Holiday Rant (Blog Challenge #3)

Suzanne's 3rd challenge is to "Rant and rave! What holiday drives you nuts? Think of a holiday people fuss over. Write about loving and/or disliking that holiday."

Well, I've drug my heels with this one long enough. At least three times, I've begun to pen my feelings in response to this challenge. Though this is the same thing I've been saying for a while now, I am nonetheless shocked at the intensity of my feelings, and the caustic nature of the words I am drawn to choose. I've tried to dial it down -- perhaps without success. Since I'm not known for keeping my mouth SHUT, those of you who read may be less surprised than I am.

Christmas and Easter

I like Christmas and love Easter, and I hate the way we celebrate both!

What makes the difference between love and like? Well, several things.

• First, Fall is my favorite season, and I have to pack my fall decorations away all too quickly to put up Christmas decorations.
• Second, I'm not a fan of cold weather. Now, if we could put Christmas in July, I'd be ALL FOR THAT! Seriously. And we could for all the seasonal accuracy it holds religiously. I see a strange protest formings . . . picket lines with people in shorts and Santa hats carrying signs and chanting, "Christmas in July! Christmas in July!"

Oh, sorry! Got off on a tangent . . . .

I hate the way we celebrate them. At Christmastime, my fellow Christians run around saying, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" when he's really NOT. Christians (back before we Protestants broke from the Roman Catholic Church) superimposed a celebration of Christ's birth on a pagan holiday in an effort to encourage conversion and reduce "sinning" by participation in the pagan festival. You can judge for yourself how successful that plan has been, but be careful of pointing accusatory fingers, considering the similar tactics many Protestant churches use with Halloween. At least our Catholic brothers were trying to impact the culture in SOME WAY.

Oops. Got off on another rant . . . . See why this has taken me so long???

Back to the point. The scant Biblical evidence does not support a mid-winter birthday party for Jesus. But, if it we were calendarically (is that a word??) correct, he really doesn't seem to be the REASON for the season. He's more like an afterthought.

Religiously speaking, Easter is much more significant to our faith. While Jesus could never have done the things he did if he had never been born . . . . he could have lived without doing those things. It is his substitutionary and atoning death which is the crux of the Christian faith. Yet, Easter doesn't really carry the same significance in the lives of most Christians as Christmas. Of nominal Christians, more will go once a year on Christmas than Easter.

Perhaps they are simply responding to the behavior of the churches. Churches emphasize Christmas more than Easter. Our sanctuaries are decorated more elaborated. We have more special programs. More churches will have Christmas Eve services than Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday or Good Friday services -- more Midnight Masses than Easter Vigils.

Why are we surprised that the world doubts the sincerity of our faith, when we fight the crowds to overspend on Christmas gifts and then are too tired to go to the Christmas cantata, and blow off Easter with a half-hearted Egg hunt which leaves us so "spiritually" satisfied (though rooted in another pagan festival) that we skip the Sunrise service??? Too bad there's no time or peace for a "Silent Night" and too much silence for a rousing chorus of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today!"

Ok. There's rant. Remember that, at least this time, I was ASKED. Now you'll forgive me if I don't hold my breath for anything to change (and there's my cynicism). Everyone else seems content with the way things are.