Come On, It's Christmas!

When I was growing up, Christmas was celebrated nationwide in America without any of the grumbling, lawsuits, and handwringing we see happening all around us today. All over the country, from California to Maine, from Michigan to Florida, people are sueing local governments, schools are preventing students from having any Christmas displays in the classroom, even to the extent of previewing the lesson plans of Christian teachers to assure that nothing in them mentions the real reason for the Christmas season; not even the word "Christmas".

Again, when I was a kid, in the 1950's, none of this ridiculous panoply of idiocy existed. In fact, we had great Christmas parties and exchanged gifts at school!(Gasp!). OK, I confess: we sang Christmas carols, praised the coming of the Christ child, and at school we even put on terrific, Christ-centered Christmas pageants! None of the idiotic "Winter Carnivals" that the so-called culture-watch experts present in public schools today. None of the hand-wringing searches of policy manuals to eliminate any reference to Jesus or Magi, or a manger. What under God's Heaven is going on? Where is the free expression of Christian symbolism that once was a normal part of life in this country? Why are other religions free to present their views when the Christian message is expressly banned from the public arena? What is behind this seemingly powerful move to suppress any expression of Christian faith?

When I was a child, I never heard of muslims or ramadan, no one forced American school children to dress in arabian costumes, eat arabian food, and study the koran, as some California districts have done recently, and this "Kwanzaa" thing did not even exist. We were taught that our country, the greatest nation on the planet, was a Christian nation. We were taught, truthfully, too, that we were blessed to live in a free, open Christian nation, one that stood as a bulwark against communism and atheism. As children we were taught that our faith was superior to faithless athiesm, and when Christmas came around, no one was so timid as to ban any celebration of the birthday of our Lord and Saviour. Instead of dreading the necessity of fighting for our rights as Christians, we looked forward to Christmas, anticipating a free and joyous season of gift-giving and singing of beautiful Christmas carols.

Come on, America, it's Christmas! Let's forget the naysayers, let's ignore the ACLU and those who threaten to sue us or to bury us, let's go ahead and celebrate the season with Christmas carols, Christmas trees, Christmas parties, colored lights, Christmas cards, Christmas presents, and all of the rich traditions that we have inherited from our forbears! But let us not forget the reason we celebrate this wonderful season. Let us remember the Christ child, born in Bethlehem, and laid in a manger. Let us remember that we are sinners in need of a saviour, and that Jesus came, God's only Son, to die on a cruel Roman cross, the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins.

Come on, it's Christmas! If you don't know Jesus, you can find Him right now, by opening your heart and asking for forgiveness of sin. He will answer your prayer; your salvation from sin has already been provided by His sacrifice on the cross of calvary.

You will not find a living Mohammed. He died, and he did not rise from the dead.

You will not find a living Buddha. He died, and does not live today.

But Jesus lives today. He died on the cross, was raised on the third day, and is today sitting at the right hand of the Father. He was God and He is God. He is the reason for this season. So, let's celebrate Christmas in 2004 as I did in 1954. God bless you, every one!

With love,

Joe Comer