Blood And Thunder

 

Let’s get something straight. Christmas as commercial holiday is not a new development. Christmas has been about gettin’ stuff since Day One:

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh”

- Matthew 2:11

Now it seems to me that that is, quite literally, chapter & verse on Christmas; and in the forty words* that provide the final authority on what is and is not “Christmas”, specifically mentioned are:

Presents

Spoiling children

Product placement

Celebrity endorsements

Obliquely referenced is:

Getting drunk with friends and coworkers

Holiday parties

Gift competition

Houseguests

But nowhere is mentioned:

Peace on Earth

Goodwill towards anyone but the new guy 

So enough with the handwringing.   May the pious and righteous among you do things your way, and may you leave those of us who prefer our Christmas garish, commercialized, and in the company of at least three hos, to do it ours. 

At least we can all agree on wine.

 

* (If you include Matthew 2:10 – “They were overjoyed at seeing the star” – you can add “Garish displays of Christmas lights” to the list.)

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Reposted for Facebook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.