As you may know, the Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in Christmas. A JW co-worker and I once had a very pleasant discussion about how Christ was almost certainly not born in December. I believe he claimed the evidence indicates Christ was born in October, while I said it may have been in April.
So, this morning I got a visit from our local Jehovah’s Witnesses (I live right next door to a Kingdom Hall). It was 15 degrees out, so they were not doing the usual tracting. One guy came to the door and rang the doorbell and handed me a pamphlet. I did not catch all of his pitch, but he said something to the effect of “did you know that the world is ending, and we have a message for you?”
The “we” was him and three other people in a Ford Taurus idling in my driveway (remember, 15 degrees out). Anyway, I have spent many hours talking to Witnesses, so it is unlikely there is anything new I could learn from him. So I uttered the words that are certain to send any Witness scurrying away, which is, “I am Mormon.”
But as he ran away (and I mean RAN), I said, “good luck, and Merry Christmas!” It was not until he was already in the car peeling out in my driveway when it occurred to me it wasn’t nice of me to wish him a “Merry Christmas.” It was not intentional – I have been wishing everybody Merry Christmas for the last week, so it just kind of popped out.
But the truth also is that I do wish him luck. I don’t agree with many things the Witnesses teach, but I think there is much good in the religion. I have known several Witnesses very well, and they are good, honest people who teach peace, integrity and chastity until marriage. They are family-oriented and do an excellent job of keeping their Kingdom Hall next door nice and clean (families show up once a week to clean up inside and out — just like we do at our chapels).
So, on this Christmas Eve I am filled with good will for everybody, including the Jehovah’s Witnesses coming to my door. Bless us all, every one!