Having ranted about all this before, suffice to say, this season is the worst. Killings in Toys R Us by (yes, you guessed it) parents, employees trampled to death in the stampede of greed at a Wal-Mart and finally, Jesus appearing in electric guitars. Who in their right mind packs a gun when going to shop at Toys R Us? More than one parent, apparently. I curl up with my cat and just sigh. This has been a hard year for a lot of people, I guess.

I still think we should celebrate the season and not any specific deity. By celebrating the season, we celebrate them all, as well as Nature and the Universe at large. I refuse to be persecuted for saying Happy Holidays. I refuse to cave in to the title of wacko because I really enjoy the Winter Solstice. The earth was here long before any specific religion and you know what? It will be here long after, too.

Religion has its place and its people; yet, a lot of things transcend religion. Ethics, morality, science, nature, logic, reason, thought, philosophy, mathematics – none of this can be denied. A fundamentalist, of whatever religion he or she belongs to, doesn’t seem to me to be able to lift the veil long enough to see that it’s all okay. Fear, which kept women and many others hostage for so long, continues to fill the minds of so many of those types of people. There is no difference in the character from the fundamentalist Christian and the fundamentalist Muslim; the fear of “other” runs rampant and the weapon, while of a different makeup, is still handled under the intention of fratricide. And sometimes, it’s just too difficult and tiring to ignore their fear. I just want to curl up and hide in my cave.

In the time-honored words of Rodney King, can’t we, this season, just all get along? Pretend to love one another, even if it’s just a facade, for a few moments at the mall, in the parking lot, or at the toy store? Stop being afraid of “not having.” Stop being afraid. We’re all going to die. We’re all going have times of hardship and times of prosperity. It’s our own reality that we create – and every complaint, every whine, and every cry just adds one more block to despair.

Celebrate something different this year, in the spirit of No Fear: celebrate Kwanzaa if you’re Chinese, Muharram if you’re Christian, and Saturnalia if you’re Greek. Figure out some way to do something different. Me, I’m still looking. A winter solstice celebration each year is becoming more and more of what I want. I think that we were put here to experience the Earth; the last thing I want to do is deny myself that experience. So, you’ll find me on December 21st with a candle lit all night, to honor the dark, a warm fire to honor the hearth, and a small gift for my beloved, to honor Love. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate all the good things on Earth.

Whatever you choose, do it with love and kindness. Do it with thought, positive intention, and a desire for something better in the world. Next year, we’ll have work to do but for now, let’s revel in the vision. Choose differently.

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
–Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968)

-TDD