Marie Harvey, Hillsborough
I wish “Merry Christmas” to people I meet because Dec. 25 is not some nameless, faceless, generic event on the calendar called “holiday.”
I secretly enjoy the mild look of surprise, followed by a smile and a return wish for a Merry Christmas. There is no permit required, nor is there anything offensive in the greeting.
Whether or not we share its religious significance, Christmas appeals to our humanity, to our better nature, and reminds us of things that can so easily be forgotten during the rest of the year: charity, mercy, the common welfare. Who among us would deny the need for acts of kindness, peaceful coexistence, and reason to hope?
The Christmas story is about a refugee family far from home with little more than the clothes on their backs. They had no money, no friends to take them in, and no medical care for a newborn child that had to be delivered in the only shelter they could find. Does this not resonate for millions in our world today who find themselves in similar circumstances? What refugees then and now share is hope. Otherwise, there would be no reason to risk everything and keep going.
Hope is the heart of the message of Christmas, and everyone can share in it if we just look around and extend the hand of friendship to others who don’t look, speak, worship (or not) like we do.
So when I wish you “Merry Christmas,” it is not out of a wish to offend. Rather, it is a wish for hope, the real chance for peace on earth.
I wish “Merry Christmas” to people I meet because Dec. 25 is not some nameless, faceless, generic event on the calendar called “holiday.”
I secretly enjoy the mild look of surprise, followed by a smile and a return wish for a Merry Christmas. There is no permit required, nor is there anything offensive in the greeting.
Whether or not we share its religious significance, Christmas appeals to our humanity, to our better nature, and reminds us of things that can so easily be forgotten during the rest of the year: charity, mercy, the common welfare. Who among us would deny the need for acts of kindness, peaceful coexistence, and reason to hope?
The Christmas story is about a refugee family far from home with little more than the clothes on their backs. They had no money, no friends to take them in, and no medical care for a newborn child that had to be delivered in the only shelter they could find. Does this not resonate for millions in our world today who find themselves in similar circumstances? What refugees then and now share is hope. Otherwise, there would be no reason to risk everything and keep going.
Hope is the heart of the message of Christmas, and everyone can share in it if we just look around and extend the hand of friendship to others who don’t look, speak, worship (or not) like we do.
So when I wish you “Merry Christmas,” it is not out of a wish to offend. Rather, it is a wish for hope, the real chance for peace on earth.
Marie Harvey
Hillsborough
Hillsborough
