Letter to an Angry Atheist

Every year, someone, somewhere becomes angry about the usage of the word, "Christmas." This year is no different, although the media coverage started a little sooner than usual. An atheist in Saskatoon is upset about the cheerful, "Merry Christmas" on public transit. Over the last several years, I've increasingly become a Grinch. This one fellow's angst actually made me rethink my whole Grinchiness.

Dear Angry Atheist,

Thank you! Thank you for making the word, "Christmas" all about Christ. He had kind of gotten lost in the shuffle.

• Over the last several decades, our culture gave Him barely a passing thought when as shoppers, we smiled at the harried clerk and said, "Merry Christmas." We often failed to notice her exhaustion in dealing with demanding customers who wanted the latest computerized gizmo for little Billy Bob, but they were sold out, and she was such a failure... we just hurried on to the next purchase.
• Christmas meant frantic shopping in overly decorated stores, hoping upon hope to outdo ourselves and everyone else. We had to step it up a notch from last year's gifting. We had a standard to keep; bigger and better!
• Christ likely wasn't on our minds as we donned sparkly Christmas dresses and schmoozed our way through the crowd.
• Christmas dinner! Oh, Christmas dinner! We generally pictured bright red and green decorations strewn down a crowded table with all the extravagant food and senseless extra calories we could shove in front of our guests.
• Business Christmas parties were actually quite the competition. Restaurants knew they could make up for even the worst year with all the businesses' Christmas dinners. The most expensive wines and the finest hor d'oeuvres were carefully selected weeks in advance.
• Psychologists made half of their earnings in December. We were adept at hanging all of our hopes for happiness like fragile Christmas balls on one day; hopes that would shatter as soon as tensions arose or we opened a gift that was the wrong colour or we burned the marshmallows on the candied yams... or we had none of the above because we were as alone on Christmas as we were every other day of the year.
• Christmas movies have always filled us with warm fuzzies. Most didn't mention Christ, and even the most devout Christian was generally okay with that.
• Children were faithfully taught that if they were all good boys and girls, Santa would visit them on Christmas Eve. There was (and often is) a religious fervour about the teaching. Watching their eyes light up on Christmas morning was what it was all about.
• Yes, there were Christmas pageants and carolers, church displays of the Nativity and beautiful chimes ringing from the steeples as they echoed over the blue hued snow. Picturesque, isn't it? Yes, these beautiful scenes all added to the Christmas magic.

Putting Christ in Christmas has taken some effort for those of us who wanted Him there. Now that you've turned it into a controversy, our love of Christmas causes us to reevaluate and address the core issue; "Is Christ part of Christmas?" You have given a resounding yes. Thank you. I agree. It's a great reminder. I want Christ to be the centre of Christmas, and I pray that I reflect His character this season.

• Maybe this year, I'll carry chocolate bars, carnations or $5.00 gift cards for the clerks whose feet are killing them.
• Perhaps I'll give simpler gifts; gifts that remind us that the King of Kings came wrapped in burial cloths and was laid in a feeding trough.
• I might even leave that formal dress in the closet and spend more time adorning my heart with the beauty of Christ and my outer self with something that begs a few less compliments.
• Christmas dinner will be as little work as possible. We'll see if there are decorations; maybe a pile of straw and a few clean strips of cloth will do.
• We've talked about going out for dinner with our business for Christmas. There's a small restaurant that sounds nice. I think I'll consider at least matching the price of my meal with donations to the food bank. In retrospect, we needed the Christmas hampers one year. Now it's our turn to "pay it forward."
• I'll daily remind myself that my peace and joy don't come from those things to which I cling; they come in surrendering everything to the care of my Lord. I'll pray for opportunities to pass that peace along.
• I might watch the nice Christmas movies; they are, after all, wholesome stories. I'll order pizza and use paper plates. I'll see our movie times as a chance to spend a few hours with my family.
• I'll place Christ at the center of any influence I have on children. I'm not making a statement about parents who enjoy playing the "Santa game" with their kids. It's just that you've reminded me that Christ is is the one we're celebrating.
• I'll look for ways to encourage other Christians to simplify the whole thing and focus on Christ. After all, dear angry atheist, as you have so aptly stated, He is the focal point of Christmas.

Thank you!

For the record... He loves you, too. Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,
Twyla Penner