 |
| Scrooge's third visitor, from Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. With Illustrations by John Leech. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843. First edition. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
You don’t have to be Christian, or even believe in
Santa Claus, to believe in the specialness of the Christmas season. As someone who believes in peace and goodwill
as a way to mitigate a lot of the violence and chaos that infects our world, I
think any holiday that emphasizes peace, love, and understanding, is okay in my
book. Of course, it’s also a time when
families, so often pulled apart by the incessant demands of our consumer
society, have an excuse to get together and renew their bonds.
I talked, for instance, to my older brother
yesterday. We hadn’t spoken for more
than three years, not because of any estrangement, but my travels and the
demands of his business just kept us apart.
As I write, I’m waiting for my youngest daughter and her husband to
arrive with my first grandchild, Samantha, in tow. Sammie’s 15 months old now, and this will be
the first Christmas we’ve been together that she’s old enough to remember, so
that makes it sort of special regardless of my beliefs.
Anyway, I’d like to wish all my readers a happy and
safe holiday. May you renew the bonds of
love with your family and have all the happiness you deserve; and, may the
upcoming year see a greater effort to make a dent in the world’s problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment