Celebrations

While I know that some people remain blissfully unaware that a war exists, I have a need to be within easy access to news at all times. I may keep the radio off for a few hours, but intermittently, I will turn it on just for a few minutes to reassure myself that the world is still there. I guess I am a news junkie.

For this holy time of the year, however, I’ve sworn off the news or at least I’ve tried to, sort of. Such drastic action is not easy, but necessary to get me through the holidays. It’s difficult to write about the war in Iraq in one sentence and say “Merry Christmas” in the next.

At the beginning of the season, it simply sounded too glib to say, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” Not only was the War on Terror on my mind, but there was all the ugly political carping that never let up after the election in November. Add to that the War on Christmas itself, and it made the act of issuing a simple Christmas greeting a very contrived ritual. All this created an extreme sense of foreboding that pervaded my every thought.

The nasty politics began well before the last election and will last clear through the 2008 election and beyond. In fact, the ugly political scene likely will outlast the current War On Terror — or whatever name is now being used. But whether it’s “The War,” or politics, or the War on Christmas, it all can be downright depressing. It’s enough to make a grown person quit believing in Santa.

I don’t really mean to be glib. Actually, I have a sense of guilt about it all. I feel almost a responsibility to all those who are out there fighting battles, that I must keep informed about what is going on.

I also have a sense of guilt about celebrating too much when I know that there are those who cannot be celebrating with us. I think of those who have given their lives in the defense of our country.

I think of the men and women who are away from home serving their country. I think of their families. They all are making the sacrifices so that we can be here in the comfort of our homes enjoying the luxuries that life in America has presented us — and I am feeling guilty. Why should we be having so much fun when others are in miserable, faraway places witnessing the worst of humanity? Shouldn’t we be miserable, too?

Although “misery loves company,” I’m afraid shared misery would accomplish nothing. It just increases the number of people who are miserable.

Feeling guilty at Christmas might be comparable to not eating so that you can “help” those who are starving. In reality, momentarily experiencing self-imposed hunger does not in and of itself provide food for the hungry.

By the same token, making ourselves feel the misery of those who cannot be here would do nothing to bring them home sooner. Perhaps, only by celebrating properly, do we honor them.

Just as I was contemplating my dilemma, “To celebrate or not to celebrate,” I got an e-mail from Regan Turner who is in Iraq on his second tour in the Middle East. The subject line: “Merry Christmas!”

It just made my day. He is in Iraq, yet he sends his greetings home telling us to celebrate our freedom, pray for our troops, and go on with our lives. They are over there fighting so that we can do just those things.

So, thank you, Regan, for that reminder. Thank you, Regan, for your service.

Thank you to all those men and women in uniform who are away from their families and loved ones this Christmas, so that we here at home are able to
carry on normal lives.

Thus, we will celebrate this Christmas season as best we can:

“Until one feels the spirit of Christmas, there is no Christmas. All else is outward display — so much tinsel and decorations. For it isn’t the holly, it isn’t the snow. It isn’t the tree, nor the firelight’s glow. It is the warmth that comes to the hearts of men when the Christmas spirit returns again.” — Anonymous

“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” - One Opinion