Rev. Robb McCoy of Moline, Illinois, wrote recently in his blog that he calls “The Fat Pastor” about the ongoing controversy between those who would like to reclaim the phrase, “Merry Christmas” in a world where “Happy Holidays” seems to be the greeting of choice. Many have voiced the concern that we have lost the spirit of Christmas when we neutralize the holiday in the vague “Happy Holidays”. Here’s where Rev. McCoy really lets people have it:

“So when people get angry when someone says ‘Happy Holidays,’ I get angry that they are angry. If you want to keep Christ in Christmas, worry about things more important than the signs and decorations at JC Penney. You think Christmas should be about Christ? Then take up your cross and follow Jesus – not into department stores – but into the prisons, the hospitals, among the poor and the outcast. You get angry when someone doesn’t say ‘Christmas?’ Try getting angry over Christ’s children dying of malnutrition or AIDS. Try getting angry over the fact that the Christmas chocolate you love so much was kept cheap on the back of the working poor. Try getting angry over the fact that Christians are keeping people out of churches with their closed minds and closed doors.”

His words pretty much silence all of us, whether we feel strongly about saying “Merry Christmas” or prefer to say “Happy Holidays”. His words make the argument over a greeting seem like wasted breath if we are not living our call to be Christlike day‐in and day‐out.

I hope this Advent season has started to give you 􀆟me to reflect in the odd quiet moment here and there about what the hope and peace Christ’s coming into our lives means for our journey. What are we being called to do out of the joy and festivity that surrounds this baby’s birth? Who needs what we have to offer? How will we be called out of our comfort zones in the coming year?

See you Sunday for the next step on our Advent journey.