I wrote this post last year. So much has changed for the worse since then in Harper's Canada. But luckily some things don't change. And since I'm not feeling well enough to write another, here it is again...
* * *
It's Christmas Eve, and once again I have to explain to my friends, that although I'm an atheist. And believe that our beautiful planet is our heaven and our hell.
And although I hate the shopping and the greed.
And although I know that it can be a lonely time for many, including all those gay people who have been rejected by their families.
I do love this time of the year. The lights, the colours, the snow, the food.
And all those sweet little stories that moved me when I was a child.
Like the one whose happy ending made me cry when I was nine-years-old, and was spending Christmas in hospital recovering from meningitis.
The story of the poor little old donkey and his friend, who was ordered by his father to sell him. But the only one who wanted him was a tanner... for his hide.
Until the kind stranger arrived...
Because even back then I loved animals,and I wanted the humble to inherit the earth.
And now that I know that there are so many of them.
Even in Canada...
I still do. And I won't support any government that doesn't put them, and other poor Canadians FIRST.
And then there's the music...and the songs like this one that I used to sing...when I was a budding juvenile delinquent dressed up as an angel.
In a choir like this one...
The words still don't mean anything to me eh? But isn't the sound of gentle humanity GLORIOUS?
Imagine what kind of beautiful world we could build if there really was peace and justice on Earth?
From me and my beloved companion Sébastien, who makes me believe that we can build that earthly paradise, if we fight for it hard enough.
And of course, from our little old
Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Happy Holidays, Happy Festivus everyone !!!
2 comments:
It's good to remember, and it's good to have hope - they are two things that can help sustain us in these troubling times.
I have both but am of the belief that things will (unfortunately) have to get a hell of a lot worse before they truly get any better.
I'm Pagan, so we've already had our mid-winter celebration, but I'll participate in the parts of Christmas that the grandkids enjoy. The wide eyes when they discover that Santa came to visit their home, the opening of presents, and the gathering of family and the big family meal -- which is my favorite part of the whole gig.
I hope you're feeling better by tomorrow - have a good one Simon.
hi Stageleft...I'm afraid you're right. Things are probably going to have to get a lot worse before they get better.
On a cheerier note...you're also right about Christmas and kids. The excitement in their eyes helps make up for the crass commercialism of the season.
One of my earliest childhood memories is when I was about four, and on Christmas Eve I crept out of bed and peered through the shutters and thought I saw the jolly old guy. The next day I told my parents I had seen Santa Claus (Father Christmas. They said I must have been mistaken, but I said I did, I did, cross my heart I DID !!!! I'm sure my parents must have thought I was a horrid little liar, but it was years before I was willing to concede they were right. :)
Have a great feast with your grandkids, and all the best to you and your loved ones...
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