Candy cane brain / Eggnoggin
The modern Christmas invites believer and unbeliever to join together in feasting, one of the few events in which tolerance has triumphed over prejudice, procured over centuries of trial and error.
Christmas is the feast, of not only human kind's redemption, but of human kind itself. Christmas releases -- if only for a few days every year -- emotions that a savage self-interest normally causes us to bottle up.
At Christmastime, tyrants become kind (even merciful) and misers spend (not only freely, but willingly). The cruel flames of religious and political intolerance are temporarily assuaged, and selfish memories are stirred by the remembrance of the neglected and the outcast.
For a few days, once a year, the atrophied souls of the grown-ups are filled again with the same spirit which inspires the wisdom of fools and children.
So the history of Christmas -- unlike the history of so many other human things -- is forevermore a pleasant one.
And that, my friends, is amazing.
Whether you're celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ or just celebrating the season with your family and friends, have a happy Christmas and a safe New Year! :)
Love,
Sara