Once again, I find myself bumfuzzled by the calendar. This can't be Christmas column Friday, can it?
The paper says Friday the 19th. Right? That makes next Friday the 26th. Christmas is the 25th. You do the math.
It's Christmas column Friday. Whether I like it or not.
It's not that I don't like it. I like it well enough when I'm ready for it. When I've got some semblance of Christmas spirit in my bones.
But I don't.
I don't know, it's hard to find this year. I'm watching a loved one fade a little more every day with only one possible outcome. I'm about worn out from 16 months of cancer treatments and not sure of the outcome. Major changes are on the way and my mind has just been somewhere other than holidays.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not complaining.The truth is I've really got it pretty good. Not great, but pretty darn good. So good I feel a little guilty that I can't get into the holiday spirit.
I have been blessed in so many ways, especially during this time of caring for my mom and fighting off cancer. Those blessings have come from friends and total strangers. From the caring of healthcare workers and from brief moments of clarity with my mom. I'm reminded weekly I don't want to live anywhere else.
I could use a vacation, though.
In the meantime, the calendar doesn't lie. Custom dictates the opinionator's duty. Hence, my Christmas message, straight from the heart:
Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends! The Festival of LIghts extends until December 22 this year, so there is still time to join the festivities. I hope your holidays are full of love, family and fellowship.
There is too much violence against the Jewish community. The tragedy in Australia is a reminder anti-semitic activity is on the rise everywhere, including the United States.
That's obvious. This is too. There's too much violence against all communities. Hate doesn't go with Christmas and we've got way too much hate rolling around this country. The kind of hate that sends monsters to kill on college campuses, in common markets, and in sacred spaces.
The Christmas elephant in the room in America right now is too many of the people who claim we're a Christian nation would cheer while ICE puts Mary and Joseph in a cage. No birthright citizenship for that child of illegals, either.
There's nothing remotely Christian, religious, or human about what our government is doing to people in this country. It's all about cruelty for the camera. Cruelty against the weakest among us cheered on by the American people.
Something, namely that book many are so fond of quoting, tells me that's not the way Jesus would do it.
We have become the antithesis of the Christmas story in less than a year.
So, please excuse me if I wasn't in the spirit for this Christmas message. I'm praying it hits me by Wednesday. Sometimes Christmas column Friday sneaks up on you.
Have a joyous Christmas.