[My cyber-friend Jack Murphy who often uses grif.net humor in his columns
recently had this thoughtful essay published. So now I am quoting him!]
TIME TO SEARCH FOR CHRISTMAS
This is the time of year that reminds me of one of my pet peeves. We often
hear from merchants that the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are
the most profitable in the entire year. Many say this period makes the
difference between profit and loss for the entire year. Why on earth are
merchants removing the word, “Christmas,” from their advertising?
It is bad enough that they have taken the religious celebration of Easter
and buried it in images of Easter bunnies, chocolate and eggs to the point
that millions of small children are convinced that rabbits are hatched from
eggs. Oh, yes, it is also to remember that our Lord, Jesus, was raised from
the dead, a rather important event for a few hundred million Christians.
I am sure you have noticed how they are creeping up on Thanksgiving. They
are practically telling us to get right up from the Thanksgiving meal, leave
the dirty dishes in the sink, bring your money and come see us. Pretty soon
they will be working to move Thanksgiving to Monday where most of the other
holidays are. They may even start giving free pup tents so you can park
outside your favorite stores all night.
I am not really a Scrooge. I recognize that all those gifts purchased during
this time represent acts of love and sacrifice. Those gifts and their
Christmas tree setting form strong family bonds that last a lifetime. The
toys and other gifts also represent employment for many thousands of folks
and their families. These are all good things based on the concept of love
and giving. They are all an outgrowth of the reason for the season, the
birth of Jesus. He is the primary source of love and giving, unmatched by
any other. Doesn’t it seem sacrilegious to stamp out the word, Christmas?
This is the time of year when I study the advertising fliers with a passion.
I don’t look for bargains, at least not at first. I read them carefully to
see if I can find the word Christmas included in them. If I do, I then look
for the items offered for sale. If I do not find the word used in connection
with the appropriate merchandise, than I discard the fliers immediately. Not
only that, but I discard all fliers from those merchants for the rest of the
upcoming year. I will check them out next December, too.
It annoys me to have a store clerk wish me “Happy Holidays.” What holidays
could it be? It is too early for New Years. Is it to celebrate the Sun God?
How about the Moon God? It amazes me that so many merchants have so little
integrity that they can be so influenced by a handful of atheists and
pagans. It is as though we Christians are second class citizens, Our time
honored traditions cannot begin to compare with the almighty dollar.
Several years ago I went into a chain department store to buy a gift
certificate for a friend. Christmas was nowhere to found in the store. No
signage anywhere had it. The manager with whom I spoke defended their Happy
Holiday policy. I left and went to Dillard’s. Guess what? I found a
Christmas greeting on the door on the way in. What is even more important,
Dillard’s, God bless them, has already started using the slogan, “The Style
of Christmas” in their ads. I made a point of telling the manager that I
appreciated his use of the word Christmas in his signage. We need to do this
to all merchants who are fighting this trend.
We need to fight to bring back Christmas to the world we live in.
Unless merchants hear from us that we are being offended by their actions,
nothing will change. I know that “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and
“Rudolf the Red-nose Reindeer” should only be played once a day. I would
support that, but there is a lot of good, appropriate music for this time of
the year. Hearing the greeting, “Merry Christmas” from a clerk would be a
nice Christmas present, wouldn’t it?
~~
Bonus: here is a fun little song about the subject. Merry Christmas.
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net
“Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!”