My third-grade daughter came home with a Christmas word-find. Here are the words, associated with Christmas, which she was supposed to find:
- GINGERBREAD
- CANDLES
- HELPERS
- GLOVES
- CINNAMON
- FRIENDS
- HATS
- GIVING
I don’t know about you, but HATS and GLOVES always make me think of Christmas. What about JESUS, MANGER, STAR, SHEPHERDS, ANGELS, JOSEPH, MARY, and BETHLEHEM? What about WISE MEN and INNS and TAXES? Certainly they are more representative of Christmas than GINGERBREAD and CINNAMON. My daughter thinks she is just doing homework, but she is learning what her culture says about Christmas. The not-so-subtle message of her assignment is that Christmas is just a winter holiday—not a celebration of the Incarnation. Here is a holiday drained of all religious content. Even SANTA CLAUS and REINDEER are missing. Too Christian? Or just not bland enough. Either way it’s disgusting.