This poem was sent to me by one of my US friends:
Cleverly done!!!
Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
Why the PC Police had taken away
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a ' Holiday'.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-Pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!
Please, all Christians join together and wish everyone you meet
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Christ is The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!
Reflection
I always find the most Christian Christmas cards form y US friends because many of the US originated ones are simply “Happy Holidays” in spite of their significant Church attendance. If you haven’t seen these, there’s a link to websites with dozens of Happy Holiday e-mail cards you can send: and if you look at the top of the page of the first one, they are for December!
However, as we read this, we need to think about how many times a news article appears in the media about a council refusing to put up posters that advertise Christmas services, commercial enterprises that start referring to ‘Wintertide’, and so on, political correctness isn’t just in the States.
The challenge is at the end of the poem, we should all ensure that we remind people of the real message of Christmas. Carolyn has been into Great Missenden Early Years this week and one very young little boy put his hand up and said
“ Christmas is all about Jesus”
Wise words and ones we need to remember.
Prayer
Lord,
In the days and weeks ahead
Give us the strength to beat against the tide of commercialism
Give us the faith to challenge political correctness
Give us the hope that will push back secularism
And give us the inner peace to know your love for this world
Amen
Web sites
http://www.123greetings.com/events/happy_holidays/
http://www.jackcards.com/card?refine=Happy+Holidays
1 comment:
It might help to bear in mind that most of the "happy holiday" greetings from merchants are not intended as anti-Christmas but mean to appeal to as broad a range of consumers as possible. This is, of course, due to the emphasis on the materialistic aspects which have been thrust upon Christmas. Perhaps those upset about "HH" might focus more on the root cause than symptoms exhibited by businesses trying to increase sales.
Of course, nobody knows exactly when Christ was born and so (as we know) Christmas was adapted from winter solstice observances with origins that predate our Savior's coming to earth.
Finally, as you are using the term "political correctness," I would like to point out that originally it was intended as a pejorative by those who don't consider people different from themselves as worthy of respect.
I love most of the poems you have selected and look forward to seeing more as the season "slouches toward Bethlehem." :-)
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