Compliments of the Season- It that an appropriate greeting this season?

Straight off the bat; the school of WhatsApp is back in action, the discussion on the star of David which plagued us just before Christmas is now well behind us; like all news it did its ten days of fame on WhatsApp. Post-Christmas, the forwards are about greeting each other with the words ‘compliments of the season’; is that appropriate or not? I was asked by several people to weigh in on the debate.

The matter at hand are the words ‘compliments of the season.’ This according to the floating viral message is an attempt to secularize the faith and underscore the mystery of the incarnation. In other words, this is secular propaganda created to misled Christians into believing that we need to be more inclusive and less in-your face with our faith celebrations.

I am no scholar and the internet is no authority but common sense is an application that ought to be applied in this and any case. I am 52 years old and all through my growing years my mum taught me that a day after Christmas right up to New Year we wished each other, ‘compliments of the season.’ Would it be wrong to say “happy Christmas?” I think not. We don’t go around saying, ‘compliments of the New Year’ after the first of January; we continue to say ‘happy new year,’ well into the new year.

So, what is the point I want to drive home? Simply this, that as Christians, we have to stop playing the victim card whenever we suspect that the secular world is out with its knives to stab our Christian character. It makes perfect sense to wish any one a Happy Christmas days after the day itself has well passed; it is after all Christmastide and you have a right to wish someone a Happy Christmas and they have a right to reciprocate your greetings or not. Yet wishing someone ‘compliments of the season’ does not deny the truth of what we celebrate as Christians.

What would I prefer? I would prefer that we wished each other a Happy Christmas well after the day itself but without the victim card being thrown in. It makes sense to assert what we celebrated; the happiness that Christmas brings in our life. I am proud of my faith and if you ask me, I would rather say the words, ‘Happy Christmas,’ without weighing in heavily on the victim card that the secular world is out to get me. While words are important our actions that flow from these words are equally important. THE WORD became flesh to dwell among us as a prince of peace and not one that draws daggers of division.

The next time you get a forward on WhatsApp apply the principle of common sense. Think things through and perhaps add your own thoughts. You may agree or you may not but think and apply your mind to it.

Happy Christmas