Happy Holidays

We're only two days away from Christmas and nine days from 2019. This blog may be a bit premature, but who knows what might be happening in the next nine days.

2018 has been for me a most unusual year and for so many unusual reasons. I don’t think any year has ever frightened me more than this past year did. I thought at my age, nothing much could ever again frighten me, but 2018 did. California looked like the entire state might be consumed by flames; in the East villages and entire towns were washed away in torrential rainfall and high winds and tornadoes; mindless shootings became the daily norm; North Korea’s egomaniacal leader had his finger on that awful button; Putin, with his characteristically antagonistic strut, decided to renew the cold war with all the dangers it held in the past; the ice packs north and south are melting at alarming rates; sea levels are rising; the amount of plastic we dispose of in the seas grows to unimaginable amounts; and racism, sexism, white supremacy, neo-Nazism have reared their ugly heads again. And now, after driving another adviser out of his cabinet with his unadvised return of troops from our fight against ISIS, Trump is no longer a jester, someone to laugh at for his exaggerated Tweets and misspellings; now he's become someone to fear. Yes, there was plenty in 2018 to scare the bejeezus out of me.

All right, let’s flip the coin. What good came out of 2018? For better or worse, Artificial Intelligence is here and will become more and more important in 2019 and all years thereafter; all forms of cancer are about to be defeated; the #MeToo Movement got us on the start toward a more equitable relationship between the many, diverse sexes; the Lady’s Star was born and we’re all the better for it; and Tiger began his comeback. Thank you, 2018.

I hope all my readers have a happy, fearless holiday.
Please forgive me if I’ve offended anyone with my secular attitude toward this season. Even the word holidays (or holy days) is offensive to some because it seems to ignore the birth of Christ. According to the dictionary, though, the word can mean either a religious festival or a day or days of recreation.

 I consider these late December days as more a celebration of the winter solstice than of the birth of Christ. Not that I don’t believe Christ’s birth isn’t a valid reason to celebrate, but I view Christ as a messiah more than the son of God, a messenger who brought forth in us the values inherent in Christianity. I know that many of you would say, “But how can you consider yourself a Christian if you don’t believe Christ was the son of God?” I believe in the human values he exemplifies but not his holiness or sanctity. I can’t buy into all the smoke and mirrors in the Catholic faith nor even the softer but no less sanctimonious Protestant beliefs. Am I then a pagan? 

The word pagan, just like heathen, has become a pejorative for someone in the distant past who may have been polytheistic or, according to Christians, a non-believer, but who was actually someone who feared the shortening of the day, the dropping of the temperatures, and the closing in of the darkness. When that time came that all was reversed, the winter solstice around December 21, they celebrated. Who wouldn’t? Here comes light and warmth and out goes dark and cold. The barren fields would spring to life again and all that was good was renewed. 

Most scholars agree that the date of Christ’s birth was probably a tagalong for that pagan celebration. Scholars debate and debate, carefully examining scripture and calendars and come up with a wide variety of possible birth dates. The Mormans believe it was April 6, and most others believe it was sometime in the fall, others in early December, still others on almost any date on the calendar. There is no consensus. So, why not combine it with the pagans’ celebration and clink our glasses for either or both causes to celebrate—the birth of Christ and the lengthening of the days? The birth of Christ as well as Santa Claus and Christmas trees and yuletide carols and a dawning New Year are all elements of and justification for our celebration over the holidays.  Even Gary Trudeau had fun with this debate.

Therefore, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and Welcome 2019.