Saturday, December 24, 2016

Merry Christmas!

For the past few weeks I’ve been buried under an avalanche of hyperbole, baseless supposition, and borderline hysteria. Oddly enough, contrary to what one might expect, these suppositions had less to do with the electoral college, or the election, and more to do with Christmas, the validity of Christmas, or whether or not we as Christians should even make mention of it.

With titles so grim and dire as to make any clickbait site salivate at the potential of hits, I was bombarded with warnings ranging from being physically punished to having my salvation stripped from me if I were to commit the seemingly unpardonable sin of saying Merry Christmas.

If such hysteria were contained, if it was only a handful of people forwarding the e-mails declaring that if you say Merry Christmas you are unknowingly and unwittingly pledging fealty to Satan, then I’d let it go, and move on to other matters. It does, however, become a problem when I get the ‘is this true?’ e-mails along with the convoluted ramblings of lonely men who have nothing better to do than to create an issue where no issue exists.

As such, here I go making friends again: First, I do not care what day Jesus was born on! It could have been March 12, June 17, August 9, or yes, even December 25. I am not celebrating a day; I am celebrating an event. It is the reality of the birth of God’s son that we are remembering and reminiscing over. It is the reality of God’s love made manifest and the hope of mankind being born in a manger in Bethlehem.

It matters not a whit what day this took place. All that matters is that it did. Jesus was born of a virgin, in a manger, in Bethlehem, and the angels declared “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

The reality of Christ’s birth is not something we remember on one day during the calendar year, it is a reality that we live every day of our lives. It is something upon which we meditate and reflect because it was the embodiment of God’s love for mankind made manifest in the living, breathing, animated reality of Jesus Christ the Lord.

So, to answer publicly the questions I’ve received privately throughout the past few weeks, I do not believe saying Merry Christmas is akin to taking the mark of the beast, nor do I believe that reflecting upon the birth of the Son of God is a sin, whether you do it on December 25th, or on January 22.


As long as we remember that Christmas is not about glut and gifts, or trees and treats, as long as we remember that we are celebrating an event and not a day, and that this singularly history making event made a way for us to be reconciled unto God, then Merry Christmas to you!

With love in Christ, 
Michael Boldea Jr. 

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