There has been a lot

[BobHunt]

written about "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas."
We are really skirting around the whole issue! When one turns on the radio and hears the Christmas Carols, almost every one of them have a negative and positive side. Now, I am not trying to be the Grinch that stole Christmas, but please think about it.
There is one popular Christmas song that speaks about "the whole world falling in love", but as I pulled into our Mall's parking lot this week, I saw anything but love. Have you ever watched people steal someone elses parking space, while the victim waves and shouts obscenities? Have you ever felt an elbow in your side as someone pushes by you trying to get a buy?
Another carol speaks of a "Holy Night". Yes, at that time maybe, but not now because most people dont even take the time to go to a Christmas Eve service, let alone go on Christmas Sunday! They are too busy with relatives and preparing the Christmas Goose for dinner!
Another carol talks about the beautiful birth in little Bethleham, but yesterday our newspaper headlines were "Beautiful Child Dies Tragically" which referred to a plane hitting a car after it skidded off a runway here in Chicago.
There is also "Joy To The World", and maybe there was on that night. These nights, there are people so saddened because their son or daughter is stationed in a far away land, serving their country in a war, and they are lonely tonight. There are couples who always seem to break up during holidays over some petty disagreement. And, there are families who have lost a loved one or will during these special days. Is it really "Joy To The World" then?

If you choose to do so, you can dwell on this side of Christmas, until it becomes like any other day of the year: rushing back and forth with bittersweet in your heart and sarcasim on your tongue. It will be at the very most, "Happy Holidays."

If you choose the positive side, however, this Christmas may be the one that will change your life forever! It WILL be Joy To The World, when you meditate on the change that one small birth has made in your life. It may seem to you that "the whole world has fallen in love" as you help some needy family who has no Christmas planned at all, or when you invite a person to your Christmas dinner who is alone and has no caring family around them.
It CAN be a "Holy Night" as you attend a Christmas Eve service and partake of the Lord's Supper and remember that on that night wise men also worshipped Him on bended knees!

I guess what I am really trying to say is, we can choose within our selves whether it is "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas." And, whichever we choose, will be what somes off our lips to others we meet. You see, it is a personal choice, a decesion WE make, a path we choose to follow!
Which one will it be for you?

[Stan Hall]

I agree Bob. I try very hard to keep my Christmas spirit when dealing with the world. When I'm treated rudely I refuse to be rude in return. (I think I am for the most part successful!) I smile and say, "Merry Christmas" to people. I think it rubs off on people. The other night we went shopping and the store was out of carts. So I went back out to the parking lot to get one. I brought back two and gave one to someone else. That earned me a "God bless you!" It made my evening!

[Barbara Moulton]

I agree.

I think about being salt in the world, as Jesus asked us to be. Do we do this by condemning and complaining about every slight we perceive during this Christmas season and engaging in rants against the commercial excess this time of year?

Or do we do it by consciously and intentionally bringing a sweetness to the world? There are so many opportunities for acts of kindness and connection with men and women all around us at this time of year. I strike up conversations with people in long line ups at the stores or with the tired sales clerk who looks ready to drop. Like you, I take my cart back to the store, even when it is cold and I would rather just hop in my warm car.

The hearts of so many people are in a different "place" at this time of year. As I work and interact with them at this time of the year, my prayer is that God will keep me ever alert to the opportunity to say the right thing at the right place.