We’re back to “Merry Christmas” vs “Happy Holidays.” Many Christians are enraged by “Happy Holidays.” Apart from the fact that, to be reverent, we should take our greeting out of party mode (“merry”) and wish people a blessed Christmas, I invite everyone to consider this: There are at least a dozen religious holidays in December, not just Christmas. Three are purely Catholic (Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Feast of the Holy Family), others are for all Christians (St. Nicholas Day, Posadas Navidenas, Holy Innocents Day, and Christmas). Muslims celebrate Mawlid el-Nabi and Mawlid un-Nabi, Jews have Hanukkah, and Zoroastrians Zarathosht Diso and Yalda. Right after New Year’s, when we all tell God that we will try to be better children for Him, comes the Buddhists’ Bodhi Day. Obviously, God in His infinite wisdom, not only made his children diverse but also nudges us toward Him in various ways. So, please don’t take offense if you hear me say “happy holidays.” If I don’t know if a person is Christian, I’ll respect God’s child and the way God is calling to him.
Tag Archive for Hanukkah
THREE Reasons to Celebrate
For only the 4th time in 100 years, Hanukkah (which starts at sunset tomorrow night) and Christmas both land on the same day. It has to do with the fact that the Jewish calendar is lunar and the Christian calendar Gregorian. But who cares why?
Let’s just enjoy the double celebration. After all, there are similarities. It’s the focus and viewpoint: To Jews, Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights, celebrating the re-dedication of the new Holy Temple; to Christians Christmas is when Light came into the world in the form of the embodied Holy Temple.
Sounds like a good time for our world to unite and celebrate peace and harmony. And THAT would be a third, marvelous celebration!
Hanukkah For Jews and Non-Jews
To all my readers and friends: I wish you a very happy Hanukkah for the remainder of the 8 days!
To my non-Jewish readers and friends: Hanukkah is a wonderful celebration. I like one of it’s names, “The Festival of Lights,” both for the history behind the name and for the joyous picture it calls to mind. If you don’t know what this ages-old, 8-day holiday is about, you’re missing something. Go to “Hanukkah 2015: When Does The Jewish Holiday Start And How Is It Celebrated?” and read about this significant, family (in every sense)-oriented celebration. It’s a breath of fresh air in our troubled world.
What’s Your Hoiliday?
What do you celebrate this time of year? Christian Christmas, Jewish Hanukkah, Buddhist Bodhi Day, African-American Kwanzaa, Muslum Ashura, Druid Solstice, Atheist “made-it-through-another-year”? We may disagree on what to commemorate, but we all look to that same shining star:
PEACE ON EARTH
