Wednesday, December 24, 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Another Christmas and the end of another year.

Not exactly the happiest time for me and some of my friends, but we'll go through the motions and try our best to make merry. I, for one, will be grateful when it's all over.

There's always next year to look forward to with the hope that 2015 will be better.

It's times like this that I wish for the simpler days of yore where we weren't constantly blasted with news of terrible events and hyped-up reports designed to scare the heck out of us.

The lies posted on so-called "mainstream media" have made many lose their own sense of what is right. People have been manipulated into voting against their own best interests because the media has been complicit in pandering to the worst fears and prejudices of the general public. Christmas has become a huge retail greed event as evidenced by the insanity of "Black Friday" shopping.

I have fond memories of Christmases years ago where family gathered and shared in the spirit of the season. We went to Midnight Mass; we gave as much as we could to the Salvation Army; and our Christmas Dinner table was full of friends and relatives, many of whom would have been alone for the holidays.

That is the Christmas Season in my mind. Sharing, not getting. Kindness, not self-satisfaction. Reflection, not judgment.

And most of all, humility. Christ was born is a stable, we are told. How is it that all this overblown salute to conspicuous consumerism is in any way related to Christ's humble beginning?

It's a question that I ask myself every year and am still waiting for the answer.






7 comments:

  1. A very Merry Christmas to you Madam Editor and much more of the same to all who post here with the best interests of the Town and the greater good of all our citizens at heart.

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  2. My theory is that the Christmas Crazies (capitalism run amok, lurid media, etc.) Is intended to drown out the emanations of what is sacred, however you define that word. Christmas is a window for all that could be. Hoping we all find peace there.

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  3. It is possible to stay free from all the negative input put forth in the media and from others who burp out the latest bloody news they seem to need to share to anyone who will listen. In fact by the time they blurt out the latest negative tidbit they heard its too late. Just avoid those types. Its a choice you make. It can be a hard door to close once its been opened. You watch that crap on TV thinking its important to know? Its not. When someone says peace comes from within its a refiral to the fact that we all make the choice what to look at and what to listen to. Nothing happens if you dont hear about the latest celeberty trend or mass murder in some distant place. We all want peace, but its going to take some sort of effort in this media saturated culture we seem to want to avoid but take no real effort to turn off. There is an off switch on all that equipment. Read or write your books, watch movies with a positive message, and tell people you dont want to hear what some talking head was trying to describe for your tittilating amusement. If Christmas is too commercial and filled with gluttons and gifts that will be junk at the thrift store by March, then stop being part of it.That part about "wow! Its Christmas all over the world"!! is just stupid. Billions of people have no concept of what that is all about. In an interview with factory workers in China people were heard to say, "we dont know what all this plastic stuff is for but judging from all the bright colours it must be a very important festival". They have festivals of their own and can relate to the fun being had. A festival? No a religous day? You decide what to make of it. Peace at Christmas? Its a choice the individual has to make. Its not going to happen because it was printed on a piece of cardboard in a factory and mailed to you. In the new year try a little effort to avoid what so many are addicted to on screens, newsprint and radio. Most are pleasently surprised, some are shocked they didnt do it sooner and the rest cant believe it took this long to figure out something so simple that brings so much peacefulness for so little effort.

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    Replies
    1. Excellent discourse James on hope for us and World Peace. As for us ,it should have been written and read four years ago. For us its too late or too soon perhaps .Remember our position right now. Fort Erie has a ten million dollar lawsuit hanging over our head. an outstanding lawsuit against four Councillors from last year, outstanding court decisions on Bay Beach road allowances.Add the cost of just these up in payouts ,lawyer fees and court costs whether they are won or lost. Lets add on the presumption that EDTC prevails with the half million request, the staff request for $200,000 for welcome to Fort Erie shrubry on the QEW and with all the usual budget needs and requests and allocations, you can add on to Welcome to Fort Erie the Bankrupt Border Town. There will be nothing left this year for that longed for pool unless the new High School produces one for community use. Peace Brother and goodwill to all the taxpayers .

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  4. We can remember traveling in a remote section of central america for a few months a few years ago when returning to this part of the world being shocked at what seemed to be important to the people here. How quickly so much of the day to day noise was forgotten when spending time in places where there wasnt clean water to drink or even the most basic health care for people that work so hard it would put most of us here to shame. There was war in asia, nuclear fires in a hydro plant in Japan, the list goes on, but none of it mattered in the big picture and only seemed to get people talking and watching more news on TV, while in more remote parts of the world where we were a small school opening or a well finally being dug deep enough to finally reach water was real news that mattered and made a real difference. That brought some form of peace and a resolve to work harder as a result. We can only wish that people here could experience that sort of news and realize its whats going on here in small positive ways is what counts when there is anything to dwell on. The other "big storys"? Shameful to think that someone elses suffering is a formula for amusing entertainment. Agree with James, just turn it off and stop being so shallow. Eventually what is really important will become very clear, at Christmas what could be a better gift to your friends and especially yourself.

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  5. James, In my opinion has it just about right, my first Christmas 's were back in wartime North Wales ,my first present that I can remember was a stuffed pink dog, I remember dragging that security dog around foe years, he gradually got to be very dirty, I still loved the critter. With wartime rationing , no Xmas chicken or goose on the menu, my two older brothers set some snares Xmas Eve to hopefully catch an unlucky rabbit, they came home Christmas Day with two pheasant that somehow wound up caught in the snares, two smiling and laughing boys came home with Christmas dinner fit for a king.!!! We did not even have electricity in that valley yet .Merry Christmas Sharon , our hearts go out to you this Christmas Season, Cheers! from your fan club.!!!

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  6. Councillor Rick Shular passes away after just being sworn in and missing the first Council meeting. Already speculation runs rampant. So many different scenarios. Does his seat go to the runnerup in Ward Two , a relatively unknown who garnered little support and few votes? Does a byelection get called because there are four full years ahead and the voters of ward two deserve a vote for their candidate of choice? Does Pissaro get anointed because he was on Council last term and was second runnerup to the Mayor {Heaven forbid} ? Does Anne Marie get the nod because she has the most years of experience? Does Salzer get picked because she only lost to Shular last term by 70 votes? Does Dean Demizio get looked at because of his strong campaign and business experience? Or the peoples choice for a fun time and they go with the insider knowledge of Mike Cloutier? You can bet there will be a case made for each and the first division of Council will come shortly.

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