Christmas is great, but ...

... the fact that it is celebrated in December may be more tactical than actual.
  First, there's plenty of discourse leading to the belief that Christ was not born on Dec. 25, primarily because it wasn't until 354 AD when Pope Julius I chose the date to coincide with pagan rituals. The main purpose of choosing Dec. 25, was to paper over the pagan practice with a Christian holiday.
   Some sources believe Christ was born sometime between March 28 and May 20. Others deduce Jesus' birthday was Sept. 11 (seriously), 3 BC, or around the end of that month.
   Early January is another time period that has its followers.
   All of this is indicative that Dec. 25, was arbitrarily chosen as the day Jesus was born.
   The practical problem of celebrating Christmas in December is that it is by far the most stressful month of the year.
  First, it is set up by Thanksgiving, a national excuse to overindulge followed by a trumped up frenzy of shopping on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, blah, blah.
   The "celebration" of Christmas has been hijacked by merchandisers desperate to unload the crap they haven't been able to sell [because it's crap] before the year ends.
   The fact the Christmas comes one week before the New Year's celebrations is problematic as well: arguably two of the most important holidays in the Western world are within seven days of each other.
  New Year's (also a holy day for Catholics and the orthodox churches in Georgia [ahem, the country], Russia, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine and Jerusalem) gets a short shrift for what should be an important time of reflection of the past year and a determined hope for a better one to come.
   In that sense it is a very important time for taking stock, of quiet contemplation. Of course, most reach for champagne and noisemakers but perhaps if Christmas wasn't in December, New Year's would in fact be treated 'more seriously.'
   Add to this a grim, financial cloud that hangs over the month of December, only adding to the stress of the season: capitalistic realism.
   The cloud is created by companies who, in a twisted spirit of giving, take the opportunity to give pink slips to thousands of employees because the operation needs to down-size for the benefit of stockholders.
   More wholesale furloughs are committed in December than any other month. It is a company's last chance to cut costs in an effort to balance the books before the year ends.
   So if you happen to be employed by a large corporation (or a subsidiary thereof) the month of December can be one of great angst: like waiting for the other shoe to drop.
   Christmas should be a time of joy and high hopes. Unfortunately in the US it has become a time of apprehension and high anxiety.
  Editor's note: Sears and Kmart waited until two days after Christmas to announce the closing of 120 stores. Of course they're aren't telling anybody how many hundreds of jobs will be whacked.