ORTHODIXIE ... Southern, Orthodox, Convert, Etc.

With Walmart announcing that it's now "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," some Christians are, to use the tired and over-used term: OUTRAGED. God love him, Pat's always peeved.

I heard a caller on a talk radio show say: "Christians should boycott these stores. If it weren't for our money at this time of year, they would go out of business." This is probably true.

But he goes on to say, "In the Bible, the Apostles don't talk a whole lot about Christmas. For them it was mostly all about Easter." He then went on to rant about Constantine introducing the Feast of Christmas. Poor Constantine, he gets blamed for almost as much as W.

Then, the Houston show host actually said, "Well, the Apostles also celebrated Christmas ..." That's when I had to turn off the noise. I shouldn't have been listening to it anyway, as I was on my way to church for the Feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple. Wonder what they would say about that Feast?

I started to wonder if the caller had ever been to a Mass (as in Christ's-Mass). I doubted it. If that's so, why is he so upset about retailers not ushering in the joy of the Feast? Perhaps, as a friend used to posit, the malls and shopping centers have become the new Temples of the day. The shop-keep is the priest.

Oh, did I mention the caller actually compared retailers' not saying "Merry Christmas" to the persecutions against believers foretold in the Book of Revelation?

Gosh.

Last year I posted the common understanding of many about the origin of the Feast.

Here's another take on the origin of the Feast by the scholarly William Tighe.

I also wrote about becoming a Christmas Reactionary; the often unexpected "miracles" surrounding the Feast -- oh, here's a cute story. Then there was the article that got some good "air time" around the Blogosphere: Christmas & Culture.

But, ya know, when it comes to Santa, I can become like a child again.

I really don't want to get caught up in the Merry Wars of Christmas this year. If, as Frank Schaeffer says, we are to "work out our salvation selfishly," then I guess it's up to us to wish folks a Merry Christmas, not vice versa. Better yet, perhaps we should quietly prepare to enter into the Feast of the Incarnation of our Lord by prayer and fasting.

Ya think?
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