Christmas 2017
A light snow continues to fall or perhaps it is only the snow being lifted from the branches of the enormous pine trees, which abut my property. The amount of snow on the ground and the streets is just enough to create a layer of ice.
For some individuals and families it is a day of new toys, other gifts and the smells emanating from kitchens, which will create mounds of food, associated with family gatherings and celebrations. For others it will be a day of attempting to put aide or drown the emotional pain, which has come to be associated with what was once a happy marriage or parent child relationship.
Already journalists and commentators have begun to review the year economically, politically and sometimes spiritually. Praise or blame will be ascribed to various individuals, institutions, and governments. There will be an attempt to compare the year just ending to other historical periods. For example this morning I heard some comparisons between the Nixon and Trump administrations.
Since 2002 Mariam-Webster has been able to track the most looked up words during a year. For 2017 two of the words are feminism and complicit.
Since humans began to communicate with each other there have been attempts to present a particular perspective as historically accurate. Never before, however, have men and women taken on the job of endlessly analyzing, reviewing, and presenting so called facts. These reviews go on 24/7 sometimes for days, weeks or even months. Every tweet of President Trump is now worthy of such scrutiny. Apparently many of us listen to these reviews. In fact, some stay glued to their phones, computers, televisions, radios or even printed material - newspapers or magazines such as The New Yorker.
Many seem to have an insatiable appetite for news of what Aunt Sally, Uncle Harry, President Trump, members of the royal family and favorite actors are purported to have said or done. Yesterday many frequently turned to Alexa to follow the movement of Santa. I suspect that the movement of Santa got more Alexa attention than did the Christmas message of the Pope or the holiday phone calls to children and troops of President and Mrs. Trump.
We may or may not learn from our review of 2017. We may or may not create a more just, loving and equitable world in 2018. We may or may not reduce the deaths from drug overdoses. We may or may not spend the tax dollars from the sale of alcohol and cigarettes to attempt to reduce the sale of alcohol, cigarettes and other drugs. Nations may or may not attempt to bully other people and nations into behaving the way they think that they should behave. We may or may not have a more respectful relationship with the environment,
We may or may not figure out how to love and care for each other as very imperfect and flawed humans.
We may or may not check in daily with the God of our understanding. We may wait until next December when we prepare to celebrate particular religious holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan.
One thing I can guarantee. In just another two minutes (or so it will seem) we will be ending 2018 and going through similar reviews.
Written December 25, 2017
A light snow continues to fall or perhaps it is only the snow being lifted from the branches of the enormous pine trees, which abut my property. The amount of snow on the ground and the streets is just enough to create a layer of ice.
For some individuals and families it is a day of new toys, other gifts and the smells emanating from kitchens, which will create mounds of food, associated with family gatherings and celebrations. For others it will be a day of attempting to put aide or drown the emotional pain, which has come to be associated with what was once a happy marriage or parent child relationship.
Already journalists and commentators have begun to review the year economically, politically and sometimes spiritually. Praise or blame will be ascribed to various individuals, institutions, and governments. There will be an attempt to compare the year just ending to other historical periods. For example this morning I heard some comparisons between the Nixon and Trump administrations.
Since 2002 Mariam-Webster has been able to track the most looked up words during a year. For 2017 two of the words are feminism and complicit.
Since humans began to communicate with each other there have been attempts to present a particular perspective as historically accurate. Never before, however, have men and women taken on the job of endlessly analyzing, reviewing, and presenting so called facts. These reviews go on 24/7 sometimes for days, weeks or even months. Every tweet of President Trump is now worthy of such scrutiny. Apparently many of us listen to these reviews. In fact, some stay glued to their phones, computers, televisions, radios or even printed material - newspapers or magazines such as The New Yorker.
Many seem to have an insatiable appetite for news of what Aunt Sally, Uncle Harry, President Trump, members of the royal family and favorite actors are purported to have said or done. Yesterday many frequently turned to Alexa to follow the movement of Santa. I suspect that the movement of Santa got more Alexa attention than did the Christmas message of the Pope or the holiday phone calls to children and troops of President and Mrs. Trump.
We may or may not learn from our review of 2017. We may or may not create a more just, loving and equitable world in 2018. We may or may not reduce the deaths from drug overdoses. We may or may not spend the tax dollars from the sale of alcohol and cigarettes to attempt to reduce the sale of alcohol, cigarettes and other drugs. Nations may or may not attempt to bully other people and nations into behaving the way they think that they should behave. We may or may not have a more respectful relationship with the environment,
We may or may not figure out how to love and care for each other as very imperfect and flawed humans.
We may or may not check in daily with the God of our understanding. We may wait until next December when we prepare to celebrate particular religious holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan.
One thing I can guarantee. In just another two minutes (or so it will seem) we will be ending 2018 and going through similar reviews.
Written December 25, 2017
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