After all, 'tis the season.
Last night I was talking with an old high school friend about her church. She was telling me how her church, located in downtown Indianapolis, works very hard to be inclusive of people from all walks of life. Genuinely inclusive, not saccharine sweet inclusive. Her example was of the large percentage of homeless men and women who attend services. And then she said something that really struck me. She said she hoped the church was able to give the homeless men and women "hope - hope that these people could overcome the challenges they faced." I'm undoubtedly butchering this a little bit, but the sentiment and the earnest manner in which it was said really struck me. It struck me as one of the most caring, yet clear-headed, statements of faith I had heard in a while.
I was moved.
And then we come to today.
I opened up Facebook only to discover multiple people having posted notes on their walls saying things like "Merry Christmas! And if this offends you, God bless you anyway."
Here's the thing. I am not a Christian. That's no real secret. Yet I celebrate Christmas as a time to come together with my family, celebrate our togetherness through old traditions and the creation of new traditions. We hang stockings. We decorate a tree. We have a champagne breakfast, filled with foods made from recipes from when my parents and grandparents were kids. We laugh. We tease. Occasionally we (mostly my mom) cry. But regardless of where we are or what we are doing, we spend Christmas as a family. And I value that.
Obviously, I am not offended when someone wishes me a Merry Christmas. I wish you all one as well. What I am offended by is statements like the ones I saw on Facebook today that are antagonistic about how an individual may approach this season. The seeming "I don't give a f@%$ if you're offended" statement is what's offensive, not the holiday greeting. Honoring someone's faith and their beliefs, even if they are different from your own is not a punishment. It's not censorship. It's genuine inclusiveness.
So thank you to my friend from last night. Sometimes I can get so bogged down in all the antagonism that I forget to acknowledge the good. My friend gave me a genuine sample of what I think of as the spirit of this season. And for that, I am grateful.
In return, here's wishing all of you a magical season, filled with family, friends, faith, and hope.
