Some Stray Thoughts for Today

First off, whatever holiday you are observing now, blessed be. That comes from my own tradition, and although the official day was Tuesday night/Wednesday, one can still legitimately observe Yule today. Here it's sunny, with a forecast for highs in the 40s. On Christmas Day. In Chicago. There's something very wrong with that.

I have no problem with "Merry Christmas" as a greeting -- I have no objections to observing the holiday at all, considering that most of the trappings (including the date) were co-opted from various Pagan traditions -- trees, wreaths, lights/candles, caroling are all part of Pagan celebrations of the Solstice. And it is, after all, the same holiday -- the (Re)Birth of the Sun/Son.

Christmas has a weird history in the New World. Celebration of the holiday was banned by the Puritans -- but then, actually celebrating almost anything was banned by the Puritans -- but in the rest of the country it got more and more extravagant.

It's now considered a secular holiday in honor of the god that most Americans really worship, Mammon. That's when retailers make their rent for the year. (It's actually always been a fairly materialistic holiday, what with the gift-giving and all. It's the time of year when the avarice of small children knows no bounds.)

The War on Christmas, declared by Bill O'Reilly, I believe it was, a few years ago, has become an industry in itself. It's sort of symptomatic of the paranoid egomania that has become the public face of Christianity. Sad, actually -- the real Christians I know aren't worried about it. It's really the province of those who use the Bible as a club.

Speaking of which, I've noticed that some people have a way of saying "I'm Christian" that assumes that tells you all you need to know about them. All too often, they're right, and not in a positive way. There's a certain air of superiority, self-satisfaction coupled with defensiveness in the way they say it that is all too revealing. I work with a woman who is a practicing Christian and is obviously very comfortable with her faith -- when describing one of life's squeakers to me, she simply said, "I'm faithful, and let me tell you, I was praying." I like that -- it makes no assumptions about what I'm thinking. That's the attitude of most Christians I know personally -- just very matter-of-fact, no big deal. I think that's the way it should be.

(These last thoughts were sparked by this story, via Towleroad. The name of the school should have been a dead giveaway that something like this would come down the pipeline. Not a lot of Jesus there. My feeling is, if you've got a stingy soul, you shouldn't broadcast it like that.)

But enough of that. It's the time of year, I think, when everyone (mostly) is at their best. As for me, I'm going to treat myself to biscuits and gravy for breakfast, call my family, and then see what the day has to offer.

And once again, Blessed Be.