This article is not meant to mainly address the “War on Christmas”. First, it is not my style to use such a phrase. Second, while I do believe there has been a national effort, through political agencies, media, and academia, to strip away any Christian meaning from the country and its history, I prefer to approach this problem in a different way. I would not want people to lose sight of what it truly means to celebrate Christmas.

Let’s put aside those who needlessly attack Christianity, just like we should put aside those “Christians” who claim to represent the first, and truly only, idea based 100% on Love. The message of Love is too deep and important to be misrepresented by anybody.

The world is a disgusting place. Terrible, actually. Since the “beginning”, people have tried to make sense of it. Religions formed around ideas in order to guide people towards certain goals. If we strip down Christianity to its basic Truth, which is that of Love, it becomes undeniable how beautful it is and badly we need it….constantly.

Whether you believe in God or not, it does not matter. It does not matter if you are not Christian. If we put aside all that, we are left with a Historical Figure, Jesus, who many believe to be the Christ. Jesus did indeed exist as a human, whether you believe in His Divinity or not. Maybe He was crazy, but he did make some REALLY bold claims. That is also historically accurate.

He brought a message of Love. “Turn the other cheek”. “Love your enemy”. NO ONE has even come close to that before, during, or after Him. I guess that’s a good reason why we date (sorry, dated) things B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini). The fact that we unecessarily say “Before Common Era” and “After Common Era” is yet another forced distraction, which is actually stupid since it STILL uses Jesus’ Life as the reference point.

One of the most hard to digest quotes of Jesus is the famous “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one goes to the Father but by Me”. Christian Andreason, who underwent a Near Death Experience that transformed his life, explains this perfectly when he instructs us to replace Jesus with Love. Doing this, we are left with “Love is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one goes to the Father but by Love.” I think it is fair to say it is impossible to deny Love, its importance, and, if there is a God, its most important role as THE way to God. Since Jesus was a Historical figure who indeed lived His Life as He taught others to do, it is clear that he not only represented Love but WAS/IS Love. So what exactly is the problem? There is no problem, unless Love is the problem. And how could that be?

December 25th is the day we celebrate Christmas, but of course that is a made up date. The actual day, month, and year do not matter. Christmas should be everyday. And why? Because Christmas celebrates Jesus, a force of Love, entering into Human History. His mission was to change the world, and indeed He did. But are we changing with Him?

I find it offensive and insulting when I see non-Christians buying discounted trees or getting them from the garbage AFTER Christmas to save money and put on a pretend event ( I am not making that up, as crazy as it may sound ). I also find it offensive and insulting that so called “christians” participate in the suffocating, consumerist buffet that has replaced Christmas.

Jesus, a historcial figure, made many bold claims. You do not have to believe He was the Messiah. You do not even have to believe in a God. But the Historical Jesus did teach Love, predicted His own Death, and was specifically killed because His Message of Love threatened the money and power of the elite. He was born to die. It sounds bizarre but that was His mission. His Life seemed to end as it started…with Love. The Crucifixion was His way of dying for our sins because, as He said repeatedly, He loved us. Again, you do NOT have to believe this in the symbolic sense. I am just reporting the Historical facts that a man named Jesus said and did these thigs and was killed because of them. The whole point of Christmas (the birth) was to have an Easter (the Death). It is a perfect story when you realize how complete it is and let it sink in. Born in dark poverty and around animals to keep warm to becoming the most influential reality in History…..that’s beautifully poetic.

While focusing on Death is depressing and certainly takes away the warm, fuzzy feelings we associate with a nice, snow-filled Christmas, filled with Hot Chocolates and red socks, we should not lose focus of the WHOLE POINT of both Christmas and Easter. Christians believe Christ raised from the dead. Again, you do not have to believe in the Resurrection, God, or the Divinity of Jesus. What we should all understand is that the point of Jesus’ birth (Christmas) was Love. He was born to Love and teach us how to Love. He died out of Love for us. If He were God or not, the fact that a historical figure did ALL that says a lot. It says that Christmas is about Love.

Christmas is about Love, which is why we are doing a dangerous and distractive disservice to ourselves when we write Xmas (X is meant to cross out Christ), or say Happy Holidays. We ALL know which Holiday is the December Holiday. I know Jews who celebrate Christmas and not Hannukah. I also know black people who celebrate Christmas and not Kwanzaa. If we had more people just celebrate the TRUE meaning of Christmas, which is Love and not presents, we would all be better off. There is no need to take the Christ out of Christmas, because we are taking Love out of the event. It’s ok to Love, no matter what name we give it. Merry Christmas.

SIDE NOTE : The photo on the left is me touching the ground in Bethlehem where it is believed Jesus was born. There is a Church built atop this Holy site. This photo obvisouly represents Christmas. The photo on the right I took because I loved the shadow of the Body on the Cross against the wall and always wanted to paint just the shadow. This obviously represents Easter. Both photos show the necessity of Christmas to have Easter and vice versa.

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