“May your days be merry.” Those are the words I wound up putting on this year’s holiday card.
No family stories. No news-filled doggerel thrown together in the run-up to Christmas.
Just, “May your days be merry.”
It’s a line lifted from the 1940s Irving Berlin song, “(I’m Dreaming of a) White Christmas.”
“White Christmas” — you hear it everywhere. At the mall. At the dentist’s office. At the car wash. With an estimated 100 million copies sold, “White Christmas” is thought to be the most popular pop tune ever recorded.
A Sentimental Song
I like “White Christmas” okay. It’s a sentimental, safely secular song. I’ll sing along if that’s what everybody else in the room is doing.
But for me the dream that “White Christmas” dreams is as wishy-washy as it is white. It tries hard to be oblivious to the (baby) elephant in the room — the newborn Jesus.
“White Christmas” misses the point of Christmas, which is the radical fact of God’s presence in the world. Christmas is Christianity’s celebration of God’s willingness to enter time and space and throw a little comfort our way.
When Jon and I put together our Christmas cards we made sure they weren’t too Christmassy. We have Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists and God-knows-whats among our friends. So, though our cards might mention Christmas, they never mention Jesus or Wise Men or an outsized star hanging in the sky.
Just, “May Your Days Be Merry”
This year I am sticking to our old tradition. There’s no Baby Jesus on my 2022 Christmas card (though there might be one on the postage stamp). No hallelujahs. No angels with wings and trumpets. Just, “May your days be merry.”
But! Just so you know, when I chose that phrase, “May your days be merry,” I intended it to be code for — may your days be filled with joy, hope and wonder.
Joy and hope that we are not forgotten. That we are loved. That God is right here among us, and by “us” I mean everybody — Christians, Jews and the God-knows-whats. Everybody. As always.
And so, today, I say to you, along with the recipients of my 2022 holiday card (which will hit the post office on the late side again this year): May your days be merry!
This is my second Christmas without Jon. Read about how I managed the first one at “Widowed. Or, How to Wrestle a Christmas Tree Into Its Stand Without Calling the Neighbors for Help.”
Tony Newhall says
Thank you for another great Christmas card. I liked that you included at least one past Christmas. It’s fun to see photos of past years, even if they’re just a few years old. Hoping you’re having a great holiday and having fun with family members.
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
Merry Christmas to the SoCal Newhalls!
Jean+MacGillis says
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Barb! Christmas has been white but not always bright with heavy clouds and snow blowing sideways! Blessings of peace and joy to all the Falconers in California!
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
Sideways snow! At least our big, big rains of late have come down straight.
Sue Watson says
Barbie, Merry Christmas. ! Ours is definitely white and beautiful. We are cozy and staying in. Sue
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
Merry Christmas to my snowbound Michigan friends and relatives!
ginger says
perfect. merry and bright to you, always.
Barbara Falconer Newhall says
Merry Christmas and lots of love!