Dear Editor:
I read Kate Zimmerman's Dec. 11 column, Just Saying No to Christmas, and at first I thought, "Wow, Kate's feeling Grinchy today."
But as I went on my merry (excuse the expression) way, I kept thinking about what she had said and it began to really resonate with me. In fact, I "felt" (if you can feel such things) kind of a paradigm change in my thinking.
I'm a Christian, so Christmas, for me, has always been significant from a religious perspective. But we Christians have grumbled for years about how the season has lost its focus and become just a shallow, tinselled commercial opportunity that promotes greed and consumerism. So I began to see your perspective as a culmination of what I've been feeling for a long time.
It's not just that people from many other cultures, who don't share Christian beliefs, have come to be a part of our country. That's certainly true, and our society is richer for it. But even people who come out of the Canadian tradition, whose ancestors either immigrated long ago or were here before Europeans came, they're not Christians now, so why do I think they should celebrate the season for the reasons I do?
So much is changing in our culture, and it's happening so fast, that it takes a while for us to adjust to the reality of cultural change. Your article helped me do that in this instance. From now on I will celebrate Christmas personally, and in my church, in the way that is meaningful to me, but I will release my culture from the need to support my view of Christmas, and allow everyone the freedom to celebrate, or not, in the way that pleases them.
So thank you: for the articles you give us all year; for the chuckles and belly laughs, and also for the thought-provoking ideas that help us grow.
Ginny Jacques North Vancouver
