| Dec 27, 2007


Editorial - December 20, 2007

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Editorial - December 20, 2007 Christmas: A rose by any name by Jule Koch Brison

For the last few centuries, Christmas was the highlight of the year in Canada, and “Merry Christmas” so common a greeting that no one thought anything about it.

But then recently people started to clue into the fact that the root words of Christmas are “Christ” and “Mass”.

Well, what was a secular society to do? No one had any intention of getting rid of the holiday itself. Perhaps they could use an alternate greeting, one that would get the religion out of it and leave the fun and gain.

So they turned to “Happy Holidays”.

Sad to say, it’s close but no cigar. People haven’t been as fast to realize that the root words of “holiday” are “holy” and “day”. No one seems to have yet pointed out to the good government of Canada that when they instructed their employees to stop wishing people a “Merry Christmas” because of its religious meaning, they in fact told them to wish people “Happy Holy Days” instead.

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Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire. Well then, perhaps people could use “Season’s Greetings”.

Of course, there are four of them: spring, summer, fall - and then there’s winter, with which we became more intimately re-acquainted last weekend than we’d like.

If any season were to elicit spontaneous, happy greetings, surely it would be spring. Those first balmy days of April bring smiles to everyone’s faces, even the grouchiest among us.

But it’s strange that no one says “Season’s Greetings” at the beginning of spring, summer, fall or winter. Come to think of it, no one says it at Easter, on Victoria Day, on Canada Day, at Halloween, or at Thanksgiving either.

So “Season’s Greetings” must refer to nothing else but the Christmas Season. The word “Christmas” is implicit in the greeting.

So there we have it.

Christmas by any other name is still as sweet.

To our advertisers, readers, and volunteers, without whom this paper would not exist, we give heartfelt thanks for all your support in 2007, and we wish everyone Merry Christmas, Happy Holy Days, and yes, (Christmas) Season’s Greetings.

And may 2008 be the best year ever for all of us.

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