--And I mean it. Geez, c'mon, people, how hard is it to take statements at face value? I don't know what holiday it is you -- in your wonderful special specialness -- happen to celebrate late in December (and I can't stop and ask each and every one of you what it might be), but I'd like for it to be a happy one for you.
Merry Christmas (and around here, odds are good that's your holiday -- not 100%, but it's likely), and I mean that, too, even if you're actually gonna go home, put a great big log on the fire, wear a holly wreath, dye yourself blue with woad and celebrate Yule. Or cut the head off a chicken or whatever. Enjoy the season, have a nice holiday; that's what I mean to be saying.
Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Winter Solstice, Happy Kwanzaa -- whatever your holiday(s), here's appropriate wishes and no snide subtext about it.
...And by the way, that "X" in "Xmas?" Not an X, kids, it's a Greek letter chi, as in the first letter of "Christ," and it goes back centuries, possibly even older than the emperor Constantine, with a long and respectable history* in religious texts. They're not Xing out anything.
Hey, let's us just have a nice holiday and express the hope that our fellow-humans can and will do the same, and not be nasty little weasels about it -- look the other person in the eye and wish 'em well. It's just the one month; you've got the other eleven in which to be all paranoid and butt-hurt.
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* Yeah, Snopes -- but this entry cites a source, a book from 1975, which you are advised to go look at.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
19 comments:
Merry Christmas Ms. Ecks
And A Merry Christmas to you and yours, Roberta!
gfa
Happiest of Holidays to all the citizens at Roseholme Cottage, both two- and four-legged.
Season's Greetings, as a druid priest of my acquaintance would say.
As usual,the last 'Season's Greetings' card from the current occupant, 1600 Penn. Ave. does not have the word 'Christmas' on it anywhere:
http://nypost.com/2016/12/12/obama-omits-christmas-on-christmas-card-again/
Herr Trump, on the other hand has declared 'Merry Christmas' will *not* be 'verboten' in the 'People's House', as long as he is a resident...
And while winter is now just getting fully started, another reason this should be a happy season is the realization that just a week from now that lazy sun is going to start lifting itself higher on the noonday horizon, and that we're not permanently mired in the semi-darkness that lasts for most of a day this time of year.
Happy Holidays, ma'am.
Happy Christmas Roberta, hope you have better health next year.
FWIW, I read the "X is for Chi" places long before Snopes. I think that one's solid.
I dunno. I lack the energy to engage in the Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays fight. If I know the person and what they celebrate, I wish them a happy one of those. If I don't know the person, I wait for them to tender wishes to me and then I give back what they gave me, whether Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or Happy New Year. (I once had someone lecture me about how I should go around wishing people a Happy Solstice because it wasn't religious and therefore "everyone" could celebrate it. I didn't say anything but inwardly rolled my eyes - not because the person celebrated Solstice, but because of the lecture.)
Soon Night Wolf will begin to vomit Sun Maiden back out! Rejoice!
Merry Christmas to you too!
Anon, 12:06 pm -- yeah, well, I don;t take issue with the Current Occupant on that one. See, he's the President of the United States. Even the parts that make him all itchy. Even the parts where they go to religious services on Sunday, Saturday, Friday or not at all. As such, a "Season's Greetings" card is quite suitable.
On the other hand, if the Next Four- or Eight-year Occupant wants to send out cards that say "Merry Christmas" and have a Nativity scene on 'em, I'm okay with that, too -- it's a holiday card, not a flippin' Imperial Directive. The man sends the card; the Office sends drones. On rare occasion, some may get both.
The Big O ain't sayin' anything against the Baptists down the road with his card, and the Big T isn't sayin' anything of special favor to them. Or either of them to anyone else, except to the people to whom they send their cards, and to those people, they're extending greetings appropriate to the holiday. Lighten up, willya? It's Christmas. And a lot of other things, too.
One fellow I e-hang out with celebrates Newton's birthday.
Can't fault him on that, even though there's some time-warping required.
Thank you for the explanation of the X in 'Xmas', I always wondered about that.
Anon 6:06, it may even be a simplified chi-rho, which looks like an X and a P superimposed, and that's the first *two* letters in Greek -- "ch" and "r." This is a not-uncommon Christian symbol.
If you give an early christian half a fish, he can guess you're not going to throw him to the lions. (At least, so goes the urban myth).
I could go for the obvious goofy pun and say Merry Ecksmas. But I won't.
(Love the blog entry!)
Good one! Merry Xmas Roberta.
Very happy holidays to you and all your dreams and wishes. May the darkness finally flee, and the New Year be wonderful. Because you can handle the good stuff. Thanks for writing.
Health, prosperity, and the pursuit of one's particular happiness to all the Rosholmings.
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