December 20, 2006

Dear Sis~
Here it is, just five days till Christmas and I'm still trying to catch the holiday spirit! Here's a sad fact: I've only been free for 3 Christmases since the summer of 1966, when I first went to Youth Hall. I'm of a divided mind about the whole Christmas trip anyway. A real part of me is nostalgic for the holidays of our youth; like most people, I retain a lot of warm memories from those bygone days. On the other hand I'm cynically dismayed over the crass commercialization of Christmas, which can be viewed as a non-too subtle plot by the retail industry to guilt-trip everyone into an orgy of spending as we become convinced that we have an obligation to swap expensive gifts with an ever-widening circle of friends and acquaintances. I'm a generous person and I enjoy giving gifts to friends, but I prefer doing it on my own terms, unbidden, without feeling vaguely coerced or compelled into doing so. Over and above that, the whole gift-giving trip has subverted and replaced the original underlying spiritual purpose of celebrating Christ's birthdate. Shopping has become an end unto itself, totally divorced from the divine/metaphysical intent behind the original celebration. Anyway, I'm preaching to the choir here, I know, and I'm not making any unique observations. Maybe when enough people become of a like mind the nation, if not the world, will go on Christmas strike and we'll return to the original intent of loving our fellow man and doing our best to dispense Peace on Earth...Merry Christmas, Sis!
Love & Peace,
Bill