Happy Holidays, Seasons Greeting, or whatever salutation you prefer. I know there are many who do not like Happy Holidays especially instead of Merry Christmas, but with so many other holy days around this time of the year saying Happy Holidays seems like the perfect greeting.

I love the holidays, especially in the “Ber” months. Halloween has lost some of its pagan beginnings but there is still the hint of what it once was. Even with early Christianity doing its best to Christianize old pagan holidays, Halloween has never quite lost its dark beginning. Now, most people celebrate the more innocent version of Halloween with its focus on harvest, dressing up and having a bit of a scare.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays even with its ugly history. What should have been a beautiful act of friendship and sharing was only the beginning of the end of the natives who befriended the strangers. What I feel we should focus on is not what happened afterwards, but the offer of friendship, the celebration of the harvest, and the celebration of survival.

We cannot change the bad things that have happened in the past. All we can do is try to be better in the future. We can make excuses for the ignorance of our ancestors, or we can accept that sometimes good people do bad things, make bad choices, or go along with the mob mentality. I think the hardest thing for me to accept is the prejudices. I can’t understand the way our forefathers could justify treating Native Americans as less than human. Their attitudes towards anyone of color, of a different religion, and even other white people from other countries were all treated with disrespect and distrust. For a group of people who came to the new world to have a new start because of religious persecution to then turn around and treat others in the same fashion makes you wonder.

Christmas for me is a time of friendship, family and community. I love the holidays, but the most important part is spending time with the people I love. Celebrating Jesus’ birthday, even though it probably wasn’t December 25th, the date matters very little because it is the act of faith that is the important part. Christmas is a for the Christian a time of hope and love. The gift giving is a symbol of remembrance and love. Each part of this holiday has a symbolic meaning that is so important to the celebration.

For the other holidays I know very little about, I do not wish to slight them in anyway. Custom, celebration and tradition are very important to every religion and ethnic group. It is a part of our history, our beliefs and what unites us. Even with our differences, there are similarities among all of our traditions and respecting each other’s beliefs are important. So whether you celebrate Christmas with me, or some other holy day, I wish you peace, joy, and many blessings of this holy season.

Happy Holidays!