I just have to address this crap about appropriate greetings this time of year before I send a heartfelt thought about this Sunday. Having been born without arms, I have had more encounters with human behaviour than the bulk of society and I have been though every conceivable debate about politically correct BS. I find it personally amusing that in my 50 years, I have been “crippled, handicapped, disabled, physically challenged” and what’s next…who knows. Maybe they’ll call us “Occupied With Unfairness” so we can jump on the bandwagon of inequity. This hypersensitivity to offending someone has turned into it’s own offensive behaviour.

I find it intriguing that we have held onto the notion that Christmas is purely religious. I have no intention of getting into a debate on theology but I believe that it is the “Christian” thing we’ve gotten hung up on and in the process fail to respect a simple fact…Christmas has morphed. I am sure that 2011 years ago, followers of “Christ” weren’t thinking, “Let’s Go Shopping!” I am sure that when Santa Claus came along, nobody was thinking, “Let’s get in on the action and compete with that Jesus guy”. I am very certain nobody ever schemed to make Christmas the most stressful time of year…period. For many, Christmas is not a merry time. For reasons Dr. Phil can’t even explains, Christmas for too many people shines a spotlight on family disagreements, fights and alcohol fuelled misery that just stays with people. Not me. I can’t remember a single Christmas that wasn’t splendid while growing up. We were Christian and for us, it was about church (singing in the choir was a high point for me) community and yes family. We never fought and it certainly wasn’t because my parents were tea-totallers. I vividly remember my Dad getting several bottles of whiskey from his clients at International Harvester. In fact, those bottles were oftned cracked at the shop on Fridays in December for a couple of belts to end the week; not exactly politically correct behaviour today, huh?
So, I can hear the critics; that was a long time ago and things have changed! Yes they have and most of that change has been awesome but some of that change has been driven by a small group of acttivist buttheads who are the culprits behind “Happy Holidays”. MOST people want to say “Merry Christmas”, MOST kids want a Christmas Concert. MOST non-Christians are totally okay with CHRISTMAS! We have Jewish, Muslim, Atheist and other non-Christian friends who were at our Christmas party last weekend and we “ALL” had a blast!
CHRISTMAS IS FOR ALL OF US and for those who are bothered by that, get lost. Go stick your head in the snow, or sand and leave the rest of us alone so we can properly celebrate an event that should be about everything we have in common…being human. The squeeky wheels who drive the politically correct machine do not represent the status quo and yet they get to set the agenda. The only way to stop these disgruntled, angry and humorless souls is to ignore their agenda and proudly annouce yours.

Every store I have been in lately has proved my point. Every sales clerk says. “Happy Holidays” to which I reply “No. Merry Christmas!” and intriguingly, they usually respond with “Yes, Merry Christmas”.
Please remember that nobody cares more about people than me and for 35 years, I have championed advocacy for folks like me but here’s the point: I am not “disabled”, not a “Canadian”, not even a “Dad” or “Husband” or “Son” or “Brother”, etc. I AM NOT LABEL!!

I am a child of the universe and I celebrate my life…everyday. I simply wish we could all just lighten up, take in the sights and sounds and smells of this time of year and above all, respect people who want to focus on what’s right about our world and not wrong!

From my wife, Darlene, son Vance, and yours truly, please accept my sincere wishes for a bountiful and harmonious 2012 and indeed…
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!