Happy "insert holiday here"

"Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart." ~Washington Irving

When do you mark the start of the holiday season? Is it at Thanksgiving? Is it as early as Halloween? Or do you mark it when you see the first Christmas display in a store?

I for one tend to mark it privately as the time when we actually put the Christmas tree up in our home. That normally coincides with the weekend or two after Thanksgiving. For Christians, Christmas Eve marks the birth of Jesus. But the holiday season isn't just the Christian holiday of Christmas.

Traditionally, there is Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Epiphany. There are also the celebrations of Yule, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. There are probably others that I am missing as well.

The holiday season encompasses a lot of different ways in which peoples, religions and cultures celebrate this time of year. It is also a time of the year to 'ease off a bit' on the political correctness of it all. By declaring "Happy Holidays", "Merry Christmas", or "Happy Hannukah" is not meant as an affront to others. The spirit of the season, religious or not is wishing kindness and happiness upon others.

It is a time of the year when we can possibly let down some of our disagreements and treat each other just a little more kindly. During the holiday season we can re-learn the idea of loving each other and hating a little bit less. The rest of the year tends to lack enough of that as it is.

During this holiday season, instead of complaining about the Christmas tree or Menorah on display at a school, why not turn your energy towards just being nicer to someone. If a kinara or a Yule Goat shows up in front of a courthouse, maybe tolerance should rule your thoughts. Maybe kindness and goodwill towards your fellow person should be the course of action.

I celebrate Christmas as Christian and am proud and happy to say Merry Christmas. I have Jewish friends that celebrate Hanukkah and are happy to say Happy Hanukkah. I have Australian friends that are happy to say Happy Boxing Day (I would suppose). Be proud of who you are and your celebration but remember that the point is being kinder and loving your fellow man a bit more.

January 2nd will come soon enough and many will have forgotten the spirit of the season. Try to hold onto that "...genial flame of charity in the heart" well beyond the holiday season.