'Tis The Season...

To be what? To be jolly? Or rushed, in a hurry? To cuss someone out in the toy store while getting little Bobby the wii he wants?

It makes one wonder when we hear “Peace on earth, good will to men”, then we go out around Christmas time and encounter holiday shoppers… Just today, going out to run errands, I nearly was rear-ended by a man driving with his arms flailing, followed by hands slamming down on the steering wheel as he drove like a maniac in his obvious fury. I could tell by his facial expressions that whoever was on the other end of his cell phone was being screamed at, and I found myself very thankful for glass windows in cars to block noise decibels. That coupled with other insane drivers determined to get those last-minute gifts, pushy customers in stores, and people with lost patience in general made my head swim in holiday buzz.

It just somehow seems so backwards that “‘Tis the season to be jolly” has seemingly turned into “It’s the reason to be naughty” for many of us.

Some quotations to note:

“Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.” ~Author Unknown
(Oh dear… and may I add that some of those will push people out of their way to grab that last “reduced price” gift?)

“Let Christmas not become a thing
Merely of merchant’s trafficking,
Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath
And surface pleasure, but beneath
The childish glamour, let us find
Nourishment for soul and mind.
Let us follow kinder ways
Through our teeming human maze,
And help the age of peace to come
From a Dreamer’s martyrdom.”
~Madeline Morse

In the end, I think the old cliche (though a bit over-used) says it best so I’ll say it myself… Have we forgotten to consider the real Reason for the season? I like what Longfellow has to say:

“I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll’d along th’ unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bow’d my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

‘Til ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!”