A Christmas Parable
On the day before Christmas and throughout the land, the spirit of the season was not present. Oh, sure there were some places where the spirit prevailed, but in many cases, when shoppers rushed in, we lost the true meaning of Christmas and goodwill towards everyone. The cold of the season has cut short what should be the best time of the year, and yet for many it is just another day of trying to get by. Winter winds are already hollowing that cut to the bone. Hopelessness and misery bring tears of sadness and affliction. The downtrodden masses whose burdens weigh heavily have replaced what should be the only time of year when compassion, benevolence and humanity should shine.
As clouds of uncertainty hang over our heads, a nation is fracturing under anguish. The anxiety of millions continues to rise. This season’s political discord has brought untold hostility instead of unity. With impeachment hearings already bogged down and a presidential campaign in which some candidates are still circling, they’ve helped make this time of year one for the record books. All for the wrong reasons, as this nation will remember at some point. History will not be kind when we look back at this time this year. Instead of unity, divisions increase. Instead of cohesion we are detached. The vine of opportunity has long since withered and died. Today, the turmoil and mistrust between nations have already begun. It is this world we live in that has become so precarious. The climate change deniers who control much of the world have brought this planet too close to disaster. With the Republican mindset at stake in much of the nation, any progress toward that unity of purpose we so desperately need has been thwarted.
One can’t help but wonder what went wrong. It wasn’t long ago that we happily said Merry Christmas to everyone and now we dare to say Happy Holidays instead. Since then we have lost the meaning of the spirit of the season. And in doing so, we see what has happened. It’s very sad because now all we see is a mad rush for everything we see. The herds of people stomping around every mall have made it abundantly clear that we’ve become obsessed with things that don’t really make sense. So now that we don’t have the essence of this season, it’s no wonder that as a nation, our ability to put into practice the true meaning of the season has been lost.
As a new year begins where resolutions are made only to be broken, we must not lose sight of what should really matter. This nation cannot survive as things are. The status quo has not worked and will not work tomorrow. We have to look back to a simpler time when we all said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year because it was those times that made things matter. How things have changed. The changes brought about by false policies and a sociological change. Together they have undermined our ability to understand what really should matter.
The spirit of the Christmas season should be with us throughout the year. Going back to saying and wanting to say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays, although there are so many religions we have to remember that we are all together in the fellowship of man. It is this spirit of Christmas that understands that compassion, tolerance, benevolence and humanity are part of what this season is all about.