It's Christmas Day, and although it's a bit gloomy out there because it won't be a white Christmas in the place where I live.
It seems to me that the lights have never shone brighter, after Harperland's long night.
And never has there been so much hope in the air than there is now in our new Canada.
So here is the latest version of the same post I have been writing for years to explain what Christmas means to me...
It's Christmas Day, and although I'm an atheist, and I believe that our beautiful planet is our heaven and our hell.
And that it's up to us to decide what world we want to live in. Not up to some invisible deity or some bloodthirsty Godzilla.
And although I hate the shopping and the greed. And although I know it can be a sad and lonely time for many...
And the sight of this homeless man lying in a mall corridor packed with Christmas shoppers knocked the spirit of the season right out of me. And left me with a pain in my heart, and tears in my eyes.
I was raised in the Christian tradition, I believe in the earthly message of Jesus the revolutionary, I share the vision of those fighting for a kinder, gentler world.
So I do love this time of the year.
The lights, the food, the warm feelings, the random acts of kindness, because that is how I imagine the world I want to live in would be like all year round.
The one I know I will never live in, until the bestial Cons who infest this planet are defeated, and the humble inherit the earth...
But that is the reason I find this holiday season so special.
For when we defeated Stephen Harper and his cruel regime, I thought we took a small but important step in the right direction.
We rejected the politics of hate and division. We found our kinder, gentler, Canadian values again.
The way so many of us opened our hearts to the Syrian refugees...
Made me so proud of my country again.
And this musical message from Justin Trudeau, who is celebrating his birthday today, also made me smile.
This made me smile: https://t.co/7N7pqssSYI #merrychristmastoall
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) December 24, 2015
As well as inspiring me, for those are Sufi Muslims playing those Christmas songs.
And this is the same message that kept me going during the darkest days of the Con regime:
The world could really use some love and hope right now. And this video is just that - a message of hope. It’s a gentle reminder that, though all seems dark right now, there is light still left in this world. And it’s time we let it in.
I am ready for a Trudeau kind of Christmas.
Admit it, Canada, you may wince every now and then after that umpteenth selfie, but you do feel better about yourself these days, breath a little easier over the fact your innate decency, your desire to do the right thing for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do need no longer be muted in the interests of national security or standing tall on the world stage.
What else can we do but slip deep into the folds of a comforting mantle of hope and optimism and infinite possibility and luxuriate in the pleasure of feeling good about ourselves and our country? Really, what else can we do but have ourselves a Trudeau kind of Christmas, and let our hearts be light?
And of course I have always loved the music of this season.
And all the songs I used to sing when I was a budding juvenile delinquent dressed up as an angel.
You know, the angel with a black eye, in a choir like this one...
The words never did, and still don't mean much to me. But isn't the sound of gentle humanity GLORIOUS?
Imagine what a beautiful world we could build, if more boys were raised to be kind not killers, and we were really our brother and sister's keeper. And there really was peace on earth.
Oh well. From me and my wonderful companion Sébastien, who makes me believe in his strong but quiet way that we can build that earthly paradise, if we fight for it hard enough.
And that we can definitely build a better country than the one we have been living in, and maybe even help save the world.
To all my readers who support me so much, kept me company for so many years on the long road to our Day of Liberation, and who I love so much.
Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Happy Holidays everybody !!!!
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30 comments:
Hi Simon,
I can't thank you enough for all the great posts you have written over the years.
Wishing you and Sebastian a wonderful Christmas season to wrap up the first year of change.
hi sassy...thank you for that sweet comment, and for supporting me for so many years, from the days when I had just started blogging, and hardly anybody else did. How time has flown, how many good days and bad days we have shared. And how great it is that we can now finally hope for a better and more Canadian future. Merry Christmas and all the best to you and yours...
Merry Christmas Simon and Sebastien, peace be with you <3
TS
Merry Christmas. I wish I had found this blog much earlier instead of trying my best to ignore the MSM and that damn propaganda masquerading as commercials for 8 years.
Many people from Christian backgrounds don't realize how important Maryam and Issa (Jesus) are in the Koran. Maryam has her own book in the Koran, and Issa is a very important prophet. The difference is that Muslims, like Jews, don't believe in the Trinity, and Issa, like Muhammad, are human Prophets:
http://www.bibleandkoran.net/verhaal.php?lIntEntityId=25
http://muslimvillage.com/2013/12/25/17451/the-muslim-story-of-christmas/
(though I disagree that Jesus, who changed water into wine and shared wine and bread with the Apostles at the Seder called the Last Supper, "did not drink alcohol", (wine was and remains important in Jewish ritual) though obviously he was a sober and serious person, if indeed he did exist. There were many people like Jesus wandering around preaching in Roman Palestine and many scholars are of the opinion that he was a synthesis of these...
Yes, I hope Sébastien and you are having a lovely time - I'm thrilled to be able to ride my bicycle (I hate winter).
