...when the snow lay 'round about, deep and crisp and crispy...
[Non-seq. cross-ref. in the title; source, 20 pts.]
Around this time of year, I'm always wrestling with the "Christmas spirit" - do I have enough, do I have too much, am I wrong for having it? Do I need to do more for my kids, my wife, my friends or family, my fellow man? Or should I just knock it off and leave everyone the heck alone?
We hit something like 15 C today, which made it hard to "feel" it, and of course there's the running around and usual madness that comes with this time of year...but that's only part of the story. The idea behind Christmas to me is, well, Christ Jesus. Now I know an awful lot of Christians (none on this flist) who have this odd thing about that: they put in the requisite motions and follow the comforting ritual, but they don't really take that and apply it anywhere else in their lives. It's not just Christianity, either, or even exclusively religion - I see it a lot with politics, ethics, business, sex, the whole gamut of human behavior and interaction. People end up compartmentalizing things too much. It's difficult, I think, to be a whole person - to conduct yourself the same at all times. Sure, you're going to act different from time to time as the situation demands, but there needs to be a real "you" underneath it all. It's easier, though, to just conform to the world, rather than stand at certain times and deal with the conflict inherent in not conforming...in, perhaps, demanding that it conform to you. And I'll admit that I'm far from perfect at choosing between these "right" and "wrong" paths.
When I read the Bible and the teachings of Jesus and examine how they have been interpreted and continue to be interpreted, I do so with the idea of applying them somehow in my life. The exact duplication of what I'm reading isn't really that important; people get far too hung up on the practices of a Mediterranean tribe of 2,000 years ago and not enough on the idea of realizing that they were human beings trying to get by like we are, and looking for some guidance. A whole bunch of them didn't really get it, or perhaps they didn't "get it", from Jesus. The teachings are far from easy to understand or put in practice, but I think that was the idea. As I said above, trying to be an integrated, whole, good person is not at all easy.
Ideally, the Christmas "spirit" would be about doing more of this; however, it's sometimes a bit bothersome to me. I don't want to be a good person only at Christmas - I want to be this way all the time; to have it be that real, underlying "me" I was speaking of. Like I said before, I don't make it. I'm a normal, everyday human, just like a Judean of two millenia ago. And I think that part of the meaning of Christmas is to remind me - and the rest of us unwashed normals - to try and attain that all the time.
I do think that a good person can be measured by good company, and I am probably well over my share of goodness in that regard. Had a lovely time tonight at aramintamd and tacnukesoul's Eve of Christmas Eve Party with whole bunches of good folk and good food and that. Took muzikmaker21 along with the rest of the family, who got to experience my Fahrvergnügen as I ramped the Jetta over a notorious set of local train tracks on the way there, to the delight of my children and the white-knuckled dismay, for some unknown reason, of efbq and muzikmaker21. The idea was to be a bit cute, but I may have gone overboard a bit as the car was acting a bit glitchy on the ride back; I bid my lovely wife silence in her snarking. Was it worth it? Oh, yes.
Around this time of year, I'm always wrestling with the "Christmas spirit" - do I have enough, do I have too much, am I wrong for having it? Do I need to do more for my kids, my wife, my friends or family, my fellow man? Or should I just knock it off and leave everyone the heck alone?
We hit something like 15 C today, which made it hard to "feel" it, and of course there's the running around and usual madness that comes with this time of year...but that's only part of the story. The idea behind Christmas to me is, well, Christ Jesus. Now I know an awful lot of Christians (none on this flist) who have this odd thing about that: they put in the requisite motions and follow the comforting ritual, but they don't really take that and apply it anywhere else in their lives. It's not just Christianity, either, or even exclusively religion - I see it a lot with politics, ethics, business, sex, the whole gamut of human behavior and interaction. People end up compartmentalizing things too much. It's difficult, I think, to be a whole person - to conduct yourself the same at all times. Sure, you're going to act different from time to time as the situation demands, but there needs to be a real "you" underneath it all. It's easier, though, to just conform to the world, rather than stand at certain times and deal with the conflict inherent in not conforming...in, perhaps, demanding that it conform to you. And I'll admit that I'm far from perfect at choosing between these "right" and "wrong" paths.
When I read the Bible and the teachings of Jesus and examine how they have been interpreted and continue to be interpreted, I do so with the idea of applying them somehow in my life. The exact duplication of what I'm reading isn't really that important; people get far too hung up on the practices of a Mediterranean tribe of 2,000 years ago and not enough on the idea of realizing that they were human beings trying to get by like we are, and looking for some guidance. A whole bunch of them didn't really get it, or perhaps they didn't "get it", from Jesus. The teachings are far from easy to understand or put in practice, but I think that was the idea. As I said above, trying to be an integrated, whole, good person is not at all easy.
Ideally, the Christmas "spirit" would be about doing more of this; however, it's sometimes a bit bothersome to me. I don't want to be a good person only at Christmas - I want to be this way all the time; to have it be that real, underlying "me" I was speaking of. Like I said before, I don't make it. I'm a normal, everyday human, just like a Judean of two millenia ago. And I think that part of the meaning of Christmas is to remind me - and the rest of us unwashed normals - to try and attain that all the time.
I do think that a good person can be measured by good company, and I am probably well over my share of goodness in that regard. Had a lovely time tonight at aramintamd and tacnukesoul's Eve of Christmas Eve Party with whole bunches of good folk and good food and that. Took muzikmaker21 along with the rest of the family, who got to experience my Fahrvergnügen as I ramped the Jetta over a notorious set of local train tracks on the way there, to the delight of my children and the white-knuckled dismay, for some unknown reason, of efbq and muzikmaker21. The idea was to be a bit cute, but I may have gone overboard a bit as the car was acting a bit glitchy on the ride back; I bid my lovely wife silence in her snarking. Was it worth it? Oh, yes.