December 2, 2009
Thumb through the telephone directory and you will find lots of them. An ethnic preface for a wide variety of listings, with the exception of the occasional one additional letter, they all begin the same way.
For my purposes, I will capitalize both of them and laud them in terms that shout tradition! The letters? MC. The message? Merry Christmas.
Once upon a time, we saw the words emblazoned on nearly every retailer in the nation. Sadly, that is not the case today. As an integral movement to remove God from American life, holiday spoilers claim inequity and want everything labeled for Christmas to be retitled “holiday”. Give me oxygen.
Our Founding Fathers based this nation on Christianity and that faith has buoyed us not only in good times but on the stormy seas of both civil and world wars.
Spires of countless churches aim toward heaven. Our art and music reflect our close relationship with the Creator. The Declaration of Independence is but one of our most precious documents that strongly reference God. Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural, noted God many times.
Likely, it has not escaped your notice that more and more mega-stores bend to the pressure of the minority — yes, minority. America is, overall, a Christian nation. We welcome other religions. We do not force Christianity on newcomers. We stand aside and say nothing when non-believers observe their religious traditions. You don’t see us moving to abolish or diminish the holy days of other faiths.
Why, then, are we — as a people — so quiet when others push Christmas to the side and relegate it to a generic holiday category? It is, of course, complacency, but a complacency borne of openness.
Make it a habit to wish all comers “Merry Christmas”! If you see a retailer use the holiday wording, complain. An overwhelming majority of Americans profess their Christian faith. Traditional, mainline churches remain very active, yet their attendance is waning a bit. New, non-denominational churches are growing in numbers. It isn’t unusual to see a congregation begin meeting in a storefront setting.
Tolerance is laudable, but that practice goes both ways. If Christians are perfectly comfortable with other faiths and their holidays, then those who believe otherwise — or do not believe at all — should adopt that position.
Bask in the sights, sounds, and smells of the season. Inhale the scents of Christmas candles… the sounds of bell ringers… the lyrics of familiar carols… the pleasure of giving…. Yes, in the end, the initials MC mean much more than the introduction to a surname that heralds from Scotland. MC means Merry Christmas. Don’t allow anyone to remove it from the American scene.
Enjoy the season. Take its message to heart. You won’t be sorry that you did. Think about it.