Alvin and Darlene Law

I have blogged many times about my impatience with the “Politically Correct” and ironically, this time of year seems to add the spotlight to this topic because of the debate between ” Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays”. My wife and business partner, Darlene spent a fair amount of time and thought to write this short essay for her Facebook page and I liked it so much, I wanted to turn it into a guest blog and here it is…in her words!

Why I Say “Merry Christmas”!

I did not grow up in a religious home so we didn’t go to church, even at Christmas, but that didn’t mean I didn’t understand the origins of Christmas or everything it meant. So I grew up saying “Merry Christmas” meaning “I wish you all the love, peace and joy of this holiday season”.

At any other time of year, in a shop or restaurant, I would say to a store clerk, waitress, someone who holds a door open for me, or whatever, “Thank You” or maybe to someone else, “Have a nice day”, but at this time of year, I say “Thank you and I wish you all the love, peace and joy of this holiday season”…or for expediency, “Merry Christmas”!

In Canada this is the holiday season and the majority of people celebrate Christmas in some way. This is part of “my” culture. I am proud of how Canadians embrace the meaning of the season to help others even more than they do the rest of the year. Christmas practices vary between people…that is also part of our culture. You get to believe and practice what speaks to you or follow how you were raised and all this means. When I visit another country or culture during a time of cultural importance, and there is a particular at of greeting during that time, out of respect for visiting that culture, I learn the proper and respectful response to that greeting. If Christmas is not your culture, when I say “I wish you all the love, peace and joy of this holiday season”…or for expediency, “Merry Christmas”, please believe that it is of great respect to you, a visitor to my culture. Feel free to respond in whatever manor is comfortable to you.

So when I say to you, “I wish you all the love, peace and joy of this holiday season”…or for expediency, “Merry Christmas”, if you are not comfortable saying Merry Christmas back to me, for whatever reason that may be, I’m fine with that. Say whatever resonates for you. You can say “Happy Holidays”, or maybe just “Thank You”. If you do not practice Christmas, take my greeting of “I wish you all the peace, love and joy of this holiday season”…or for expediency, “Merry Christmas”, in the spirit it is given…of love and joy, and feel free to respond however feels appropriate to you. Or maybe just smile and accept the blessing.

Finally, I believe in the power of our words and that a positive attitude adds light and love to our world. Darkness cannot exist in light and negativity cannot exist in the face of positive actions, words and thoughts. Imagine the powerful message of love and peace that we send out every time we say, “I wish you all the love, peace and joy of this holiday season”…or for expediency, “Merry Christmas” and just imagine if we all said this, or a timely variation, all the time, all year long. How much could we raise the vibration of love today in our world…and if there is one thing our world needs right now is for us all to raise our vibration of love.

So for me to you,”I wish you all the love, peace and joy of this holiday season”…or for expediency, “Merry Christmas”!

Darlene Law