Ms. Smith Goes to Washington

December 12, 2005

Silent Night

MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
by Shirley Smith

The Christmas Carol, "Silent Night," always brings back childhood memories to me of Christmas and the holiday celebrations in a small American town. And, yes, we used the words "happy holidays," people didn't just celebrate Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Days before and after Christmas up through New Years were all part of the holiday season. Just like today. The snows, the smells, and the street lights with their halos of warm yellow glows, were like taking part in a living, breathing Christmas or holiday card. Usually, there would be a soft snow falling and the clouds would be so low that one's voice could almost echo ... it was like being wrapped in one of nature's blankets, because you could actually feel warmth.

We would spend the week before Christmas doing good deeds. There would be nights of caroling to people we called"shut ins." Our elderly or the ill who could not leave their homes. (This was done for people of our community, not just for those who belonged to a certain church.) There would be food and gifts, baked, wrapped and delivered to homes so that the very poor in our town and country, would be able to play Santa Claus to their younger children and have, what was considered then to be the regular Christmas dinner. These good deeds were carried on by all churches and all religions in town. It was a "feel good" time of the year ... for us children, these activities were like the crescendo of excitement leading up to Christmas morning.

It was a holiday of feasts and the feasts were the rewards of giving cheer and hope loaded with smiles and songs of happiness and lots of laughter. It was fun! There was one period of time where some anti-good-time individuals must have thought people where too cheerful and having too much fun, so they were accusing people of taking the Christ out of Christmas when they used the Xmas spelling for Christmas, which just happened to be the Greek letter standing for the name of Christ. Ignorance always buys into these blemishes that are brought out around the holidays, expecting to drive people's attention elsewhere, or just put people on the defensive, while ignoring the fact that there are many other religions that should be respected during the holidays. You have to give respect, in order to earn respect.

Today, it could snow ten feet and I could never recapture those feelings, because in the news all we ever hear about are the Bush GOP fundamentalist Christians and their complaints, and who seem to me to be the unhappiest and most mean-spirited people on the planet. Nothing pleases them ... unless they have total control and power over the whole holiday period or maybe the world ... but, what do we have to celebrate ... the war in Afghanistan? Iraq? Africa? or the neglect by the government towards our own people in New Orleans? We don't hear the fundamentalists harping about any of those things as they celebrate their holiest of holy days, do we? No, their only worry is about the word "holiday." It's as if none of these atrocities exists ... out of sight, out of vacuous minds.

Not much to celebrate after what has been done in our name around the world by the Bush GOP administration, in my opinion;, but there will be those who will try to ease the pain of the war and flood torn forgotten. The fundamentalists (Christian Coalition) have given a whole different meaning to the idea of what their Christianity is, and it has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ ... it would be a great treat during the holiday season if those who have supported the treasonous Bush GOP and what they've done around the world, which there is nothing holy about it ... nothing peaceful about it ... nothing Christ-like about it and nothing Democratic about it ... would stop to think that if it weren't for US democracy, they, as followers of the Bush GOP, wouldn't be allowed to spread their prejudices so freely, here, around the US.

So, until many of our US citizens understand what Peace and Goodwill really mean ... maybe the Bush GOP Right Wing or Christian Coalition, if they can't be holy, they should just learn to be silent ... a great beginning for peace on earth and goodwill towards all human kind.

Just a thought,

Thanks BuzzFlash,

Shirley Smith

Shirley Smith is a regular BuzzFlash Reader and Contributor. Many of her earlier posts can be found in the Mailbag.