“The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a song that has obvious connotations to Christmas.  For the past few days, I’ve been wishing people a “merry Christmas.”  I’ve been told that some people do not like that greeting and prefer “happy holidays.”  The words merry and happy are similar; however, the word merry refers to a festive occasion.   The word Christmas has two parts, the most obvious is Christ.  I’ll leave the letters “MAS” for another celebration.  My common sense tells me that Christmas is a joyful event celebrating the birth of Christ.  From my earliest days, Christmas was merry, happy, and a holiday that allegedly celebrated the birth of Christ.  However, there is a vast chasm between the birth of Christ and a happy holiday.   
A happy holiday may consist of travelling a long distance to visit friends or family.  The holiday may consist of happiness like eating, drinking, laughing, or talking about Daffy Duck and his theological acumen.  Exchanging gifts may make the holiday happier.  It may be a happy holiday to just stay at home and relax.  In any event, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a happy holiday.
Celebrating the birth of Christ is a joyful event, which Mary and I are thankful for the birth of Christ every day.  In fact, we cannot celebrate His death, which is a commandment, unless we recognize His birth.  Without His birth, life, death, and resurrection, there is no perfect Mediator between God and man, thus no forgiveness of sin.  Then, when I think about the second person of the Trinity taking on human flesh, I think about the incarnation of Christ.  The most unique occasion (sui generis) in all of human history was the second person of the Trinity taking on two natures (human and divine) “without conversion, composition, or confusion”, forever.  The Christmas story is beginning to sound a bit theological and we don’t want that to happen.  Best to say Merry Christmas and if you have a holiday, I hope it is a happy holiday.