No question but that Trudeau is an immense improvement over the Harper, but do read Karl Nerenberg's blogpost for a bit of nuance, on the important topic of pensions, the CPP and the Guaranteed Income supplement
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/karl-nerenberg/2015/12/trudeaus-finance-minister-and-his-provincial-colleagues-play-s
And Murray Dobbin says something similar about tax reform. http://rabble.ca/columnists/2015/12/liberals-need-to-address-progressive-tax-reform Don't get me (or them) wrong; they are thrilled to see the back of dictator-wannabee Harper, but the Liberals have a bad habit of making progressive promises and not following through on them, especially the ones that cost serious money.
Have a great Holiday Simon! I feel like we were comrades in the trenches of France in WWI. We fought together, we are feeling a little shell-shocked and a little dazed at the thought of our first Christmas after a long nightmare. But we (along with many other) held each others' hands through the long fight through the cold and the mud. Sometime our faith in humankind was at a low ebb, but we all kept the others going. Enjoy the peace while it lasts and love Sebastian and the others in your life. One battle is over but we will meet in the trenches again. Onward toward that Island of Utopia, the one place to which we continual travel, even if we never arrive. Take care.
Dear Simon
I only found about you just over a year ago. I have not missed seeing you every day. These last few years of our last gov't was painful to live through emotionally & mentally. You made me feel better each day to know that I wasn't the only one feeling the same. How much better the days seem to be now, more smiles, laughter, feeling of joy with how almost all of Canada now feels, almost like we were reborn. i have lived many years thru many a government, but this change is the only one ever to have such feeling of relief & joy for all or at least most of us( not the cons I guess). On the darkest days that are now gone, you were a blessing to me. I knew that I could find a kindred spirit, who always made me better despite the meanness & the cruelty of the cons. Thanks again Simon, Blessings to you.
Merry Christmas today Simon., you are an inspiration to myself and all those that follow you.
Have a super day.
Merry Christmas Simon.
Finally it feels like a real Christmas after so many years of Harperium darkness, dreck and dread. Any change from Harper and his CPC would have made this a much nicer Christmas, but having it being the Sunny Ways Justin Trudeau majority government that supplanted Harper and his agenda of Liberal and especially Trudeau hatred, well, hard to ask for a better Christmas present than that for me! I'm not so nice a person that I will not say even on this day that the thought of Harper having to comes to terms with being beaten so soundly by the son of the man he so strongly hated, and who he personally held in utter contempt as unworthy of any office let alone his, a more than pleasant feeling even now.
You and I , we have been through the wars on this one, and it is nice to have finally seen victory isn't it. Of course there will be other battles in the months and years ahead, but this war was a crucial one for this nation and hopefully signifies a profound turning point. At least we can have real hope for that this Christmas, yet another nice present this year.
Still though, for he vast majority of Canadians this is the first Christmas in many that it really feels like it in tone and spirit, and that is a reason for joy in itself. Best wishes to you and yours from me and mine.
Scotian
Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year Simon. I think we are looking forward to 2016 with hope and anticipation. Something we have not done for 9 yrs. Thanks for all you write.
Please Advise! Wish-Granter Trudeau's Putting Santa Outta Business
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/12/25/Trudeau-Putting-Santa-Out-of-Business/
MERRY CHRISTMAS SIMON. Enjoy the day, there are lots of Christmas lights around and if you want snow, well the mountains in B.C. have lots of it. golfing and such I hear Toronto and Montreal are fine. and who says there isn't climate change?
Questions from a Muslim about Jesus being God
https://carm.org/religious-movements/islam/questions-muslim-about-jesus-being-god
The Trinity
https://carm.org/trinity
The Tri-Universe
http://www.icr.org/article/2590/215/
Merry Christmas Simon and Sebastien. I have read with much interest your blog and wish you and yours what you wish for us all. May the season treat you very well. You certainly have one of the most imaginative blogs going and you are getting your message out and it is a message of peace and compassion. All the best!
Hi Simon, this is in reference to my comment and your response on 22 Dec. regarding PostMedia's influence in politics in B.C.
If you check out Friday, 25 Dec.'s post on Blog Borg Collective you will not the blogger refers to a post by a former B.C. blog AGT, A Rebel with a Clause, he then posts AGT's post of 14 Nov 13. The predictions he made have come true, in regards to FOI and deleting. AGT also lists some of the Vancouver Sun's role in things in B.C. and its lack of ability to shall we say operate as it once did when it came to reporting on politics in B.C. its worth the read, just to see how acturate AGT was back in 2013.
Happy Xmas, Simon! :)
On CBC radio's "On the Coast" (Dec. 23) heard in BC weekdays, guest host Laura Lynch asked Con MP Mark Warwara (Langley-Aldergrove) why hadn't the Harper govt lifted Salvadoran refugee Jose Figueroa's deportation order, and it took the new Trudeau gov't to do it.
