I have loved Christmas for 80 years. That love has changed of course. As a child the excitement comes from the magical tree and lovely, wrapped packages to open. As an adult I found joy in two things, finding items that might bring a smile, a chuckle or a tear to the recipients eye, and lights filling the dark streets with color. Yes, it is presented as a
celebration of Christ’s birth, but I have known that to be something of a myth since my teen years. It is a historically accepted fact that the Christ child was not born in December. He made his entrance, by all accounts, sometime between March and September. Biblical evidence seems to back that up with references to shepherds watching there flocks, and the time of year a census would have been taken. Actually, as I am sure many of you know, the early Christians stole their celebratory practices from multiple countries, cultures and religions.
One can start with the date that was chosen for the birth story. The Roman Saturnalia was probably celebrated on or around December 25th…coincidence? There were many communities that celebrated mid winter with gatherings and festivals. The winter was dark and dreary, with agriculture on hold for spring. Light and fire was a natural counter point to that, with communal gatherings, feasting and exchanging gifts a way to connect and bring joy to the season. Gift giving apparently was a New Year’s tradition, until the Victorian era when the Queen gave gifts to her family on Christmas Eve, which changed the trajectory of gift exchanges!
As for the war on Christmas, that began centuries ago. The Puritans banned Christmas from New England for a quarter of a century, and under Cromwell all celebrations of saints were banned in Britain, including Christmas. According to this administration we can now say ” Merry Christmas ” again…very strange, since I do not remember a year in which I felt constrained in that respect!
It is true that Christmas has changed, and in ways I am somewhat sad to see. During the last recession Christmas lighting seemed to take a down turn and the lovely, lit homes I so adored began to recede into darkness. Happily this year has seen a slight resurgence in outdoor home displays.
Over the years finding the popular sold out gifts and enticing sales have taken a front seat to finding joy and love. Anxiety and chaos now reign in a season that should be fun and relaxed. We often find gifts all year long which we hold until the big day, which helps take the stress out of last minute shopping. Unfortunately my family mandated a few years back that we would no longer exchange gifts. Since I live so far from my brothers, and delighted so in finding objects which I thought they might enjoy, that was and remains a disappointment.
I use the word season deliberately, because in my mind, call it what you will…Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, Solstice, Hanukkah, Midwinter Festival or another name you may choose, to me it is always a time for lights and caring for each other,
including the vulnerable among us. To the Christians it should mean helping the less fortunate since Christ considered that his mission, and surprisingly many other religions also see that as an attribute. For myself, I was raised on Christmas, and myth or not it will always be framed by lights and love, hopefully bringing awe to children’s eyes and joy to the hearts of all.
Happy New Year to everyone, may it bring you happiness and lead into another wonderful midwinter celebration of Christmas!
I have been targeted by bullies most of my life. That may come as a surprise to those who have confided that they found me intimidating prior to getting to know me. I credit these opposing ideas to the fact that I am typically the quiet person in a room. For some, being quiet is a sign of weakness; for others, a sign of strength and confidence. In school, the quiet loner is typically the target of bullies – and, from my experience, the same holds in the world of adults. My lifetime of dealing with bullies has proven one thing – the idea that they are strong is a complete fallacy.
and how thousands of innocent people suffered torture and brutal death it was hard to imagine how an entire nation could allow that. The unimaginable is becoming more imaginable, and one can see the depth of the rot within. Over and over I have read or heard that our country could not, would not, be overturned by outside attack. We could only lose our freedom from forces within. Those inner forces are what turned Germany into the dark nation the world had to overcome, those same inner forces are evident today, dimming the light of our once bright land. I can only pray that Lady Liberty’s torch will one day be the brilliant symbol of hope that it once was.
is fine, if a bit girly and immature. Hopefully the squad will listen and learn?…not happening. Centrism is anathema to the squad, and best to bulldoze it to the ground immediately and force the house to bend to their agenda.
