Christmas

Here's a bah humbug post. There has been so much going on when it comes to conversations about Christmas in the papers, on the radio and such. There is the "war on Christmas" that many Christians are fretting over because it looks as though secularists are seeking to take away the freedom of people of faith to express the most sacred aspects of their faith in public. Well, Christmas is not a sacred aspect of the christian faith. To be sure, the fact that Christ was sent into our world as Emmanuel, "God with us" is of prime importance, but the celebration of Christmas and all of its trappings doesn't seem to celebrate that at all. Even if it did, have we been given a mandate as followers of Jesus to celebrate his birth? The only mandate I remember is to remember. To remember his body and blood given for us so we could have a relationship with God. We are to remember whenever we eat and drink until he comes back.
Chistmas is fun and has a great intent, but I'm not willing to go into battle to defend my right to have a nativity scene or to say merry Christmas in public. I imagine that the real battle needs to be fought on a different level, that is, am I willing to love people and to listen to them and care for them with no strings attached?