The problem with Christmas

     Well, Christmas is almost here!  I just wanted to take a minute and tell you what Christmas means to me.  First and foremost, it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of the world.  The name given to Him was Emmanuel, which means "God With Us".  How humbling to know that God loved me enough to come to this wretched world in the form of a man, just to suffer and die for my sins.  Christmas also means the return of wonderful family memories of Christmas past.  This will be the first Christmas in my life without showing up at my mom's at 10:00a.m. sharp for Christmas breakfast, so, I'm making it for my family this year.  It also means reading the Christmas story from Luke, Chapter 2, praying and giving thanks to God for the gift of Jesus before ANY gifts are opened.  Christmas means spending time with, and being thankful for, my family.
     Now, I know there are a lot of folks who will say that Jesus couldn't have been born in December.  It was probably more likely He was born in June, because that is usually when the shepherds would be out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night, and they're probably right.  Well, here's what I say....WHO CARES!!!  Does it really mattter when we choose to celebrate His birth?  Does it really matter that some of our secular Christmas traditions were derived from pagan rituals?  I don't think so, and I'll tell you why.  Christians chose December 25th to coincide with the Pagan ritual of the Winter Solstice.  We decided that maybe we could convert the pagans by celebrating alongside them.  I'm not sure, but it probably had some effect, even if just one Pagan out of a million chose Christ.  So, now, we have the Christmas Tree.  Someone tell me, what is wrong with decorating a pretty tree?  Do we bow down and worship the tree?  No.  What's wrong with giving presents?  Nothing is EVER wrong when we give of ourselves freely.  What is wrong with Santa?  Nothing is wrong with a child believing in Santa, who is after all, modeled after a real saint, St. Nick! 
     So, all that said, what is wrong with Christmas?  Just one thing.  Christmas has become a commercial, political mess.  Should we say Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza.....AHHHHHH!!  Here's my answer, it's pretty simple really.  SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT!!  IF PEOPLE DON'T LIKE IT, THEY CAN TURN AND WALK AWAY!!  Why can't everyone just say it how they want?  Just me, but I would walk out of ANY job that told me I couldn't say MERRY CHRISTMAS!  "Do you think So and So will like their gifts?  Ohhh, I hope so!!"  If they don't, they need a lesson on what Christmas is all about, and if you worry yourself silly about getting everyone the perfect gift, so do you!  The perfect gift has already been given.  THAT'S WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT!  GOD'S PERFECT GIFT! THIS is what is wrong with Christmas.  Too much focus on not offending, making sure everyone has the perfect gift, and not enough focus on Christ!  Remember, Christ said that if the world hates you, we are to remember that it hated Him first.  Say Merry Christmas with a smile, and if somebody hates on you, remember they hated Christ first.  That's the way I see it!