On the Dilemma of Christmas Greetings

It can be hard to know how to best greet people at Christmas time. As reported in this post and this one too, I love December because our family's Christmas traditions help us worship Christ and translate that worship into service to other people. That fills us with joy and helps us to remember how to really live. It is great! It's fabulous. So, when I see people, I want to share the joy and inner peace I'm experiencing by saying, "Merry Christmas!"

At the same time, I've sometimes worried about someone feeling excluded who does not celebrate Christmas. I don't want to say, "Happy Holidays" because it seems to water down what I'm experiencing in December but I also want to show respect to people who choose to believe and celebrate differently than I do. I see that kind of respect for other people as its own sort of sacred thing.

At church a week ago, my good friend shared a story that helped me resolve this quandary. He said that he was with some Jewish friends of his and told them, "Happy Hannukkah." They stopped him sand said, "You're Christian. You shouldn't be saying, 'Happy Hannukah.' You should say, 'Merry Christmas.' You say 'Merry Christmas' to us and we'll say 'Happy Hannukah' to you and then we can all respond with 'Thank you.'"

I love this way of seeing it! I want to be true to the deep feelings I have about celebrating Christ's birth but I also want other people to feel like they can express their deep feelings about whatever they celebrate. So, I'm going to do things the way my friend's Jewish friends suggested. I'm going to say, "Merry Christmas" to people and be happy when people express holiday greetings to me in whatever way they desire. And I'll say "Thank you" to people when they give me whatever greeting they choose to give.

And, so, in that vein, here is a video Christmas card from my family (with an update on how we're doing in the description below):