Tag Archives: holidays

Counting Down to Christmas

Posted on December 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

stamp

Parents count the days until Christmas differently than regular people. Are no golden rings, calling birds, pipers, or even a pear tree (sans leaves, since it is winter). Instead, parents way fo counting down to Christmas includes:

Days needed to get a personalized Christmas stocking from (name of mail order retailer here).

The day for the Christmas band/orchestra/choir concert.

The day that the kids need to bring canned food for the needy or a gift for Toys for Tots.

The day you panic and run to the corner drugstore to print out family pictures to send with the Christmas cards.

The day you should have gotten the photos.

The day you should have sent out Christmas cards.

The day you panic and run to the post office to get stamps for the Christmas cards. (And out of 47 styles of special Christmas stamps, they have only one left—the one you used last year, and the year before that, and—you know).

The day you make a list for next year, which you promptly misplace.

Parents—people with strength, courage, humor–and a totally warped perception of reality, which is how they survive.

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Posted in Culture, Family, Holidays, Humor, People, Philosophy, Religion

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So What Is Christmas?

Posted on December 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

SONY DSC

Isn’t that the question? What is Christmas?

Whatever you want it to be.

When you look at Christmas, it reflects your thoughts, your wants, your needs.

To a child, it’s a day that will never come. A day of wonderment and, of course, TOYS!

To a merchant, it may be the time of year when he gets his reward for keeping his doors open and his shelves stocked.

To some, it may be the time of year they can count on getting a job – even if only for a few months.

To a Christian, it may be a time of great joy – or even a time in which you wonder why you aren’t feeling great joy.

To a non-Christian, it may just be puzzling.

When Christ was on earth, He did the things only He could do. In other things, he expected His followers to take action – “Give her something to eat.” “Go out and take neither staff nor purse.”

He was trying to teach us to see things the way He did.

Not a leper. Not a despised tax collector or a prostitute. Each a person, loved by God.

This Christmas, look at it and try to see the best you can. A time of caring. A time to demonstrate what Christianity is about. Listen to others. Appreciate the fact that each of us is unique. O not judge.

Then take Christmas as a starting point and carry it with you as we head into the new year.

Trust me. Christmas will be what you want it to be.

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Posted in Culture, Holidays, People, Philosophy, Religion

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The Coming New Year

Posted on December 31, 2012 | 1 comment

There is really nothing special about the change from December 31 of one year to January 1 of the next. The sun goes down, the sun comes up. However, we’ve used the change of calendars as a reason to try a little harder to do things better – hence New Year’s Resolutions.

It’s good to take time to examine how we’re doing and make adjustments. The hardest part is determining how we’re doing – we are all terrible at evaluating ourselves. We’re conveniently blind in some areas and overly harsh in others, but that’s okay. The important thing is to make the effort.

However, here’s a thought. This year, along with resolutions to eat less and exercise more, look at something you do reasonably well and try to do it better. If you’re a good listener, that’s important, give yourself credit and figure out a way you can be a better friend or a better parent through your listening. If you’re the patient soccer mom or dad who drives your kids everywhere, maybe use that time to get to know your kids and their friends better.

Build on your strengths next year as well as correcting your weaknesses.

And above all else, have a wonderful and blessed new year.

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Posted in Communications, Culture, Holidays, Uncategorized

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The World Didn’t End

Posted on December 22, 2012 | 4 comments

Of course, it would be kind of difficult to have a headline telling everyone, “The World Ended!” I can see the story, “Just as predicted by the ancient Mayans, the world ended on December 21st, right on schedule. Efforts to interview Mayans were unsuccessful due to the fact that pureblooded Mayans have either died out or intermarried with people of other tribal or national groups. Several individuals claiming to be descended from the ancient Mayans expressed a common theme, translated more or less into, “We told you so!”

maya

But since it DIDN’T end, what are the real implications?

  • The news media’s relevance continues to decline for reporting one more inconsequential and irrelevant story.
  • The malls and shopping centers are crammed with people who expected the world to end, but now have to get the Christmas shopping done in a hurry. (If you get a strange gift from Aunt Bertha, it’s probably because she was expecting the world to end. When she got to the mall, the choices for gifts were pretty small, so just be glad she remembered you at all.)
  • Sales of Mayan calendars have plummeted. It doesn’t matter anyways – it’s now as useful as a paper calendar from 2005.
  • People are scouring the Internet to find something else to worry about.
  • I am pleased to report that our two cats were totally untroubled by the situation, and have maintained their daily quota of naps.

So the world continues on.

I’d write more, but the kids just came down and told me they’re out of clean clothes. It seems that “just in case” they didn’t see the need to take their dirty clothes to the laundry room.

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Posted in Communications, History, Holidays, Humor, Media, People, Philosophy, Religion, Science

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Veterans’ Day

Posted on November 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

The shooting stopped during the “Great War; the War to End All Wars” on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The armistice was commemorated by Armistice Day.

Thus was born the date that would eventually be known as Veterans’ Day.

There are about 21.5 million veterans in a nation of 312 million people. Of Americans 18 years or older, about 12 – 13% are veterans. Counting all Americans, slightly less than 7% are veterans. As we lose the veterans of the Second World War, the percentage of veterans will drop significantly.

Of the currently seated Congress, 28 of 100 Senators are Veterans, as are 92 of the 438 members of the House of Representatives.

Presidents in my lifetime who served in the military:

Harry Truman (D) Army

Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) Army

John F. Kennedy (D) Navy

Lyndon B. Johnson (D) Navy

Richard Nixon (R) Navy

Gerald Ford (R) Navy

Jimmy Carter (D) Navy

Ronald Reagan (R) Army (Air Corps)

George HW Bush (R) Navy

George W Bush (R) Air National Guard

The military uniform is often referred to as “the cloth of our country.” If you are one who has worn the uniform, “On behalf of a grateful nation,” thank you.

All gave some.  Some gave all.

 

 

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Posted in Culture, Government, History, Holidays, Leadership, Media, Military, People, Philosophy, Politics, Uncategorized

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