I was thinking about Christmas and all the traditions and/or controversies which surround it. That then lead me to ponder about the usage of the term Xmas in lieu of the longer word Christmas. Wrong, right or just plain ole semantics? Well, it is not black or white when you really think about it. To many people Xmas is not the same as Christmas and thus - should never be used or substituted. Many who oppose the term Xmas feel like it is in some way sacrilegious to use it instead of Christmas. On the other hand, many people do not have a problem with using the term Xmas. All persons have their own respective reason(s) for believing one way or another. No one is right or wrong. Each year of the 43 years of my life, I have seen and been witness to the very idea that people have tainted the meaning of the holiday. The material side with Santa having the leading role, makes it just another paganistic holiday. Millions of people agree that this is so. So to us, it matters not if people use Xmas or Christmas. It is just another holiday taken for granted by millions of people to show off their financial success by presenting loved ones, friends, co-workers, etc. with elaborate gifts. Or for those less fortunate, a time that financial institutions grossly take advantage of the consumer and make all types of loans which people obviously cannot afford. Overall, the holiday has resorted to being an opportunity for people to make up for their short-comings and such. The idea of honoring the birth of Christ has completely gone awry with Xmas being the most materialistic holiday on the calender.
In closing, it really and truly just astounds me how so many people get upset when one abbreviates Christmas with Xmas. I used to be naive myself and among those who denounced such usage of the word until I delved further into the myths surrounding the whole controversy. I found out that the letter X, in reference to the Greek letter (chi), was often used in reference to Christ. It is an abbreviation for the name Christ which in Greek is Χριστός. Maybe instead of getting irate over the wording of certain things, especially when not meant to be derogatory, people should try being nicer to one another. Maybe we should strive to be better human beings. Instead of showing off our money and success to loved ones, we should be more humble for it and try to share it with strangers who are in dire straits.
After all, it is easy to share one's wealth and success with those close to us, but I believe it takes a bigger person to share his/her blessings with strangers.
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However people decide to celebrate it is respective. All I want to add is that Christ wanted his death to be celebrated, he never did ask for his birthday to be remembered especially NOT on such a grandiose level.
