Enjoy the concerts; find a Christian one too, maybe in another church. Have some people over; ask them, “What do you remember from this time of year when you were growing up?” Get that conversation going, don’t just mumble ‘Jesus’ when it’s your turn, spell it out. 

Is Jesus the reason for the season? Or, Frosty the snowman? We just went to a high school concert featuring my grandkids and heard incredibly good music. During a break we were led in Christmas carols with no Jesus but instead, Frosty. I understand, our country is a country of religious freedom and that’s wonderful. That’s partly why my family came here back then, to not be forced to pay tithes to Anglicans while supporting our Calvinistic Methodists.

In that high school program, do you think we could we get in Silent Night again? We’d need to add a Hanukkah something, no big deal. Plus a Muslim one, maybe Mormon, too? The Satanists would want a place, but they’re not going to sing to Satan really, instead something about Truth, I think. We could do all that without much trouble, except the message would be the old traditional Xmas ‘chill out, many ways to God, if there is a god.’

Now, I’m tempted to be super Presbyterian, don’t celebrate anything with ‘-mas’ on the end, that’s the RC mass for sure. My brainy side says, “Shepherds in the field,” that’s about March isn’t it, maybe on my own birthday, that would be cool. What should I or we do with this time of year, besides hitting all the big sales?

Enjoy the concerts; find a Christian one too, maybe in another church. Have some people over; ask them, “What do you remember from this time of year when you were growing up?” Get that conversation going, don’t just mumble ‘Jesus’ when it’s your turn, spell it out.

I’m still low church myself and do Jesus in March and July and all the time. But what an opportunity we have to be festive and natural and talk about Jesus easily all at the same time!

Dr. D. Clair Davis, lives in Philadelphia, Penn., is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, and is a Professor Emeritus of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.