IS IT SAFE TO LOOK AT THE MOON?

Christmas and The Celebration

Christmas is upon us again - when the busyness of the season is everywhere. TVs remind us daily of buying and more buying. Wherever we go, we see signs of decorations, lights, Santa Claus figurines, even men dressed in Santa clothes (begging for donations!), and children's faces glowing with smiles.

I think Christmas is the saddest month of the year. The winter cold comes and we find ourselves freezing with the cold winds and snow. Our roads become danger places where snow becomes ice and ice becomes the culprit that creates crashes, resulting in either injuries or death.

The winter cold reminds us of the homeless, the children of the homeless, the men and women who are out in the cold, freezing perhaps, hungry maybe, alone and cold, without shelter, and even they have shelter, they have to vacate as soon as morning comes. Then, back into the cold winter for the homeless. Do we care even?

December comes with all the jingle of happiness, but alas it is also the beginning of busyness: spending, buying, shopping, sales, crowds. Suddenly, we are aware of children in hospitals, of women alone as they continue to bear the load of feeding their children, of men who abandon their families, of homelessness.

December brings all these sadness around us. We pretend we are happy but within ourselves we know we have not done anything to alleviate the suffering of others who are not able to buy, buy, spend, spend - and yes, suddenly we are aware of them - and it is Christmas!!!

Am I a killjoy? No, I just think December and Christmas are unfortunate enough to be together. I would prefer Christmas to be a daily celebration, a day to remember families who are lost, a day to care for the ill and the sick, a day to love the lonely and the alones, a day to give to and care for the homeless, a day to reconnect with the lost, a day to forgive ourselves and others, who we think have wronged us, a day to be ourselves again.

That to me is Christmas!!!