That's the holiday I celebrate this time of year. Not Christmas. Xmas. I like the holiday well enough, but I'm not the religious type and neither are most people I know. Some, in fact, aren't even "vaguely Christian but not practicing very hard", like most non-religious people in America.

And before you say anything, yes, I know very well where the word comes from — probably better than most people who "correct" me on this issue, as a matter of fact. The X is actually the Greek chi, which looks the same, the first letter of the Greek word that means "Christ". So "Xmas" is actually just an abbreviation for "Christmas" and I'm celebrating "Christmas" no matter what I say.

So that's where the word comes from. Okay, I get that, but I also get that English is a living language. In living languages, words don't always stay where they come from. Xmas is Christmas with Christ left out. You know that familiar December aphorism about keeping Christ in Christmas? Well, not being into that religious stuff, I'd just as soon keep him out.

He wasn't always there anyway. A couple of Decembers ago, a young street evangelist with a big, frozen smile plastered across his very earnest-looking face asked me if I knew the true meaning of Christmas. I replied that I knew exactly what he was going to say it is, and asked if that counts. I added that as everyone who actually reads the Bible knows, the story he was about to cite actually took place about April or May. Everybody knows shepherds don't tend their flocks at midnight in December. This just happened to be a convenient time to schedule a holiday, because everybody celebrates around the Winter Solstice anyway.

That's why I always chime in when somebody on a message board objects to Christmas stories in series like The Flintstones and B.C., because they supposedly didn't have Christmas (or even Xmas) back then.

But they did. People have been having a big holiday in the middle of winter since, as I put it in my Santa Claus article, Alley Oop was a boy. The religious aspects may change from one millennium to the next, but the holiday right around the solstice has been there since the dawn of time.

And even most of the accoutrements have stayed constant. The decorated tree, the gift giving, the mistletoe, etc. — all there, just as they've always been. Only the angels and stuff like that are relatively new. Even the patron saint of Xmas is a secular one. (And he's not even the only secular saint — there's not much religious about St. Valentine, either.) And Santa Claus (or Father Christmas, as he used to be called) is so non-religious, despite being identified with the historical St. Nicholas, as recently as the 19th century, he was sometimes depicted with antlers.

So, what's the true meaning of Xmas? Love, family, good cheer, stuff like that. Same as it's always been, and if you like yours with some religion mixed in, that's cool too.

But in the War on Christmas that we hear so much about — doesn't this attitude make me an Enemy Combattant?

I have only one thing to say about this alleged War on Christmas: Do you believe that?

I mean, come on! If somebody says "Happy Holidays!" to you, how do you respond? Do you smile and wish him the same? Do you at least grunt in a vaguely friendly way? Or do you get pissed off?

Because I gotta tell you, if it's the latter, then you are a real sourpuss!

And at this joyous time of year, whatever you call the holiday in question, you're in serious need of cheering up. So …

Merry Xmas!


By the way, I'll be visiting family members for the next week or so. So the article I post on Xmas morning will, if all goes well, be my last for the year.

— DDM