This year, some of the conservative Christians (to coin a media term) have taken the offensive in the clash of religious/secular cultures and have begun boycotting stores with clerks who wish people a "Happy Holiday" instead of a "Merry Christmas." They are doing this because they want Christ the focus of Christmas. Now, believe me, I appreciate wanting to keep Christ the focus of Christmas. Too often, greed and consumerism is the focus…and has been for several generations, at least. But I also wonder if the aggressiveness associated with the boycott does anything toward promoting the Peace of Christ in the Christmas season. After all, how are the boycotters fighting the greed and consumerism of secular stores trying to cash in on the high dollar Christmas season? They are taking their money and giving it to stores cashing in on the high dollar Christmas season by making sure that their clerks say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays." Unfortunately, they are also giving Christians the image of being hate-filled and bigoted. In an article I read in the newspaper, one minister (who was anti-boycott) asked if we should start differentiating between "Merry Christmas" stores and "Happy Holiday" stores by plastering them with yellow Stars of David.
One adjective that describes everything connected with St. Francis is ‘unexpected.’ He repudiated his inheritance and his former lifestyle; he became an itinerate preacher who begged for his daily bread; and he served the poor and the lepers. When he went on crusade to convert the Muslims, he came away with a deep and mutual respect for the Sultan and for his piety. In our Franciscan walk, why don’t we try to be more unexpected? Instead of boycotting "Happy Holiday" stores, why don’t we practice random acts of kindness when we’re shopping at them? If someone behind you in the line has five items and you have twenty-five, let the person go in front of you. For that matter, if the person behind you has twenty-five items and several whining children, let her go ahead of you even if you’re the one with five items. Don’t worry about it if she looks at you like you’re crazy. St. Francis’ contemporaries thought that he was crazy, too. Tell people "Merry Christmas." Smile at the harried sales clerk and speak to him or her kindly. Say a prayer for all the shoppers. You may be all the Christ that some people see at Christmas. Wouldn’t you rather they see Christ’s love instead of the hate and the intolerance the media so adores to report?
Now, I realize, of course, that this message is going out too late for the Christmas shopping season. But the celebration of Jesus’ Incarnation isn’t a once a year event…it’s a lifetime event! Franciscan unexpectedness and random acts of kindness can be practiced all the time. And remember, "Militant Franciscan" is an oxymoron.
