Newtown

     Christmas is only a week away. I, as yet, have not really found the Christmas spirit. I don't do holidays well. I am the quintessential last minuter. Perhaps it is a holdover from my years spent in retail work. In general I trust that the spirit of the season will find me as the critical date comes nearer and it invariably does. This general feeling of ennui usually dissipates three or four days before Christmas Day. However the week before Christmas requires an effort from me to really overcome a derisive view of the overall senselessness of it all. Even the sentiment of peace on earth goodwill to all is functionally short lived. It seems that as soon as the season is over the self serving avarice of so called normal life returns. I have to wonder that our efforts at increased charity that is provided in the name of the season is misplaced. For the less fortunate in our immediate and global society, it seems to me that a taste of honey may well be worse than none at all. To my mind, the spirit of peace on earth, goodwill to all should not be confined to a few brief weeks in December. My seasonal battle with my inner Grinch has begun.

   Into the midst of my diminutive little battle to come to terms with the heightened  expectations and general hustle and bustle of the season  comes the news of a school shooting in a small town in Connecticut. How does one reconcile the celebration of the birth of the Prince Of Peace with such macabre violence inflicted upon the most innocent of our society?  I mean for all the hoopla, the decorations, the gifts, the abundance of rich foods, the hymns and carols, the folklore and  traditions who the hell are we kidding here? It is so easy to lose faith in the whole concept of peace and goodwill. Where the hell is the " great joy which shall be to all people"?
It sure as hell isn't in Newtown, Connecticut.

     So what is left? Not much. All we can do is  try to comfort the living and say our prayers for the departed. In the final analysis, what Christmas is about is hope. Faith and hope exist in mutual co dependence.  As hope grows, so does faith. When faith is shattered we can reestablish it  by nurturing that tiniest of a little spark within us which is hope. Ultimately, Christmas is a celebration of hope for a better existence for all of us on this planet.

     Maybe that's the reason that we always need to celebrate this season. To reaffirm our commitment to hope. In the face of all the conflict, suffering and unspeakable human tragedy,  maybe it's the height of naivety to  believe that humanity can exist with an all embracing spirit of peace on earth, goodwill to all.   Maybe.... But there's always hope.

   

      I'll close now. I have a tiny spark that needs tending.


   
                                                ...more later