It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I find it somewhat disturbing that Christmas has become a time of careful words and trying not to offend, when the reason for the season should be Christ and finding the Spirit of Christ. When did it become taboo to wish someone a Merry Christmas? Ben Stein in February 2006 said,

"I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu."

I love seeing lights, trimmed trees, stockings, goodies, and presents, but these things are just an addition to what the real purpose of the seasons is. If you are looking for something you and I can do this holiday to be more focused on Christ, Gordon B. Hinckley suggests,

"For each of you may this be a merry Christmas. But more importantly, I wish for each of you a time, perhaps only an hour, spent in silent meditation and quiet reflection on the wonder and the majesty of this, the Son of God. Our joy at this season is because He came into the world. The peace that comes from Him, His infinite love which each of us may feel, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for that which He freely gave us at so great a cost to Himself—these are of the true essence of Christmas."

Merry Christmas! -Ashley