Every year the village of Patchogue, Long Island has a Christmas boat parade. It's very well attended (approximately 1500 people show up to see the parade) and has become a well-loved annual community event. That is until this year. The Greater Patchogue Foundation, who runs the annual event, decided that this year political correctness would rule. Apparently fueled by complaints that the Christmas parade was not inclusive enough (apparently all the atheists out there were insulted that they weren't represented in the name of a Christian holiday parade), the Greater Patchogue Foundation changed the name of the parade to the Holiday Boat Parade. Enter the Grucci Fireworks company who were sponsoring the parade.
For those who don't know, Grucci is a long-time and much admired Long Island company. The Grucci family has been providing spectacular fireworks displays for most of the major events around the New York metropolitan area and the country for many, many years. They are unmatched in the fireworks industry. Well, the Gruccis were providing fireworks for this year's Patchogue Christmas Boat parade and when they found out that Christmas was eliminated from the name of the parade, they pulled out. Good for them! Not only did they pull out of the parade, but they encouraged people to not attend. Well, it seems like people listened because the attendance was down a whopping 33% from years gone by. I say good for the Gruccis and all those who stayed away.
Let's face it, this is Christmas time, folks. The nativity display, colorful lights, the inclusion of Santa, the decorating of trees and the like are all CHRISTMAS things. They don't apply to any other celebration. Sorry to those who don't feel included in a celebration that they have no connection to. My advice would be to either embrace the Christmas theme of the year (like many Jews do in celebrating the "secular" (if there truly is such a thing) part of the season) or attend a Christian church at this time of year and see what all the joy and celebrating is all about. Otherwise, stop your bellyaching and come to grips with the fact that we are all different and celebrate different holidays and not everyone has to be included in everything. As a Christian, I don't lament that I am not included in the celebrations of Jews or Muslims.
Jesus was right when he said that "people will hate you because they hated me first." How true LORD.
So, this year, and every year, say "Merry Christmas". Don't deny the time of year. It's Christmas time! It's that time of year that we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Whether people believe in Him or not doesn't change the fact that He is who He is. And if people hate you for it, thank God, because He's the one who sustains us through the times of persecution and it's because of Him we suffer and what better sign in our lives that we are living a life pleasing to God.
Merry Christmas to all.
God bless you and may God bless America!
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