On the Holidays

This time last year I was enjoying my first set of holidays in Europe. I remember expressing my excitement to Thomas for Christmas and everything about Christmas. The festivities, the displays, the food, the music. Ah, but there was no Christmas music on the radios though; least not to the amount that we Americans have on our radio stations.

Well why not? I ask.

Well, because we are secular here in France, he replied rather stupefied by my question. We have religious freedom here.

Ah, indeed. Christmas is indeed a Christian holiday with many references to biblical events. Many popular Christmas songs sing of Jesus and his birth and in France, things are different. Though there were occasional songs on the radio that expressed the holiday spirit, it still wasn’t as much as in the States. It wasn’t pumped out nonstop through the radio. Instead, if you cared for it, you can listen to it on your own, instead of in shops, stores, restaurants, everywhere you went.

And so I wonder, which is better? An atmosphere so filled with Christmas spirit that it infuses it into everything through music so the idea of a Christmas without Christmas songs doesn’t feel right, or an atmosphere that limits Christmas-ness so that more of the public can enjoy the holiday spirit.