important (but not dictatorial) roles. Power does corrupt, please don’t allow the heady elixir of being elevated to a seat in Congress cause the four of you to feel the House needs to follow blindly where you lead. You are not Trump, and Democrats do not subscribe to cults and dictators. Visualize your perfect solutions, by all means, but for all our sakes listen to experience, and learn how to move the lines in your direction without hurting your fellow members abilities to maintain the majority, and without causing total destruction of our society….that is apparently Mr. Donald Trump’s job!
with a sexist, corrupt, clumsy bully who wishes to be our dictator in chief, instead of the highly qualified, empathetic and knowledgeable woman who ran against him. Fast forward to today.
feelings on abortion he suddenly switched those views the following day because of backlash. He is “evolving” and plans to change with the changing times and norms. As an octogenarian I say if he has not evolved by now he is not ready to be in a position to govern this wide and diverse country. We don’t need someone planning to change the habits of 70 odd years as he moves into the presidency, we need someone already attuned to the times. We don’t even need someone taking us back the way were, we need someone who will pull us out of the quagmire and move the country forward.
fighting against the extension of Bush era tax breaks he stated “how many homes can you own?” Apparently at least three. His actual wealth was not generally known until his last run for the presidency, when he tried to explain away that it was his wife’s money (he is officially a millionaire, based upon book sales). His knowledge of foreign policy has always been suspect. Yes, he has studied our foreign relationships recently in order to be prepared for this run, but it argues that his in depth knowledge is lacking to a large extent. Aside from the nuts and bolts, he is old. He is three years my junior, and would hit 80 before being sworn in.
more tired than at a younger age, take naps, walk more slowly on bad days, and find I have to work harder at some tasks than previously. Granted my mind is still working decently, as are the minds of these old men. However, the responsibility of helping our vast nation through ongoing crisis and trying to get legislation passed through diverse groups with opposite agendas has proved draining to even our younger presidents.
As we approach the centennial of U.S. women getting the right to vote, the two leaders are white haired old men, and the media is filled with discussion of how the country is still not ready for a female president. This nonsense only compounds my frustration with the lingering white male hierarchy. I have long been tolerant of the minor sexist transgressions of men. For many it has been a transition from how they were raised. However, as the decades pass, with little change – and I get older – I find my patience wearing thin for the same old nonsense.
To the man who told me that I needed to act a bit more dumb and needy to get a man – why would I want a man who needed that? I know that you meant well, as a friend; but did you really think about what you were telling me to do? Why can men be who they are, and expect women to be attracted to them? Yet we are expected to use makeup, change our behavior, even get surgery, if necessary – all to disguise who we really are, just to please you?
What I realized, as the weeds were falling in front of me on this spring afternoon, was that I have been under a dark cloud since that day in the parking lot. The intervening years held more significant losses, more significant injuries (including a fractured vertebrae that still reminds me of its presence), and more crap job situations. I’d lost my best job, stagnated in the next job, worked myself sick over a major project, then was subjected to bullying and humiliation for nearly two years.
brought into my life a joyful fuzzy fellow who I credit with keeping me ‘off the ledge’ in recent years. He never fails to bring a smile to my face. But until the last few months, that smile was always under a shroud and short lived.
If you have ever come out of a long period of depression, perhaps you will recognize what I am about to describe. The cloud began to break apart before I was ever aware of it. Good moments were countered with bad ones, but at a pace that decreased without my really registering any difference. After all, the last decade plus had it’s brief bright moments, too. But one morning I woke up, and everything was different. I cannot tell you why or how – but everything that morning just felt brighter and lighter.
sunshine. They are not bubbly people – that can sometimes add to the burden of the cloud, rather than removing it. However, they are collaborative, supportive, and share common goals. They gave me the light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. I had to find my own way out, but after too long navigating the curves in that dark space, I finally saw the direction out.
time within it. The person I was, for over a decade, seems like someone quite aside from the person I was before, and am once again. In over a half-century of life, I have certainly been through bad times, and had periods of depression. But no other period lasted so long, nor made such a fundamental change in the person I am every day. I can only hope that I have learned the lessons I am trying to share – that there will always be a light at the end of that tunnel, but when you are seeking it, you must first make a fundamental change in your life. Oh, and that change I made – it recently became permanent. Here’s hoping the effect of it is, too!