Putting the Merry in Christmas
Have you ever wondered why we say Merry Christmas? I mean, we never say “Merry Anything Else,” right? It’s always Happy New Year or Happy Birthday. It’s even Happy Anniversary and Happy Thanksgiving! So, what’s up with Christmas and Merry? You may not stay up at night wondering about things like that (which is probably good). But I’ve wondered more than once about it, so I thought it was time to do a bit of research.
The first historical reference to Merry Christmas is found in a letter from a prisoner of King Henry VIII of England. Said prisoner was Bishop John Fisher. The letter was addressed to Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief minister, requesting more humane treatment. Merry Christmas then showed up in the classic English favorite, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Just two antiquated source references, yet it quietly became popular and now, 400 years later, is still the favorite way people frame their Christmas greetings.
But why is it even a thing? Merry and happy may seem close enough to make most people shrug their shoulders and not even care. But a closer look at the words themselves may reveal more than meets the eye.
Happy is a feeling word, an emotional state generally generated by favorable circumstances. That may be why Happy Christmas is still commonly used by the British and the preferred greeting for the royal family. The circumstances of the wealthy and powerful have always been perceived by average citizens as being pretty awesome. The tabloids aside, the life of a royal seems to be rather impervious to most of the daily anxieties of normal life.
Merry, on the other hand, infers a particular type of activity, as in making merry. In other words, Christmas is not something that just makes us happy. It’s something we make merry! In other words, the significance of Christmas for any individual depends on what we make out of it. Be careful not to read too much into that last sentence. It’s not that we create significance for Christmas. It stands on its own as the greatest spiritual military invasion in human history (something I’ll pick up in next week’s post). We simply intentionally and energetically celebrate what God accomplished through the Incarnation.
When our celebration recognizes the value of the original event we celebrate, then we’ve made it merry. Otherwise, we can only hope that the warm and fuzzy thoughts of a nostalgic Hallmark Christmas movie can generate a few warm and fuzzy moments of happiness.
Perhaps it is as simple as the difference between subjective and objective statements. (Stay with me.) A subjective statement says something about the subject. To say, “I love ice cream,” is to state a subjective truth. It says something about the subject, something about me! I happen to love ice cream. You may not. You don’t have to. But I do. That’s subjective.
To say, “Ice Cream is cold,” is an objective statement. It says something about the object. One characteristic of ice cream is that it is cold. That’s true no matter whether you like ice cream or not. To say it is cold is not a matter of preference or opinion. Ice cream is what it is. And what it is is cold!
Happiness is a subjective commodity. To tell someone, “I am happy,” is a truth that is completely vested in the subject. It describes me, or how I feel. We often describe our Christmas experience as either being or not being “in the Christmas spirit.” When we catch that nostalgic feeling of being a child again, we’re happy.
Merry, on the other hand, is an objective commodity. In a way, it’s comparable to biblical joy. To tell someone, “I have joy,” says something about the object, or about the source of my joy. For Christians, joy is an attitude that focuses on the object of our joy, who happens to be Jesus. That’s why we make merry every Christmas, and not just for a day, but for the entire month of December! Decorations, serving family at various gatherings, throwing office parties, shopping and, ultimately, the grand celebration of Christmas Day. Wow. Merry Christmas takes a lot of work! Which is fine with us, because Jesus is worth it.