Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart:
I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is, either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.
Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. Is this what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.
Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?
I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
More stories on the Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas issue:
This Is Not Your Practice Blog
Happy Holidays Doesn't Make Shoppers Merry
Walmart Stands By Happy Holidays, Not Merry Christmas and yet another flap about Walmart and the origins of Christmas.
Even the Bushes' Christmas card doesn't say "Merry Christmas this year.
How do I feel about it? Well...I thought about it and I'm not so sure I want "Merry Christmas" linked with shopping gluttony anyway but I think there's nothing offensive about saying it to people we know or even strangers in the post office or other places. See what Ben Stein said? He's not offended. I think most people wouldn't be offended. I wouldn't be offended at all if someone wished me "Happy Hanukkah" or "Happy Kwanzaa."
Merry Christmas.
Monday Music Mambo:
1. What are some of your favorite Christmas carols or songs?
My top 5...
Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth
Joy To The World
O Come All Ye Faithful
Silent Night
White Christmas
2. Have you ever gone out caroling? How did it go?
Yes, I went caroling last with my in-laws and the kids Christmas 2001. It was cold but lots of fun!
3. It's cold out there! What artist or band gets you warm and dancing?
I like all kinds of music but I don't dance now because of my bum ankle. As for "warm"...I'd say Harry Connick Jr's voice will warm any cold body!
4. Have you ever met any of your favorite musicians? Who are they, and what was the experience like? Did you get any autographs or photos?
Nope, no musicians. :(
Random 10
Ten songs I listened to this weekend because I've been listening to Christmas music 24/7 since Thanksgiving:
All I Want For Christmas Is You
Grown Up Christmas List
Dominick the Donkey
The Gift
Blue Christmas
White Christmas
Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth
Santa Baby
Christmas Shoes
Believe
decorating the tree
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