As I write this on Christmas morning, 2010, millions upon millions of people around the world are celebrating the birth of Jesus. Or are they?
Historically speaking, we know that shepards do not tend their flocks by night in and around Bethlehem in December. Most religious scholars place the time of Jesus' birth as sometime in August, more or less. We know in our heart of hearts that what we call Christmas is really a remnant of old pagan midwinter rituals centered around the Winter Solstice and featuring lots of lights and fires and things like that to drive away evil spirits and celebrate the promise of renewal that comes when the days finally stop getting shorter and start growing longer, foretelling the coming of Spring and a time when crops can once again be planted. It is a time that is immutably linked in our human psyche with renewal and rebirth, the endless Cycle of Life and the implicit promise that the Cycle will continue more or less forever.
The Christmas Tree seems to harken back to olden times and the belief among early German peoples about the spirituality of forests and the mythical beings who dwelt there. We know that eating fish on Friday has nothing to do with honoring Christ and has everything to do with the desire of some Pope long ago to help the fishermen through an economic crisis. The same with celibacy for priests. Whose crazy idea was that? Totally absurd. And don't get me started on all this Virgin Mary crap. Where does THAT come from? We spend our lives having anxiety attacks about sex when we should be enjoying it. Wassup with that?
And then we have the mania, force fed by the merchants to buy, BUY,
BUY at Christmastime. What's wrong with just reaching out to your friends and family and thanking them for being there for you all last year? Why do we have to lard our credit cards with purchases we can't afford? What has THAT got to do with Jesus?
Am I being too Scrooge like here? I don't think so. What I am saying is that we have pretty much squeezed any remaining meaning of Christmas out of the celebration. I truly would like to see us remember, as the expression goes, The Reason For The Season.
I am not a religious person. I don't go to church and I don't associate with any religious sect. But I am not unmindful of the teachings of Jesus. Recently, I got the finger from a woman who cut me off in traffic while exiting the parking lot of the local Catholic Church after Mass. Why would I need solace from a religion like that?
I am appalled by the murder and bloodshed that have been committed in the name of the one person in all of human history who tried to teach us not to kill each other. How can any true Christian send people into battle because some other human being is "a brutal dictator" or because "He tried to kill my father." If Jesus was here today and heard that sort of ridiculous blather from one of His supporters, I suspect even He would suffer a moment of sadness at the idiotic escapades committed by human beings in His name.
Is there any hope for mankind? I think the answer is "Yes." I think that hope resides in the power of the internet, which allows us all to share our thoughts with each other no matter where we are on Earth. The internet is the antidote to the Tower of Babel. It allows us to see, as never before, that people ARE just people, no matter where they reside on Earth.
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of traveling to Europe where I met Malcolm Wood and Paul Jaray and Alex Corn and a young couple from Slovakia. The internet made all that possible. I was greeted warmly and made to feel welcome wherever my adventures carried me. I felt part of a human family. It was a very rewarding and uplifting experience.
Not to put too fine a point on it, governments around the world are trying their hardest to enrich the richest as the expense of the rest of us. Our ability to speak our minds is under assault like never before. Authoritarianism is resurgent all around the globe. But the internet has the power to counter all of that. It can open our eyes to the ways in which we are all alike rather than to the ways that we differ.
I think Jesus would approve. For it is only when we come to view each other as fellow passengers on Spaceship Earth that we will be able to say "NO!" to the forces who seek to divide us.
AutoPuzzles is part of that awakening. Here, there are members from virtually every country. We all get along. We all show a common respect for each other. And we all value input from others, regardless of their nationality, religion or political views. We need more of that.
In the coming year and the years to follow, governments everywhere will struggle mightily to curb the power of the internet. It is in their best interests to keep us apart, to drive wedges between us. Because divided, we can be conquered and domesticated to serve the interests of governments and the masters who control them. We must resist such efforts to the maximum extent possible. If the internet is silenced......well, we shall be nothing more than slaves. And the promise that Jesus brought to the world all those many years ago will never come to fruition.
In the words of one old song, "Come on, people, now. Smile on your brother. Everybody get together, try to love one another right now."
Jesus probably would have phrased it differently, but the meaning is the same.
Happy Holidays, everybody!
