I once had a Sunday school teacher tell me to never write X-mas because it crosses Christ out of Christmas. Later on in life, I found out that X also was a symbol for the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter for the name of Christ in Greek so I haven't had a problem with writing X-mas since then.
I do find it strange that over the years, each "Christian" holiday has somehow evolved into something where Christ (or a Christian) is barely a factor in the celebration. Think about it: St. Valentine's Day, to honor the martyred patron saint, is now marked by cupids, candy, and cards. St. Patrick's Day is to honor the missionary who went to Ireland as his calling, and is now celebrated with green beer and lucky charms. Easter. Halloween...etc. It would be interesting to take an in-depth look at this change, but for lack of time, you'll have to settle for my superficial analysis.
By no means am I a Christian who is gung-ho for 'taking back' these holidays to make them what they once were. That would be because there are many people who celebrate these holidays who do not share the same faith as me. Society has changed and I recognize it is very different from what it used to be. I don't think it would be beneficial to force them to celebrate the holiday how I do, because they don't believe the same things I do. I'm perfectly fine with saying 'Happy Holidays!' and 'Merry Christmas!' at the same time. God knows that my heart is worshiping Him during the holidays, and ultimately, that is all that matters.
That said, I do believe my fellow Christians need to make a marked difference in the way we celebrate the holidays (that is, not buying into the consumerism aspect, particularly Christmas), and I love that my church participates in Advent Conspiracy because it gives meaning again to the Christmas that I love to celebrate. I feel like I am worshiping in full and following Jesus' command to love your neighbor when I am giving to others in real, tangible ways.
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