'Tis the season . . .

            . . . to be jolly?

Certainly the holiday season brings with it opportunities for joy. We decorate our homes in our own special ways; we make cookies, candy, and Grandmother’s fruit cake; we brave our way through crowded stores and spend hours perusing the Internet in search for the perfect present; we sing songs; we eat, drink, and eat some more. We celebrate our traditions, seek out our friends and family, and rejoice in our beliefs. Many of us are very fortunate.

This holiday season, however, and I use that term to be inclusive, has been one fraught with much unrest, misunderstandings, distrust, and downright hatred. From the streets of mid-America, to college campuses, metropolitan areas, and living room couches, the air has been filled with people voicing their opinions, asking for respect, demanding that someone listen, insisting on justice, or calling for calm and peace. Sentiments and points of view are as varied in nature as our nation itself, and perhaps that is as it should be. Liberty does allow us to speak our minds, doesn’t it? Speaking out, no matter what one’s view, is basic to the principles on which our country was founded. Freedom of speech is a right. On the other hand, rampant vandalism that has accompanied the voices of some is not, and I have to wonder at what point does the proliferation of mayhem close the door to understanding, to empathy, to tolerance, and ultimately to real communication. Destruction and vandalism at the hands of those whose intent is simply that, damages the likelihood of true conversation, and that’s a shame. It throws a pall over Christmas and to the promise engendered by it. It draws attention away from the basic tenets of the season. Yet, how can we acquiesce to the ridiculous notion that the season is ubiquitously jolly?

Is it? Not for a mother who has not a nickel for a gift for her child, not for a homeless family sheltered in place, not for a body racked with cancer, not for the jobless, the indigent, or children of the streets. So many people are suffering while the rest of us celebrate. Are we wrong to do so? No, I don’t think so at all, but for those of us who are very, very fortunate, within the circle of our giving this year, perhaps we should make sure to play “Secret Santa” to a family down on its luck or donate generously to our favorite charity. Why not pass on the “jolly” this season, and when it’s all over, maybe we can step back, take a good, long look at each other and talk, all of us, face to face, with honesty, integrity, and intent. Now wouldn’t that make the New Year bright?