Thursday, December 25, 2008

I'm Dreaming of a white Christmas

It may seam silly to some folks, but this is my first ever white Christmas and I'm a bit giddy over it. The holiday season has never been a big deal for me. I see it as a commercialized controversy generator these days.

Back in Eugene, last holiday season, one of the big issues was over Christmas trees in public buildings. Some of the rabid politically correct bunch thought having the trees was a violation of church and state. I have to say that in a way they were right, but I don't think the local government was trying to force the Druid's beliefs on anyone.

The Christmas tree was originally a part of the druid celebration of winter solstice. The whole Christmas thing was put into place to help blend the pagan solstice celebrations with the new Christian religion. Don't get me wrong, I believe that Christ was born, just not on Dec 25.

I remember the Christmas TV specials of my youth, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and the other stop motion animations about the season. They kept me and other kids involved in the stories of Christmas. These stories were brought to you by .. Narelco or Zenith or Mattel or some other company wanting the parents to spend money. The message to kids, Christmas is about garbled history and your parents need to buy things or Santa won't come down your chimney.

The only Christmas show I still think got it anywhere close to right was the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Sure, it ended with Linus giving the Christian spin on Christmas, forgetting about all the other religions, but the message of helping one another, forgiveness, and hope stood out. Besides, who can resist Snoopy.

Today I look out at a snow coved vista and hope that somewhere, someone is teaching their kids about more then just garbled history and toys. Maybe they are teaching their kids about the hope of a new year approaching and the need to help out other folks. Yes, it is a good time to reflect on the birth of the Christ, but to so many people around the world the season has very different meanings. Teach truth to your children and they will have the greatest gift of all.

But don't forget to play in the snow if you have it.

Snow Covered Geek of Treehaven

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