“What’s your favorite holiday?”

“Well, it’s a toss-up between Arbor Day and Columbus Day, but I’m going with the Smallpox Smuggler!”

–No one ever

Today is Columbus Day, a Day of Resentment among many working parents for having to creatively navigate an unwelcome Day off From School for their children.  And as more people have become aware of Columbus’ questionable geographical skills and even more questionable moral compass, there have been efforts to re-name this dubious holiday.  Indeed, there are quite a few people who will cancel you or at least unfriend you on Facebook if you don’t refer to the “holiday” as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”

But ultimately, whatever you end up calling today’s day off from school (other than an inconvenience), it doesn’t change the historical events that led to your current quest for childcare.

And in the spirit of “Re-naming and Re-framing,” this made me think of “B.C.” and the newer “B.C.E.”

“B.C.” means “Before Christ,” but since not everyone acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, “B.C.E.” is now regularly employed, which means, “Before the Common Era.” Ah, much less offensive!

But how do we define the “Common Era?” Oh yeah, the birth of one particularly unique Jewish baby named Jesus. 

It doesn’t really matter what you call the second Monday in October. But for all people, indigenous or otherwise, you can’t ignore Jesus Christ😊