Today is December 23rd. It’s weird to think that Christmas Eve is just one day away. Perhaps the thing that makes this even weirder this year is the absence of snow. When I was a kid I expected Christmases to have snow. I actually thought that it was part of the Christmas magic that it was always there. Listening to the song “White Christmas” just cemented in my brain that white was the way it had to be with the last line “And may all your Christmases be white.” With that line, in my small mind, Bing Crosby promised me that I was always going to have a white Christmas. Then one year Christmas came and there was no snow. I felt so ripped off. It didn’t feel like Christmas should. I mean, yeah it was still terribly, terribly cold, but with none of the powdery white stuff (snow, not cocaine. Let’s be mature here guys). Bing had lied to me. Now, irreversibly, all of my Christmases were not white. My life was a failure. I still had a fun enough time and it was still all in all quite Christmasy, but I felt cheated. Of course, that was not my last un-white Christmas. Serving my mission in the West Indies added a second tally to my wall of shame. To be fair though, it was a balmy 80 degrees on Christmas and I didn’t complain. This now will be my 3rd Christmas without snow. Of course, there will be plenty of it waiting for me up in Idaho, I’m sure.
Christmas songs really had a big effect on me when I was a kid (If you couldn’t tell. It is all I have talked about this month). The “Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting) was another one that really made me angry. Particularly the last part where it says “And so I’m offering this simple phrase, to kids from one to ninety-two, although it’s been said many times, many ways, merry Christmas to you.” The cause of my outrage was that I had a great-grandfather who was 97 when he passed away. Throughout my childhood I was forced to wonder what it was about the extremely elderly that made them not deserving of warm holiday wishes. I am older now and understand that when that song was written, they might as well have said “kids from one to a gazillion and two.” The idea of someone living that long was utterly ridiculous. But this is the 21st century, people. We are consistently living past 92, and I think those lyrics could use an update.
Of course, with the war on Christmas blazing on, it’s amazing that anything gets accomplished. If you couldn’t tell, that was sarcasm. I think that the whole “War on Christmas” is a load of baloney. People keep freaking out about “Happy Holidays” as though it were code for “You know what? Screw Christmas!” There always have and always will be religious holidays around the solstice, and we need to be accepting of others beliefs. That is what Christmas is all about anyway. People are always complaining that Christmas is too commercial and that “we” are losing sight of the true meaning of the holiday. Who is we? Don’t drag me into this. Please. I know why I celebrate, and why I buy presents. I buy them to express my love to my family and friends, and I celebrate Christmas because of the life and love of Jesus Christ. How you celebrate Christmas is a personal thing. So instead of complaining to me about how commercial it is while standing in a line at the mall, maybe you should do some charity or something. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Merry Christmas dear readership. I love you all very much and wish you all of the happiness and blessings that you have wished for others this season. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be… Nice?
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