The Silly Season

OK, OK, I realize I haven't posted since before Thanksgiving. Did I mention that I'm lazy?

So here we are at full sail into the hurricane of another holiday season. As usual, I'm behind on my Christmas shopping. I'm sure I'll end up finishing it all the weekend before Christmas like I always do. Sometimes I really hate Christmas.

Oh, go ahead. Call me scrooge. Like I give a good Goddamn!

Yes, sometimes I hate Christmas with a blue and purple passion. Think about it. Christmas is like work. You do all the work and the fat guy in the suit gets all the credit.

(OK, I admit it. I stole that from a joke I've heard. Still pretty funny, though!)

What is Christmas, exactly? Well, supposedly it's the day when Jesus was born. But historical records were pretty sketchy 2004 years ago. So no one can be sure of the exact date of Christ's birth. It could have been in June, for all we know. And until someone invents a time machine, we'll never know for sure.

The current date of Christmas grew out of the celebration of the Winter Solstice, when the peasants all got together to celebrate the end of the shortest day of the year, and the beginning of longer days. Or something like that.

So calling December 25th the date of the Birth of Christ is like calling Jessica Simpson the head of NASA. You can say it, but that doesn't make it true.

Personally, I think we need to put all the focus onto Easter, when the REAL miracle occured. Christmas has become far less about the birth of the savior and more about presents, eating, family, and fellowship. Not that any of these things are bad, but it would be good to know that we can enjoy them without feeling bad about not concentrating on the reason the whole holiday exists in the first place!

Maybe it's just me. Maybe not.

Bah, Humbug!