And now, this break from politics. You have to shake your head. It doesn’t matter what side you’re on, the non-stop intrusion of politics into our lives is crazy. I’m saying this as a person who considers himself a news junkie and highly interested in politics. We know that politics is a part of our lives, but it seems it is becoming the most important part of our lives. Rather than getting a short recap in the evening from Uncle Walter Cronkite, we’re flooded with twenty-four hour, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year political news. Some times you just have to sign off.
I’d distract you with Christmas, but even that has become controversial. I like this quote from humorist writer Dave Barry:
“In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it ‘Christmas’ and went to church; the Jews called it ‘Hanukkah’ and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say, ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah!’ or (to the atheists) ‘Look out for the wall!'”
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/211075-in-the-old-days-it-was-not-called-the-holiday
It was a simpler time, I guess — The Old Days. Life’s gotten a lot more complicated, few could argue that. We have more tools to make our lives less complicated — cellphones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, smart homes. We have more ways to seek information to help us make decisions at a moments notice — cable news, the internet, traditional newspapers, streaming news services. We have more ways to entertain ourselves and add levity to our lives — video games, movies, streaming shows, digital music, amusement parks, mega parks, sports, gambling, and the list goes on. We have more vacation days, personal days, and PTO to relax and enjoy. Yet, life seems so much more complicated than it did just a few short years ago.
Why? Us. We complicate it. We have become so focused that the small details of life, of the world, and of our differences divide us, confuse us, and complicate our lives. People have always had disagreements. It is a part of our nature. We are individuals with our own personalities, opinions, passions, goals, outlooks, values, morals, and understandings. No two people are exactly alike — not even identical twins. Our minds, our experiences, and our decisions make us different.
There was a time when we could actually accept that. We might have argued. We might have retreated to our own corners. We might have held tight to our beliefs, thoughts, and institutions, but we could accept that someone might be different from us, and we could give them the room to be so. Remember? Diversity is good. Additionally, we may have known that if we got down into the details we could find lots of things (even more things than we could see on the surface) which made us different, but we tended to gloss over the details and see our differences a larger categories.
Large categories were hard enough — those categories gave us reason to argue over politics, religion, gender, and race. Now, we get down in the weeds.
Today, we stumble over every single detail. We see people on both sides of politics or issues triggered into emotional explosions. it’s not enough to disagree. We have to destroy and eliminate. Every aspect of our lives becomes essential to tearing down those who oppose us.
On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV requested a pause in the war to celebrate Christmas. The warring countries would not agree to any cease-fire. However, on Christmas day, soldiers fighting from the trenches took it upon themselves to lay down their weapons during the World War I Christmas Truce. It began simply enough with carols being sung from their secure areas in the darkness of Christmas Eve. When daylight broke, they cautiously ventured from their holes and stepped across the lines of battle to shake hands and exchange gifts with their enemies.
They were soldiers. They had little to give. They shared food, candy, or cigarettes. They took the time of peace to gather their dead. They sang carols together. They pretended that they had no differences for just a little while. They discovered that they still had their humanity. Sadly, it has never been repeated. There have been efforts to stop battle during other wars, but they seem to always fail.
Clearly, if soldiers fighting battles with true enemies — not merely imagined enemies; not opponents of faith or politics; not individuals with petty grievances, but true enemies of country, enemies of battle who are there to take the lives of the opposing side — can entertain a temporary truce, we can. If these individuals could find it within themselves to pause for just a brief period of time, certainly we ideological warriors could do the same. Surely, for just a little while we can find the spirit of Christmas, or Hanukkah, or the spirit of Humanity.
Perhaps for a month, a week, or even just a day we can pause in our vitriol against one another and just enjoy the moment. I hope we can turn off all which fuels our frustration, anger, hatred, disgust, bitterness, and loathing of those who see the world differently than we do for just a little while, even if it is simply to rest up for another battle. For just a moment, may we have a Silent Night and allow ourselves to God Rest You Merry Gentlemen because I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day and wait for Santa Baby —- unless Baby, It’s Cold Outside because that will start another argument.
So, I say to you, Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!
Watch out for that wall!
