“Merry Christmas, Everyone!” I called out to the room full
of my co-workers. It was December 23rd and my first Christmas in
Canada for 5 years. We wouldn’t see each other now until after Christmas.
My words were met by silence, interspersed with few gasps. Three people took out cell phones.
My friend, who was trying to shut me up whispered, “They are dialling 911.”
Some other friends were trying to hustle me from the room: “Hurry, get out
before the police arrive – let’s go, let’s go!”
I shook off their hands. “What do you mean, police? What’s
going on? Why call the police?”
There was a circle of friends around me, and a phalanx of
hostile faces between me and the door. I was confused. In the eight months
since I’d been back in Canada, nothing had prepared me for this.
Someone asked, “Why did you say that?”
“Say what?” I asked.
“You know, the MC phrase, the politically incorrect words.”
“MC? MC?” Then the penny dropped. “Oh you mean Merry ....”
“Shh!” someone hissed. “Don’t say it. Let’s just get out of
here. Maybe the police will let you off if you explain you’ve been away and
didn’t know.”
I had returned home earlier in the year, after spending five
years in the Middle East. Living in an international community there, we’d
celebrated many religious holidays together: Eid with our Moslem friends;
Hannakuk with our Jewish neighbours; Diwali, the festival of lights, with a
delightful Hindu family we had met through a common love of architecture; and
they would all come to eat Turkey and drink egg nog (with or without alcohol) with us at Christmas.
It seems that, while I was away, political correctness had
flourished here at home. It was like George Orwell’s “1984”. We cannot offend
those who have other beliefs, or no belief. It had become a crime to wish
anyone a Merry Christmas in public.
So here I stood, in my office, surrounded by my co-workers,
waiting for the police to come and arrest me for saying “Merry Christmas”
instead of the politically correct “Happy Holidays”. My friends were still
trying to get me to leave, when the sound of sirens came from the street
outside.
“I stay,” I said, refusing to be bullied by this ridiculous
law.
I left, in handcuffs, was charged and, after a night in jail,
found guilty, fined and let out.
Christmas Day found me reflecting on the birth of Jesus as I
flew over the Atlantic. I was on my way back to the Middle East. As I stepped
out of the airport, a Moslem friend met me: “Welcome back,” he said. “and Merry
Christmas.”
Points to Ponder
What does it mean when we wish someone a Merry Christmas? My
dictionary says : “full of or showing lively cheerfulness or enjoyment” or “tending
to produce cheerfulness or happiness in people”. Is this what we really want to
wish our friends and associates at Christmas? hat would, for you be a more
appropriate greeting?
A Christmas Blessing
May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope; the
spirit of Christmas which is peace; and the heart of Christmas which is love. And may the love of the Christ Child ever
fill your hearts and homes with gladness; In the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
