Aw, the holidays of December. We frantically prepare to buy presents for people, hassled and harried, as we attempt to purchase something that fits, something they like or something just to say I sent you a gift in the first place.
We find faith in the billboards wishing a merry this or a happy that. We tune in or tune out the carols sung 24/7, and are reminded this time of year we all should stop and look around and find peace on Earth and maybe good will to men---at least until December 25th.
Retailers spend amazing amounts of money on their Holiday decorations. Some elaborate and exciting, some basic and boring but all to promote some kind of festive atmosphere to remind us that IT IS THAT TIME OF YEAR!
We have our favorite entertainers croon some tunes on television, spreading cheer and mirth while collecting lots of dollars from advertisers for spending a fraction of a milliliter of their time making happy the millions of viewers.
Churches spread the good word with creative messages on their sign boards, and remind their parishioners to at least for a few moments remember what great miracle happened; with Temples and Synagogues telling their Congregates the same thing reminding them that flame was bright because the cause was worthy.
We have volunteer opportunities to help feed the poor, purchase toys for tots, drop off slightly used gifts, or drop some dollars in a kettle for those less fortunate.
Jingle bells, holy nights, deydels, candles, are all sparkling and spinning. And from the day after Halloween to the night before Christmas, we are bombarded with bargains, begging, giving, getting, caring and concern. We spoil or kids, we satisfy our greed, we grab with gluttonous gloves, and we shop until we drop.
Then it becomes December 26, and suddenly all the glitter melts, the music silences, the mood mellows, and the reality of real life reels us in.
The poor still need food, the kids need clothes, the charities still must help those less fortunate, the unemployed need jobs, the under insured and not insured still get sick and sicker, the hopeless still desire hope, giving still needs to be given.
It is as if in this country we buy one great sheet of wrapping paper and cover ourselves in it during the post Halloween to Christmas Day season. We white wash the streets, we decorate the ills, we ignore the evils, we feel possessed to pretend for two months everything and all is alright.
We un-wrap the gift and leave the mess behind. We move forward never looking back, thinking someone else will clean up after us. We did our thing, and those we fended for now must once again fend for themselves. We wished them well, sent them cards, made them meals, but this is now January ahead and the grey of winter will have to be tolerated as best it can.
If only the energy, enthusiasm, excitement of the December holidays could be bottled for the rest of the year. If only the passion, the promise so inspired during the season of giving, could be continuously planted day in and day out if only the full heart would turn into an achy heart ; how different would living a life seem?
This is the time in our life when forced or fancied we think beyond ourselves, why just now?
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