Happy Holidays!

Yule tide is upon us again, a time of gifts, merriment, and stress. The American Psychology Association found that 8/10 Americans anticipate stress over the holidays (apa.org). Not that we need a study to tell us this. Sadly too much stress makes us moody and argumentative. There is one pointless argument I hear every year, and I’m asking you to help me end it.

Here’s a familiar scenario:

On a snowy street corner a smiling stranger wishes a passerby “Merry Christmas” only to be met with an icy “Happy Holidays” as the stranger sneers and rolls their eyes in disgust. Our hero's smile vanishes and is replaced, for the rest of the day, with resentment towards the “secularization” of their beloved Christmas. This is a sad scenario, but to be honest I have never met a person who got angry that I wished them a Merry Christmas. I’m certain it happens, but it has never happened to me.

I have seen Christians get angry about being wished a “Happy Holiday.” No year goes by that I don’t hear rants, sermons, and tantrums about how the word "Holiday". Whether it is a politician, an advertisement, or a relative someone will provide an excuse to complain that “Christmas” is being replaced by “Holiday.” This complaint is not helpful. It does not spark encouraging discussions or begin any argument worth having. I would rather hear a pagan solstice hymn than another complaint about how folks are greeting one another incorrectly.

By all means please keep the true meaning of Christmas alive. This is the perfect season to remember that Jesus said, “Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matt 5:39) Now if we can respond lovingly when evil people hit us, I’m confidant that we can respond lovingly when nice people wish us a “Happy Holiday.”

Here’s a neat idea if you feel strongly about wishing Merry Christmas, “Do everything without complaining or arguing” (Phil 2:14) Correcting people about their greeting is argumentative. Talking to other Christians about it is complaining. Please turn the other cheek, wish the Holiday Heretic a Merry Christmas, and praise God for the opportunity to love them. We’re not winning any hearts by carrying this argument any further.

Merry Christmas OR God's Blessings and Rationality

Assume every human is acting in in their own self interest, or at least what they perceive to be their self interest. I find this is a frustrating and disillusioning assumption because it allows kindness and cruelty to be motivated by identical desires and emotions. For example a person may shoplift, soldier, or parent out of a desire to feel powerful. Fathers may abuse or nurture their kids because of a desire for their kids' to not turn out like them. A person who acts in their own self-interest is said to be, rational. Assume Jesus is rational, and consider the following:

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ (Acts 20:35)

I believe there are two plausible reasons for a rational Jesus to say such a thing. One painful explanation for his claim, that it is better to give that to receive, is that Jesus was lying. Like many cult leaders Jesus could use his influence over peoples moral beliefs in order to profit from “enlightening” their point of view. It's not so far fetched; people have used Jesus' word to do exactly that for centuries. The scandal of the thing would be a lot of fun to write about, but I'm afraid no one got rich off of the Christian religion until after Christ was dead.

The other explanation I come up with is that Jesus actually believes that giving serves his interests better than receiving. If that is that case then we can assume that he would do everything in his power to give, and that scripture would record little of him receiving. The only instances of Jesus receiving anything that I can recall are times when he took meals from a host, when he took a donkey into Jerusalem, and when the “sinful” woman anointed him with perfume. That's not a lot of receiving when compared to the rest of Jesus' life. Jesus' life was characterized by constant giving, the giving of cures, the giving of food, the giving of dead relatives back to their families, of teachings, blessings, fish, of time, affection, and attention. The best example is the giving of his life on the cross.

If this is how God's son conducted himself on earth, it seems reasonable to conclude that a life of sacrifice is in fact the most profitable way a person can conduct themselves. That may sound like an evil reason for living generously; however, it is sensible that the God who determined the rules of the universe would make virtuous living beneficial if he actually wanted anyone to try it.

Now assume God is, has, and always will act in his own interest; please remember that he knows giving to be more blessed than receiving. God's motivations become clearer. God's action of creating the world, allowing the Fall, delivering Israel from slavery, giving the law of Moses, sending his son, sending his Holy Spirit, and every other divine act recorded and unrecorded is an instance of God giving. God gave Adam his breath, and he gives us his son.

God has created a universe where we, the created beings, have no concrete means of giving to our God. We have nothing that we haven't received (1 Corinthians 4:7). We cannot even work or earn our way into our God's presence or good will. We receive those things as a gift.

When God gives, he doesn't do it so that we can owe him something. God doesn't give gifts to win our favor. God doesn't give to be an example of generosity (although He is a good example). God doesn't give begrudgingly or reluctantly. God gives because it's more blessed to give than to receive.

I don't believe that our relationship to God is at all like that of a beggar or a freeloader. I believe that God wants and likes to give. I believe that God is delighted on levels we cannot comprehend when he gives his gifts to us. Our earth, breaths, longings, passions, arts, food, days, nights, hopes, and selves are his gifts to us, and each gift we receive from him blesses the Lord.

Bless the Lord by enjoying his gifts, material and immaterial, and enjoying deeply the holy blessing that it is to give. Merry freak'n Christmas .