmas and replaced it with sayings such as, “Happy Holidays” or “Happy Festive Season”. To me, these phrases are missing the essence of love and what Christmas is all about.

What happens if you offend someone by saying, “Merry Christmas?” I would recommend they take a look at their own life and realise that you are only wishing them well. Can a person of another faith say, “Merry Christmas?” Of course, they can! It shows a measure of respect for the person they are saying it to. Likewise, would it be so hard for Christians to show respect for people of other faith by saying something like, “Happy Hanukkah”?

To me, the true spirit of Christmas crosses religious and cultural boundaries by showing love, compassion and sacrificial giving to all people. Especially at this time of year, let’s make it our mission to show these Christ-like virtues to everyone we meet.

I would like to wish all readers and sponsors of Whizzbangsblog a very “Merry Christmas” and may you have a wonderful time with loved ones wherever you are. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, then please accept the blessings that it represents upon you and your family.

 

Michael Gilmour

nic.icu

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Comments

Guest - Kevin Murphy on 03 January 2019
Offense?

Nobody gets offended by "Merry Christmas". You've been watching too much Fox News mate.

Nobody gets offended by "Merry Christmas". You've been watching too much Fox News mate. ;)
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