Honoring America's Holidays
Why and How Americans Can Celebrate the Holidays
When Americans celebrate holidays, those holiday celebrations usually include getting off work, throwing parties, enjoying family get-togethers, and hitting the stores for shopping sprees. There is nothing wrong with these celebrations, of course, but should Americans do a little more than that for the holidays? If so, what specifically?
The United States government recognizes ten federal holidays each year. They are: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, George Washington's Birthday (not "Presidents Day"), Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Absent from the above list are the unofficial, yet still celebrated holidays, including Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, and so forth.
This article will look at the official, federally-recognized holidays, and suggest ways Americans can more properly honor the reasons these days were been set aside in the first place.
New Year's Day
New Year's Day should be more than an excuse to throw a party, get drunk, or kiss your significant other. Nothing wrong with at least two of those three traditions. (The number of drunk driving fatalities would suggest we should rethink the "getting drunk" tradition). Still, there seems to something missing with this holiday.
New Year's Day is an opportunity to stop and reflect on your life - to ask yourself whether you're headed in the right direction, what changes you should consider, and what goals you can set for the new year.
Martin Luther King Day
Since Martin Luther King Day is relatively new (it became law during Ronald Reagan's presidency), it is celebrated for its original intent more so than most of other holidays. Yet this day is also showing signs of slipping into 3-day weekend irrelevance.
Martin Luther King Day provides an excellent opportunity for families to discuss race relations, to talk about the lessons learned in our nation's past with respect to slavery and discrimination, and to ask what they can do to help bring greater healing and reconciliation in their community.
Presidents Day - NOT!
There is no official holiday known as "Presidents Day," and yet this name persists, because of its cultural popularity and ease on the tongue. Yet "Presidents Day" was never approved by Congress. It is not part of our laws. There simply is no such day.
The person who is supposed to be honored with a holiday in February is our first President (and our first general) George Washington, the father of our country. No other American deserves a holiday as much as George Washington.
Memorial Day
Shockingly, there are Americans who don't even know what Memorial Day is about. Don't let that happen in your family. Rather than simply ushering in the summer season with picnics or pool parties, take some time to head to a veterans' cemetery.
Take this day to honor those men and women, who gave their lives that we might live in a free country.
Independence Day
The Fourth of July isn't about fireworks. It's about the independence of the United States of America. On Independence Day, Americans should take time to truly remember the origins of their country, to honor the legacy and memory of the Founding Fathers and the brave soldiers of the Continental Army, and to renew their own patriotism.
Labor Day
This holiday has become the unofficial end of summer and start of the school year. It's much more than that. Labor Day was intended to make Americans remember the sacrifices of working men and women over the years and their contribution to American history.
It is also meant to remind us not to use our wealth and our free market economy to abuse and mistreat those who work so hard every day to give us the quality of life we enjoy.
Columbus Day
Probably the most controversial day on the list, Columbus Day honors the Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. While Columbus deserves credit for his courage, persistence, and great vision, the explorer was likewise a greedy opportunist and brutal slavemaster.
Columbus Day provides an opportunity to examine both sides of the coin. With great accomplishment often comes great failings. Columbus Day challenges us to put the microscope not only to our history, but to ourselves.
Veterans Day
American veterans rescued Veterans Day from 3-day weekend oblivion by extracting it from the Monday Holidays Act (which truly hollowed out many of our holidays). They were right to do so. Veterans Day is about our veterans - the men and women who have served our nation over the years, and continue to do so today.
Thanksgiving Day
Americans see this as the start of the Christmas shopping season and an opportunity to stuff themselves with turkey and....well...stuffing. Thanksgiving is more than that. Its tradition goes back to the Pilgrims taking time to thank God and the Indians for sparing them through great hardship at Plymouth Rock.
Take Thanksgiving Day to express your gratitude to God and your family and friends for all the many things in your life for which you have to be thankful.
Christmas Day
With proper respect and sensitivity to those of other faiths, December 25 isn't just a generic "holiday." It is a day set aside to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Even if non-Christians can't embrace Jesus as divine, most people would have to acknowledge that the first century teacher known as Jesus of Nazareth is the most influential figure of all time. His birth is worth celebrating, especially so if you believe in his divinity.
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