The Planet Celebrates Christmas

There may be little agreement on the specifics of year, origin, or justification, but the fact is most people on this planet live by a calendar based on the birthday of Jesus. Christian, Jew, Muslim, or other, civilization has decided that this is an appropriate date to organize life around.

The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world today. For decades, it has been the unofficial global standard, adopted for pragmatic interests of international communication, transportation, commercial integration and recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations and the Universal Postal Union.

We look at history as of two eras, Before Christ, and Anno Domini, or after the Birth of Christ. That fact, in and of itself, is pretty amazing.

In my family, Christmas is the most important day of the year.

Is it because we venerate Christ as our Lord? To a degree, yes. My family has a Christian heritage. But to be honest, like most people I know, Christmas is even bigger than that.

What? How can I say that?

Even if we were very religious and committed Christians, even if we went to church every Sunday, and dedicated ourselves to spreading Christ’s word, I think we would have to admit that Christmas, with respect to the entire planet, is bigger than an affirmation of our particular belief system.

Christmas, like the Gregorian calendar, is something the whole world pays attention to. Christmas is a day of the year where what Christ proselytized, is actually effectuated. It is a day when people treat each other as brothers and sisters, and spend quality time with friends and family. People all over the World reach out by giving gifts and attention. They offer help and love where there is little.

The twenty-fifth day of December reaches into every neighborhood, across borders, over fences, and into prisons. It reaches into the lives of the rich, the poor, the disenfranchised, the uneducated, the sick and the elderly. Men, women, confused or physically incapacitated, everyone knows about Christmas, and most act differently before, during, and sometimes after December 25th.

You can’t say that about any other day of the year, about any other special event, religious or otherwise.

Christmas is, once a year, the reassertion of an idea, a spirit, a way of living that engenders itself by remembering the birth of a messenger who delivered a recommendation to the World; Forgive.

From this Family, to Your Family, and to the Family of Man, may the 25th of December bring Joy and Peace to Our Planet.