Merry Christmas to All

It’s Christmas time, and good will to all the human race. But where is that good will? When you look at the recent atrocity in Berlin and the continuing war in Syria you could argue that Christmas means next to nothing to some people in the world.

And why should it? Christmas after all is a Christian celebration that has been hoodwinked from the winter solstice celebrations that we used to do pre the birth of Christianity.

The Christmas that we know now I would argue has its originations from the Victorian celebration of the event. The trees, the festive decorations, the presents and the atmosphere all generate from Victorian times. You could also argue that the consumerism started at this point as well.

I heard people say this year, as I have been trailing around the chaos that we call shopping, that they hate the fact that this festive time has become too consumer led. This may be true, but it is not new. Christmas has been a consumers delight for many years now and the signs are that this is only going to grow unless something changes with our society, which is very unlikely.

We do not yet live in the utopian world depicted by Star Trek where there is no money and no need for anything, the only human need is that of knowledge. Whether that will come is another matter, signs are at the moment that we are nowhere near that time as of yet.

But let’s talk about the spirit of Christmas; it is a time of good will, a time for sharing and caring, and these are not just Christian values but are felt throughout the world. Yes, Christmas by its very nature is a Christian celebration, but its sentiments should be felt worldwide. It’s the spirit of Christmas that is important, and echoed by the literature that has become so synonymous with this time of the year, like A Christmas Carol. Here is a book that does not have its message in a celebration of the birth of Christ, but in the spirit that all people should hold in their hearts, and surely for one day a year we can stop to think about others in need and to help others who need to be helped.

Christmas is a special time of the year, and should be taken seriously as a time of caring about others; remembering those that we have lost and making better our lives. It is not about money, and how much has been spent or how big the present box is. It is not about television and ratings or sales on-line. It is about us, the human race, living on this planet and sharing the air that we breathe together. We are all the same, even though we are individuals, we all hurt and laugh and have emotions and sing when things go well. We should celebrate what we are, rather than what we have got, and make this world a good place to live in.

Wouldn’t that be the perfect Christmas present.