tis some season

‘Tis the season we are told, for “peace on earth goodwill toward men,” and now in the 21^st century even women, (except in many of the Muslim countries where women are a form of chattel and for some religions who espouse the virtue of male, over the subservience of females.)

‘Tis the season we many times wish people Health and Happiness, Harmony and Hope. We write these heartfelt homilies on greeting cards, sing them in Holiday songs, speak them in passing to family and friends and now and then to a fleeting stranger.

Words are beautifully spoken, sung and written. The passion behind each sentence, each paragraph can be like prose and poetry. But I wonder more often than not in these days of greed and gluttony do those words have much weight or are they like helium and once said, just float into the stratosphere?

Health! There seems to be a cost to Health. It does not come free according to the Health Insurance Cartel and from the Pharma-Conglomorates. There are fees to be paid if you want to remain or become healthy, health does not grow on trees. Bottom lines are what maintains Health in this country, if you got the dollars you can be as healthy as you wish, without the bucks, you got to beg for that privilege.

Happiness! Abundant if you read about the sales each retail store is providing for consumers shopping pleasure. Not so abundant if you are unemployed, underemployed or poor. This is America spending your well earned dough can bake you a super sized list of happiness from house wares to clothes from autos to appliances. Ain’t got the cash, find happiness from a few charities, as long as they still have “no pre-owned” gifts to share, or room at the table for a meal.

Harmony! It’s like making beautiful music. We working together to find the right pitch, the perfect melody, the blending of chords encompassing the talents and skill of all involved. But in America of 2009, it seems to first even consider harmony; you have to take a litmus test. The Unofficial Official test demands you celebrate God the way we do. You concentrate on the appropriate biases based on lack of knowledge, education and openness. You hate differences. You renounce change.

Hope! ‘Tis the season for this for Hope! Like an invisible shield, not as strong as Teflon, not as durable titanium, and not as rigid as steel, it is however sizable. It starts out in infancy, survives during the rough and tough pimply adolescent years, and forges forward as we reach adulthood. For some it manifests itself in small miracle, getting you from one lousy day to a less lousy day. For some it becomes a road map to the hidden horizon. And for some it creates celebration that some how, in spite of not having the money for health, the funds for happiness, and the lack of harmony, there can and will be a brighter future.

Seems almost nothing in this American life comes for free. Seems what we speak about in humanistic terms, in what should be religious philosophy or in terms of a higher power, should be words that are easily made into reality.

But sadly there is a price tag. Pay for your Health, dole out dollars for your Happiness, or be a lemming with no questions asked and you find Harmony. Living just to survive so you can pay the next bill be it in hard currency or circumstance, it is hard.

We are lucky that all is not lost though often it seems abandoned, but Hope is still free.

I Hope that no matter how fat the “fat cats” get, no matter how much more selfish our Politicians become, no matter how puritanical our religious leaders grow, you and I can find the strength to fight forward and maintain the Hope to carry on and on and on.