What's the reason for the season?

The United States is now in the thick of its annual tradition of hating non-Christians and anyone else who dares to wish anybody Season’s Greetings. Thankfully, on this side of the Pond we are only hearing the distant rumblings of all those Scrooges. The one good thing about it has been that it has made me about the what the actual reason for the season is. Of course, it has nothing to do with any baby Jesus, really. No more than it has to do with Santa Claus, Hanukkah candles, or any of the other things that some of us associate with this season. The thing is that the reason is the same whether you are Lutheran, Catholic, Atheist or Rastafarian. The thing is that the reason is actually what links us all together and not what divides us. So, before I sit down to Christmas dinner, I will kiss my mother, my wife, my daughter and the other members of my family and will celebrate the very same thing that all these people in the very many different places around the world will celebrate. Season’s Greetings, everyone – whatever you believe in.