Having it all . . .

Just let me smell the fir and pine, cinnamon and vanilla within the warmth of our home. Let me walk outside in the brisk air, and hear the crunch of snow or sere leaves beneath my booted feet. Let the wan light of December sun play over the rooftops and bare trees outside my window while the playlist on my iPod encompasses everything from “Ave Maria” to “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

But stop, please stop barking about having been saluted with “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas”, and declaring that those words mean taking sides in what some people have called (thanks, Fox News and Bill O’Reilly!) the “war on Christmas”.

There is no such thing. No amount of Grinchiness, no reminders that a nativity scene was not permitted in a school or government building, no inclusion of other seasonal observances can ever diminish Christmas in the hearts, minds and yes, pocketbooks (that’s another story!) of the masses in the western world.

It is not easy to impress on some people how embracing diversity does not mean turning their backs on their long-held religious views. You are not forsaking your beliefs by investigating, becoming educated or sharing in the rituals of another faith or creed. True, many of us in my peer group, growing up in Nova Scotia, did not see a menorah or Star of David in our neighbours’ homes, or know of Kwanzaa or Yule, other than with its references to a yule log cake. Still, how could knowing and learning about customs and traditions of others do anything but enrich us?

 

What makes people pit their beliefs against and focus such righteous outrage on others where Christmas is concerned? Kindness and compassion stand at the root of ancient and modern belief systems alike. Go to mass, have eight nights of lights, feast and frolic with abandon, be with those you love, give more or your time and less from the superficial “spend, spend, spend” mentality. Sing! Rejoice! Sit quietly. Observe or don’t.

That is having it all.