Merry Christmas!

Tonight is the night known as Christ's birth, and our family is prepared to celebrate Christmas.  Although I was raised Catholic, I am not a religious person.  I think my mother and a few other members of my extended family may be a bit disappointed by that, but it's just not who I am.  I believe what I believe and part of that is that there are a lot of unknowns and no one can know with absolute certainty about any of it.  Brian and I both feel that we don't need a church or any type of organized religion to worship or honor our beliefs.  We have our reasons, just like people who attend church have their reasons for going.  I respect their faith and their choosing to attend church as much as I would expect them to respect my choice to not go.  If you want to label me, I prefer agnostic to heathen.

Some may say the fact that we do celebrate Christmas is hypocritical.  We decorate, have a big supper, bake cookies, fill stockings, give gifts, and come together with traditions as most Christian families do.  We're celebrating the birth of Jesus, one of the most kind-hearted men to ever grace this planet (or at least the idea of someone like that).  Whether he is God the Father, Jesus the Son, and/or the Holy Spirit, I do not know.  He could be.  He could not be.  I'm okay with not knowing for sure.  The mystical and magical stories befuddled me in Sunday school as early as third grade, but what I really took away was that Jesus was a compassionate, generous, and selfless man.  That should be celebrated.  So we celebrate!  We honor the peace on Earth and good will to men sentiments at this time of year and try our best to keep that momentum going all year long.  Just as Thanksgiving is the time we're reminded to be thankful, Christmas is a time to remind us to be loving and accepting.

So no matter what you believe or whether you celebrate Christmas at all, our family wishes you all the best this season as well as the entire year through.