Dear Jackrabbit,
Merry Christmas!
Today is Christmas. Merry Christmas. You and your mother just left for church (your second time going to church in less than 12 hours as we went to the evening service late last night).
It’s been a busy week leading up to today. Last night we had friends and family over for a big meal and some presents. You were passed around a lot and showered with love. That happens a lot, whether or not you remember it.
So welcome to the Christmas season. Your first.
What is Christmas?
Good question. It’s a lot of things to a lot of people.
For a lot of people, it’s a religious holiday, a celebration of the birth of Jesus. This aspect of the holiday has changed and evolved a lot over time. Different religions and sects practice the celebration a little differently from one another, but on the whole it’s all for the same reason.
Christmas isn’t just a religious holiday. Not anymore. Over the centuries, Christmas has adopted traditions and trappings from cultures all over the world. Mostly from Europe, but some from parts of Asia, and the Americas. What we see of Christmas today would be wholly unrecognizable to some shepherd on the outskirts of Bethlehem some two thousand years ago.
So there’s the religious aspect. What else?
I think the most important message and purpose behind Christmas is one nearly everyone on the globe can share. It’s a yearly reminder that the world is better place when we’re kinder to one another. That the world is a better place when we consider our brothers and sisters from all over the world, and from next door, and within our own families.
Be good to one another. Peace on Earth.
The annual Teehan tree. Now with more bling.
This isn’t a hard message, and it seems a shame that we need a big holiday once a year to remind us of this, but it’s a welcome reminder just the same.
We show our kindness and our love to one another in many different ways. Sometimes it’s presents. Sometimes it’s with a good meal and fellowship. Other times it’s by engaging in an act of kindness. These are things we are reminded of once a year–and the reminder is that we should be doing stuff like this all the year long.
In coming years, future letters to you on Christmas, I’ll get into our family traditions and how even those have changed over the years, but for your first Christmas, let’s start out on the best foot forward and march (or, in your case, crawl) toward making this a better world for all.
Christmas isn’t just December 25th. Christmas can be every day of the year if you so will it. It’s hard, I admit. We are human, but we do our best. The ideal, however, is to carry the Christmas spirit all throughout the year, regardless of religion or traditions or any of that other baggage. The Christmas spirit is bigger than all of that. It’s all about love, baby.
I will admit, though, that on Christmas day, it’s awful fun to be opening up presents. And Christmas Eve was awful fun having a big meal with family and friends. It’s a hectic time of year, but I think we’re all building up some good energy to keep that spirit moving forward.
So be kind. When you get right down to it, when you get past all the symbols and images and traditions…that’s the true meaning of Christmas. Be kind.
All my love,
Dad
P.S. Oh… another cool thing about Christmas is putting candy canes in your coffee without judgement.
P.P.S. Time to do the dishes. Oh, so many dishes. Worth it, though!