Warwara skirted the question even after Lynch told him: "You don't want to answer my question, do you?" and just said it was to John McCallum's credit (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship) and Warwara was happy Figueroa can now rejoin his family.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/jose-figueroa-church-langley-el-salvador-fmln-terrorist-terror-immigration-1.3379218
A Salvadoran refugee, who has been living in sanctuary in a church to avoid deportation, has his first taste of freedom in two years, just in time for his birthday and Christmas.
Jose Figueroa has been a resident of Langley, B.C., for nearly two decades. He began living in the Walnut Grove Lutheran Church two years ago, after the Canadian government had moved to deport him for his political activities in El Salvador nearly two decades ago.
Jose Figueroa can leave B.C. church sanctuary, as Canada lifts deportation order
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.3371855/jose-figueroa-can-leave-b-c-church-sanctuary-as-canada-lifts-deportation-order-1.3378907
hi Marie...thank you and Merry Christmas to you and yours. I thought I might be able to retire, but the way those Cons are behaving, I'm afraid that retirement might have to be delayed until I can be sure they are finally dead and buried for at least a generation...
hi TS...thank you and Merry Christmas to you and yours. Peace is indeed with me, and I've never felt happier about the future of this country...
hi Dan...well I'm glad you did finally find this little blog, because your contributions are most welcome. I always said this place was a missing a poet, and now we're ready for anything... ;)
hi lagatta ...I must say I'm impressed with your religious knowledge. I knew about some of the things all those Middle Eastern religions had in common. But I didn't know that Mary or Maryam had her own book, It really is tragic that they couldn't be more united. Although I am an atheist, I try to appreciate the best things about every religion, but unfortunately there is so much bad that comes with them. From the little I've read about the Sufis, they do seem to have some fine qualities, and a tolerance the others could learn something from. And for Justin and the Liberals I will support them as long as they keep heading in the right direction. They are trying to reach out to others, and that is the Canadian way, so I will be patient, and already I feel like I'm living in another country...
hi Kirby....thank you and all the best to you and yours. I feel the same way about you. We did share a trench during those horrible years, and your always thoughtful posts were an inspiration to all of us. But yes, you're right the battle will have to continue, because we have brought down the Cons, but there is so much to be done to try to make this troubled planet a better place, and save it for future generations. However I feel that our experience will come in handy, and as you say, the important thing is to keep demanding better and heading in the right direction...
hi anon...thank you for those very kind words, I am glad that I was able to help cheer you up during those horrible Harper years. Even today I can hardly believe that something so horrible happened in Canada. But as I like to tell people, Prince Philip himself once told me and my school mates that banging your head against a wall was a good thing, because it felt so good when you stopped doing that. And like you I am enjoying the new mood in Canada, where we don't have to worry about what horrible things the Cons might do next, and can enjoy life in our beautiful country again. The cruel bullies have been beaten, and it does seem like we're living in a completely different country. Thank you again for your support and encouragement, and all the best to you and yours...
hi Scotian...yes it does feel like a real Christmas again. What a nightmare we have had to endure, as I saying to another commenter, even now I can hardly believe that something so awful could happen in Canada. I too would have supported any progressive party that defeated the Cons, but I have to say Justin Trudeau's idealism has impressed me immensely and I am overjoyed that he is our Prime Minister. I am as you know an idealist and a bit of a romantic, and his words are music to my ears.
Hallelujah. All the best to you and yours...
hi Pamela....thank you, and a Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you too. It will be great to look forward to 2016 without worrying what the Cons might do to things like our medicare system. For I truly believe that had Harper managed to get another majority he would have set out to destroy it. As he has damaged so many of our Canadian institutions. But that's OK we will rebuild what has been damaged and it will be more beautiful than ever...
hi anon... thanks for those links. I am always impressed and grateful for all the interesting stuff that commenters contribute to this blog. And anything that helps break down the barriers between people, and help us understand each other better, is most welcome....
hi David...thanks for that one, and yes I think that this year we can say that Santa came twice. Once in October and once in December. And getting my country back was the best present I ever received...
hi e.a.f...thanks and Merry Christmas to you. The weather here is a bit disconcerting, and I wouldn't mind a little snow. But of course that's what I say now. If we did get a big dump it probably wouldn't take long for me to act like a typical Canadian and start complaining about that. ;)
I do have a useless M.A. in history, and religion, for better or worse, is a major force in history.
and that is why the Liberals are on a "honeymoon" in Canada. the man had been living in Canada for almost 18 yrs, had 3 Canadian born kids, done nothing wrong, was fully employed and the Cons decided he had to go. It took the Liberals about a month being in office to see the light and released him. What the Cons don't understand is that you can get popular without spending a lot of money, as in this case. Just serve up some humanity and justice.
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