Well since the holidays are here many of the wives down here are at Ft. Rucker are sparking a debate, ok not really a debate but how to handle a holiday greeting.
One wife, on her blog, said that it's not "Happy Holidays" but "Merry Christmas." Then she said she is a little offended that people use "Xmas" instead of "Christmas."
I'll start with the first one. I will tell people Happy Holidays if I see them on the street, at the grocery store and other places where I do not know a person. Why? It's simple, I do not know what they celebrate and it is the holiday season — Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Quanza, Christmas, and New Years. It's not just Christmas and I would like to tell people to have Happy Holidays so the cheer and the greeting goes throughout the rest of the year.
Now for the second topic at hand, Xmas vs. Christmas. I will admit, I use Xmas every once and a while, like in texts, quick emails, and some other random spots in life. I know it is not correct and it takes away the real reason we celebrate Christmas...Christ. Her argument was that by using Xmas, even in a text, that you demean the Christ himself. I could go on with this issue but I'm not. To me if that is what your worries about at this time, wither people use Xmas or Christmas, you yourself, are not focusing on what is really important it is about family, telling people the story of Christ and Christmas, and celebrating this wonderful time of year.
So to all of my readers out there HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteX is great. The origins of Xmas is several centuries old. 'X', the greek letter, is pronounces "kris" (or, in many ways, 'chris-"). "Xp", in greek, actually spells out "Christ". However, since it's pronounces kris-mass, not Christ-mass, it's not Xpmas.
There are documents in the vatican that refer to Christ as Xp, or X.
If you really delve into the history of the holiday, it honestly has less to do with religion, and more to do with traditional pagan winter festivities.
I don't mean to get all nerdy here, but I use Xmas, Christmas and Happy Holidays, and when people try to 'correct' me, I usually get a little angry - learn some good ol' fashioned greek and latin and learn something about the religion. Then they'll find out that X, which is essentially a written cross, is a literal letter that stands for Christ.
Thank you for sharing this information with me, I like learning new things. I also think this is a good argument for me to use with the woman that sparked the post. She is one of those "overzealous" Christians who only knows what she learns in church and does not take the time to expand her knowledge. Guess I will not feel guilty for using Xmas now.
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