Several years ago I remember hearing a public school principal in the Oshawa area saying that her favourite time of the year was from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

When asked why, she replied, "It starts with Thanksgiving and then there is Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah and finally Christmas. It seems as if we are always celebrating s feast or festival. I have to watch what I eat, or I will get fat!"

Our community is changing, and for the better. No longer are we isolated in our celebration of Christmas alone.

There are many seasonal festivals celebrated in our community. I recall seeing sweets in the chaplain's office at the hospital at the time of the Muslim festival of Eid. I wish a friend "Happy Diwali" and our conversation centred around his reconnecting with family members.

And although a more solemn occasion, I noticed many cars parked around beth Ezekiel synagogue here in Owen Sound at the time of the Jewish high holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The most recent experience I had was with our Brownie Pack in my church.

The leader, recognizing the changing nature of our community, connected with various faith communities and invited them to share with the girls and their parents the various aspects of seasonal traditions.

What a great evening! We had a member of the Muslim community talking about Eid al Fatir.

Someone from the Jewish community talked about Hanukkah and had dreidels to play with and several menorahs.

There were two parents talking about Dutch and Ukrainian Christmas traditions. There was a parent talking about their tradition of helping others as a family and supporting the building of a school in another part of the world, completely unrelated to any specific religious tradition.

What was most remarkable to me, however, was the attitude of the girls. I set the mood for the evening by asking them about their traditions in this time of year.

Most of the girls could talk about their own family experiences, but they could also identify with friends from many of the groups present or other cultural and religious groups.

What this really said to me is that our community may follow the dominant Christian Christmas culture, but there are many, many different variations on that theme. Not only that, we have more and more differing cultural and faith traditions in our community, all of which have important messages in this season.

At the centre of all this is remembering that no one is threatening the dominant culture of Christmas, but we are enriched as a community by respecting and recognizing the many seasonal traditions and practices we all have.

Some feel that the Christmas celebration is threatened by other cultures and traditions.

To that I say Balderdash.

No one is threatened by offering respect and openness to others. And no one is hurt by accepting or offering hospitality or seasonal greetings to others.

Our neighbour may or may not be the same as we are. But nothing prevents us from celebrating the spirit of the season by wishing each other peace and blessings or Merry Christmas or whatever else we feel is appropriate. Nor does it prevent Christians from celebrating the one who came to be with all of us, Jesus the Christ.

Merry Christmas, friends.

Rev. David Shearman is the minister of Central Westside United Church, Owen Sound and host of Faithworks on Rogers TV Grey County