Mark Franke
I have noticed two differences this December compared with last year.
First is how fast it is passing. Perhaps it is the unusually warm December here in Indiana, fooling us into thinking it is still November. The climatologists blame it on El Nino but that is too complicated for my non-scientific mind to comprehend.
For me as a Christian, the season of Advent is a special time for slowing down for reflection and repentance. Instead somebody hit the calendar’s accelerator. I am writing this just a week before Christmas Day, wondering when Advent is going to start. Needless to say, I have not faithfully followed my usual Advent devotional rubrics.
Which brings me to the second difference. Remember the anti-Christmas dictate that one must say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”? There may be a reaction developing against that nonsense, at least based on my small but significant sampling during the past week. When someone such as a store clerk or package delivery man wishes me “Happy Holidays,” I respond with “Merry Christmas to you.” Nearly all of them immediately responded with their own “Merry Christmas.” My study won’t be published by any academic journal but it does give me hope.
One more data point can be found at the Post Office. I went into my local one to get more Christmas stamps with a religious theme. All sold out. So I went to another with the same result. There were other secular stamps but nothing with the Holy Family, wise men or Christmas star. Fortunately there are still some to be had at the USPS website. Unfortunately, some of our cards are going to arrive late but better late than with stamps displaying Frosty the Snowman.
The campaign to remove God from the public square has seen substantial success. Manger displays have been disappearing from public buildings, even non-governmental ones. A trip through any subdivision will show more blow-up Santas and reindeer than lighted mangers.
The assault on Christmas has been fought on many fronts. The most inane example was President Joe Biden’s 2021 declaration of a National Day of Prayer, a declaration that somehow failed to mention God. To whom, or Whom, were we to pray? To Biden’s credit his 2023 declaration did invoke God’s “continued guidance, mercy and protection.”
Our public figures, going back to the Founding Fathers, have been careful to mention God even if in a rather generic manner. Our Pledge of Allegiance is to “one nation under God” and our currency states “IN GOD WE TRUST.” A quick review of presidential inaugural addresses informs me that they all brought God into it, some more than others, but all did. They also all took their oath on a Bible, frequently a special family one.
America was founded by Christians on Christian moral principles, principles built into western civilization. These principles are foundational for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Remember that it was a Congress populated by Christians that adopted what became the First Amendment, guaranteeing free exercise of religion to all including non-Christians.
Consider this: December 25 is a paid holiday for nearly all workers, those of non-Christian faiths as well as no faith. It is still Christmas, Christ’s Mass, on the calendar. Even Congress, which can prime itself for all sorts of legislative mischief, hasn’t the hubris to enact a law changing the name to Mid-Winter Day or something equally anodyne.
Even if Christ has been disappearing from His birthday, much of His message remains. Gift-giving, despite its gross commercialization, is part of our culture. Yes, it probably has pagan origins but Christians adopted the practice as a remembrance of the Magi’s gifts to the Christ Child. The Magi’s star is recalled by the star that tops many of our Christmas trees, even if the reason for this has been forgotten.
The spirit of Christmas, one of peace and love, is referenced secularly as well as religiously. Too bad it doesn’t last past December 25, in part because the advertisements begin focusing us on St. Valentine’s Day shopping. Note the Christian antecedent for that holiday, too.
The money changers have returned to the temple with a vengeance.
We are a blessed society, blessed with financial wealth and leisure time. It is unfortunate that Christmas shopping and bowl games take precedence over religious observance. But not for all of us, as imperfect as we may be.
So we Christians wish each other a Merry Christmas and offer the same blessing to our non-Christian friends and fellow citizens. Christ’s sacrificial love extends to all and His followers are empowered to offer that to all in His name.
Even if we can’t assure peace on earth, we can show goodwill to all.
Merry Christ’s Mass!
Mark Franke, M.B.A., an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review and its book reviewer, is formerly an associate vice-chancellor at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
