The world keeps moving more and more towards politically correctness  or for some the fear and disdain of it.  This year more than ever, it seemed people were putting much more thought into their December greetings.

I cannot stand the business of taking Christ out of Christmas.  I do feel frustrated when I walk into stores and see little to no decorations recognizing Christmas for what it is.  But, at the same time…for as long as I can remember we used Happy Holidays interchangeably with Merry Christmas and the intent was understood.  It was until recently that your Christianity came into question if you said one vs. the other.   As far as I know… Christmas is still considered a holiday… and Thanksgiving through New Years is the holiday season.  So, sometimes I’ll say Happy Holidays.  I’ll also say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

One of my friends who works in media (after having said Merry Christmas in previous statements) said Happy Holidays in the course of a greeting and was corrected very sternly and offensively.  Even in the midst of talking about the birth of Jesus, and playing songs about Christ, he was spoken to in a manner that did not seem out of love just because he gave a joyous greeting that did not contain the words Merry Christmas!

I just hope that as we defend the right to say Merry Christmas and are determined to keep Jesus the center; we don't miss what that means as we relate to others.  I  don’t think Jesus would be critically listening to others speech only in an attempt to catch people saying the wrong thing.  Instead, I believe He’d return a Happy Holidays with a Christmas blessing.

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