Christmas Time is Here! What’s so Great about That?

Well, in a few short hours, it will be Christmas Eve.  For those of you from another planet, that means in a little over 24 hours, it will be Christmas.  I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t make a Christmas Post.  Now seemed like a good time.  I will make a post on Christmas Day, but it will be something short and light.  It will be easier for you to deal with, I promise.

However, for this one, I wanted to have everyone thinking about the same thing I am:  the Greatness of Christmas.  I will try to stay away from the organized religious parts of Christmas here.  What I want to discuss is what is truly so great about this one day?  Why does nearly the entire world, at least, get happier on this day?  Did you think about that?  From my understanding, Christmas should only be recognized by the members of the Christian faith.  That would make it around 33% of the world, I think.  Most people of this old planet are not Christians by faith.  Buddhism, Islam, and a lot of smaller religions make up the majority of this world’s faith.  Why should it reach around the globe to people everywhere?  I, of course, have some thoughts.

Number one:  Perhaps, I am wrong here.  Perhaps, most of the world ignored Christmas.  I wouldn’t truly know as I have always been here.  But, what I am drawing from is that even if it is not celebrated, most of the world knows what Christmas is.  They know about Santa and Rudolph and, probably, Charlie Brown.  They know about gift-giving and about holiday cheer and, probably, mistletoe.  This is, most likely, more true now as the computer and Internet (both American inventions and heavily promoted here) spread the word about Christmas to all parts of the globe.  Wiki and You Tube do their bit, too, and offer up tons of information on every aspect of the time.  So, I doubt that I am wrong.

Number two:  People like to be happy.  Oh, I know, there are those few who just can’t seem to be that way, no matter what.  The dictators, the malcontents, the teenagers who follow Phish and acid rock (well, probably not all of those either) are among the ones who just seem to growl at the world.  So, leaving those out, most people enjoy smiling and having a reason to smile.  Christmas is always presented as that.  I have never seen anything to do with actual Christmas that is foreboding and dark and dangerous (well, there was that Dean Koontz novel, but, well, we won’t go there.).

Number three:  People enjoy giving and getting gifts.  Now, this goes back to number two, but it is fun to to both.  Spending money that you don’t have may not be so great, but the giving and getting parts, now, those are fun!  I am finding as I get older, that giving is really more fun than getting.  I never thought I would ever say that, but it’s true.  People smile (see number two above) when they get a gift that they were hoping for, or one they didn’t think of.  So, that is what was wrong with my idea once to just add up how much you would spend on each person, then add and subtract those with everyone and just give people the difference.  No fun!  Yeah, it’s true!  Quicker, but no fun.

Number four:  Finishing this up so you can get back to whatever you do for fun on Christmas Eve, I will just say: food.  That’s right, food.  Even for a diabetic like me, food is still there and sharing a meal with loved ones just makes people happy.  On Christmas Eve, my sister and her daughter go to my Dad and Mom’s and create a “themed” evening, including dinner, games, and prizes.  Then we have our Christmas exchange with whoever we drew on Thanksgiving.  It’s a fun night and I enjoy browsing the pictures over time.

So, summing up:  happy people, receiving and giving gifts, and food.  Wow, you put all that together and then add in that Christmas magic by thinking about the truth behind the holiday.  You don’t have to follow the faith to see the basics:  God gave us a wonderful gift in someone who could help us understand Him and get closer to Him.  This day marks His birth.  Even if you don’t actually believe in Christ, it is still a wonderful idea to get closer to God and to ask questions and listen to different ideas about it all.  I have no problem in believing in Jesus.  I grew up with that idea and those stories from the Bible.  Plus, it really helps that I believe God can do anything He decides to, so sending us someone who is very much a part of God and who can help us to understand the way we should, basically, live our lives (in love and helping others and being close to God) is not a big stretch for me.  I think people argue too much instead of just enjoying the idea.  Don’t be so picky.  Just live and love and smile.  God enjoys that from us and it should help us be closer to Him.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Scott (oh yes, Namaste)

H-E-R-O-E-S

I have spent that last couple of weeks watching the final season of “Smallville”. Ten seasons! We had this show with us for ten years!

That’s without all the comics, movies, TV shows, and other materials covering the Man of Steel.

Well, this isn’t a review of the show, so don’t go anywhere yet. In fact, I won’t show a clip from any of those movies, nor say much else about Kal-El.

What I wanted to look at was the underlying reason why something created in the 50s is not only still around, but can command enough of our attention to grab us on a, basically, old story, and carry it on major TV for ten years.

Any ideas? Okay, no more suspense. Here’s my thoughts on the matter.

I believe that what we all truly like, at least what the majority of the people like, is the massive difference between Clark Kent, the nobody, and Superman, the Special. Superman is the underdog gone galactic; he is the person who struggles all the time with the problems of trying to be human and fit in when he can also stop bullets and move planets. He is our idea of a hero.

But, he is not the only hero around. In fact, there are a lot of them who are simply human. I have a list of my heroes. I wonder if they are yours, too (not really in order):

1) Jesus Christ
2) Helen Keller
3) Joan D’Arc
4) George Washington Carver
5) Mother Theresa
6) Ghandi
7) Daniel Boone
8) Rosa Parks
9) Isaac Asimov
10) Neale Donald Walsh

Now number ten, Neale, is probably someone none of you has heard of. He wrote the “Conversations with God” series and greatly influenced my current set of spiritual beliefs. He has been horribly labeled by the church; however, to me, he is a man who took his beliefs and sought to help others by showing them something different.

Jesus is number one on my list, but not because of His religious significance. I put Him there because he believed something that was not well thought of then, kept on speaking it out, and never once took a step away from that even when it meant death on a cross.

All of these people have that in common to me. They took a stand and use their own determination and endurance to continue on until they had done all they could do.

Who are your heroes? I would love to know that. Put them in the comments with the reason why if you can.
Perhaps, I will find a new hero to add to my list (by the way, that list is not all-inclusive!).
Namaste,
Scott