Missing some merry

Contact Your Elected Officials

The horde of cards was as commonplace as ornaments and lights on the Christmas tree. They would arrive daily sans for Sunday at a half dozen a clip. Initially, it started as a trickle but once the calendar sunk deeper into December, the numbers grew. Many were from people I did not know. By the time Christmas arrived the avalanche of cards became part of our familyโ€™s Christmas dรฉcor โ€“ all in service to induce a sensation of good cheer throughout the Maresca abode. 

My mother would string the cards using yarn through the living room and they would decorate every doorway. Leaving nothing to waste once Christmas ended, mom would recycle the cards into tags for gifts for the following Christmas. 

There wasnโ€™t a Happy Holidays or Seasonโ€™s Greetings card among them โ€“ at first. The secular Christmas lineup was, however, making some inroads that included such holiday icons as Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman were among them but remained in the minority.

Originating in Victorian England, these seasonal snail-mail greetings have been a Christmas fixture dating back to the 1840s.  Traditional paper Christmas cards have sunk in popularity and if you still practice the art, you remain an atavistic throwback worthy of praise.   Writing cards is time consuming but underscores that the relationship is meaningful and worth the effort even though we may not have seen them in decades and may never see them again despite our written promises. 

While traditional mailed paper cards have not yet gone the way of the dinosaurs or rotary telephones, they are travelling quickly down a one-way, dead-end street.

Shopping for cards, pens, combing through that old address book and stamps are all an integral part of the ritual.  Mom always got a sheet or two of the annual nativity scene postage stamps.  She always reminded us to do the same because if we donโ€™t request them, the government would cease making them, which would dishonor the true meaning of the holiday.

Before the digital take over, Christmas cards were turning into a mass-produced and choreographed photograph that had nothing to do with Christmas.  Rather, it is a narcissistic chapter-and-verse almanac of the previous year with no personal message and some without a signature.

The temptation to streamline and go to electronic greetings is not just strong but overwhelming.  The rise of social media has delivered paper Christmas cards into the dead letter box. The excuses for such behavior are legion, but not surprising.  Cards and stamps are not cheap and writing them out is time-consuming.  Besides, you are busy.  

Sending an electronic greeting is as simple and convenient as it gets. Emails, Instagram, Facebook you name it with a computerโ€™s cut and paste, you can cover more folks than snail mail ever could.

For the social media aficionado, many are animated, impersonal, and soulless but they do check those all-important 21st century boxes of economical and convenient.  Nothing says โ€œMerry Christmasโ€ like a holiday selfie tacked on to a laundry list of email addresses. 

Deep down you know itโ€™s a utilitarian practice that borders on paganism. The ubiquitous means of electronic communication is efficient, accessible, and cost-conscious, but it is by no means is it traditional, thoughtful, or appealing.

Receiving an electronic Christmas greeting is only vaguely more uplifting than opening spam.  Electronic mass greetings are not going away, and neither are football games on Christmas and shopping on Thanksgiving.  Once upon a time in America, all were verboten.  Today, they are celebrated. 

Some will save their electronic cards in cloud archives recalling all those โ€œlikesโ€ thumbs up and smiley emojis. However, that is not the same as finding a Christmas or any other hand written card from a generation ago amongst a stack of books or in a photo album.

Since โ€œMerry Christmasโ€ morphed into โ€œHappy Holidays,โ€ Christmas cards have transformed into a more social ritual rather than a religious one.  Many come without the reality of the Christโ€™s nativity.  Contemporary America wants to enjoy the birthday party, while ignoring the guest of honor.   

Card or no card, this will never change what this sacred day means for the 2.3 billion Christians celebrating worldwide.  

Merry Christmas.

Greg Maresca
Greg Maresca
Greg Maresca is a New York City native and U.S. Marine Corps veteran who writes for TTC. He resides in the Pennsylvania Coal Region. His work can also be found in The American Spectator, NewsBreak, Daily Item, Republican Herald, Standard Speaker, The Remnant Newspaper, Gettysburg Times, Daily Review, The News-Item, Standard Journal and more.

Was Texas Storm Manmade?

Another โ€œ1-in-100 yearsโ€ weather event in Kerr County happened next to a Texas designated โ€œWeather Modification Map of Rain-Enhancement Projects in Texasโ€.

The America Party Will Harm Democrats The Most

Elon Musk formed the America Party after an X poll asking his followers if they wanted โ€œindependence from the two-party system!

Democrats Exhibit the Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE)

โ€œThe Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their competence, while those with high ability underestimate their competence.

250 Countdown

Those 56 intrepid men who signed put their very lives, honor and fortunes on the line. There was no auto-quill to accommodate their signatures.ย 

How the Senate Parliamentarian Changed the OBBB

An unelected bureaucrat does a important job in the U.S. Senate. Elizabeth MacDonough enforces senate rules on Trumpโ€™s โ€œOne Big Beautiful Billโ€.

Trump Administration Ends Deportation Protections for 76,000 From Honduras, Nicaragua

Mondayโ€™s decision is the latest in several temporary protected...

Death Toll From Texas Floods Rises to 82, Including 28 Children; Trump Plans Visit

Days after catastrophic flash floods in central Texas, rescuers are still searching for potential survivors, including 27 girls who went missing from camp.

Trump Signs Major Disaster Declaration Over Texas Flooding

President Trump signed major disaster declaration for Kerr County, TX, following floods leaving dozens dead and FEMA has been activated to respond.

Storm Chantal Makes Landfall in Carolinas, Weakens to Tropical Depression

Chantal weakened into a tropical depression, and tropical storm warnings previously issued for parts of North and South Carolina were discontinued.

National Weather Service Fully Staffed During Deadly Texas Flooding: White House

White House press sec. Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the National Weather Service had a full staff on hand to handle the Central Texas flooding.

US Removes Terrorist Designation for Al Qaeda Affiliate in Syria

The State Department has removed from its list of foreign terrorist organizations Al Qaedaโ€™s affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra.

Trump Announces 25 Percent Tariff on Japan, South Korea

President Donald Trump on July 7 issued letters announcing 25 percent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, set to take effect on Aug. 1, 2025.

White House Asks Americans to Pray After Deadly Texas Flooding

White Houseโ€™s Faith Office said in a statement that it is asking people โ€œto join us in prayer for the precious lives lost in the Texas floods,โ€
spot_img

Related Articles