A Time to Remember Who We Are

Too much trivial information is a useless thing.  I honestly don't care if Helena Bonham-Carter and Tim Burton are separating.  I don't care whether or not Popeye's new cartoon will smoke a pipe or not.  These type of things are unimportant.  Too many of these unimportant things have been used to divide us.  I see far too many people who vote "no" on tax issues, or don't vote at all,  and then complain because the county doesn't have funds to run snow plows  or because schools are forced to put thirty in a class of elementary students in order to  just heat the building.  It is a sad commentary when I see towns, which once would have free hot cider downtown along with carolers, have  to slash budgets because they can no longer pay for the security this event incurs.  Once, Colorado Springs had such an event that drew people to the downtown merchants, but those days are as gone as are the colored lights that were once used to color the steam caused fog at the power plant.

Sometimes, it seems we become too involved in the preparation and forget the reason.  No, there is no war on Christmas. I suppose you could count the fact that retailers have Christmas decorations out before Halloween ends just as they already have Valentines out before Christmas ends.  You see, things change and for many folks change is hard.  I am not one to live in the past, despite the previous paragraph.  It is not the loss of those events, but that we sometimes need a little reminder.  You see, too often do I hear folks complaining about this or that which doesn't matter.  We have to remember to take care of each other and to do it as best as we can without bringing our own petty judgments.  We must remember that we are a community, the human community.  We are not the tools of politicians, the wealthy oligarchs, or an agenda-driven newsgroup.


So as this time of year, be it that you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, Kwanzaa, or Festivus or nothing at all, we need to recall that this is our chance to spread a little cheer, give a little joy, and reserve judgement.  So if Santa comes to your house or you are lighting a Menorah or a Yule log, it's time to remember who we are supposed to be, not what others would make of us.

From me to you and yours, Merry Christmas and happy holidays.  I hope your  gift is joy.