Happy Holidays!

“Happy holidays!” Holiday shopping. Holiday decorations. Holiday greetings.

What ever happened to “Christmas”? Apparently some grinches sneaked into city halls, advertising agencies, media headquarters, and stores and stole “Merry Christmas. In its place, they substituted “Happy holidays.” Now political correctness pervades the season, having relegated the reason for the season primarily to pulpits.

I don’t think the grinches will return the Christmas they stole, but I would like at least one of them to tell me which holiday they think people are celebrating at this time of year. We have already observed Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving, and whoever heard of stringing lights and exchanging gifts on New Year’s Day. So Christmas must be the holiday the grinches refuse to mention.

Strange how times change! Christians used to object to “Xmas,” insisting the X crossed Christ out of Christmas. They missed the point: X is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ. Also, Christians used to identify Santa Claus as a usurper and an antichrist. Now we would be pleased to see Xmas displayed in public, and the grinches who stole Christmas view Santa as a Christian symbol. I wish we could get back to simpler times, when neighbor greeted neighbor with “Merry Christmas,” carolers greeted shoppers with strains of “Silent Night” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and public schools didn't schedule Winter Break but Christmas vacation.

Christmas will arrive twelve days from now; therefore, very little time remains to prepare for the holiday that has become almost unmentionable. I have almost finished my CHRISTMAS shopping. Our CHRISTMAS decorations are in place. I have mailed our CHRISTMAS cards, and now I want to wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.