Hol. Report 4: Christmas

"Hol" stands for Holiday.


Merry Christmas readers! Watch this: Happy Holidays. Blaa! Choke! Cough! Struggling to breath! Slowly regaining composure... That's better. Just don't say that near me. It's awful. Anyway, you all know what Christmas is really about, but there are still many who think the true meaning of Christmas is getting presents. Now I'll be honest, sometimes I forget the true meaning of Christmas too in the excitement of getting presents.

Usually with presents, the legend of Santa Claus isn't far behind. Where did the name Santa Claus come from? Well, here's my guess. It's a Spanish legend. There was a tiger saint called Claws. It was a female, so it wasn't called San(Spanish masculine form for the word "saint"), but Santa(Spanish feminine form for the word "saint"). Therefore the name "Santa Claws". One day, a newspaper reporter decided to introduce Saint Claws to the American people. But he misspelled it... Santa Clause. Eventually the "e" was dropped off and it got mixed up with Saint Nicholas. Therefore, the name Santa Claus was born!

Well, that's my theory. I don't really have anything special to say for Christmas except that it's rather weird that people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Why do they so ardently oppose saying Merry Christmas? Because Christmas has the word "Christ" in it. So they frantically searched for an alternative. The result: Happy Holidays. Now you know.

Another substitute for the truth of Christmas is the true meaning of it. If you watch just three Christmas specials (not including the hallmark channel) on TV, you'll find that they say the true meaning of Christmas is togetherness with family and friends. While that isn't a bad thing, is it a good substitute? No, not just because it excludes Jesus, but because that doesn't apply to everyone. If someone's an orphan, or a starving child in Africa, they don't have any friends and family, do they? So their "true meaning of Christmas" doesn't apply to them. The true meaning of Christmas is something that everyone can experience no matter what their external situation is. They could be poor or rich, sick or well, orphaned or friendless, and still be able to experience the true meaning of Christmas. Even if they're too poor to pay for presents, they can still celebrate the greatest gift of all, Jesus's sacrifice.

As long as you remember what Christmas is really about, you can still have a great Christmas, no matter what. And that lasts longer than any other substitute people may come up with. Christmas celebrates the day Jesus was born to conquer the world. Not like any other earthly ruler, conquering only land, but truly conquering. When Jesus made that sacrifice, he conquered all sickness, broken hearts, bitter anger, and more importantly, sin. That's more than any human could conquer. And I believe that deserves to be commemorated. Merry Christmas! And God bless you all!
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