Christmas

When you see or hear the word "Christmas", what do you imagine? What do you think of? Do you see Santa Claus with his gifts, elves, sleigh and reindeer? Do you see a baby Jesus with a halo, lying in a box, with images of his parents around and animals? Do you think of the snow, either with dread and disgust or with hope and joy? Family gatherings and repairing friendships? Gifts under a tree? A shopping mall crowded with people, trying to fulfill some cultural rule of gift-giving?

Many people know that Christmas is not the actual date of Jesus birth. Many know that the celebration was moved to coincide with a festival of life in death, life in winter. It's funny, society has been trying to turn Christmas into a gift-giving celebration where everybody spends lots of money. So many people don't want to bother with God, but they celebrate Christmas. The origin of the word isn't hard to find. Christ-mas. Christ Mass. Looks rather Christian to me, at the very least it's Catholic.

A friend of mine had her Facebook status saying she wanted Christmas to be here so she could get the phone her parents had bought for her. If you know what the gift is, does it really count as a gift anymore? It's more of a obstacle to be removed. Now the dinners and parties become a hindrance of something you want. You finally are handed the box, and instead of excitement, you feel impatience. You get the phone out of the packaging, set everything up, all the Facebook and twitter and such, while mumbling a few pleasantries, and then start texting your friends and asking for numbers and everything. You ignore the people who bought it for you, and move on.

I know that not everyone does this. I just think that our generation has enough trouble with impatience. And letting someone know what their gift is, doesn't help. I know some kids will be like this whether the know what the gift is or not, but it is still ridiculous and rude.

Why do children behave this way? It's like the lawsuit that's come up against McDonald's. Parents are suing them for including a toy with every Happy Meal, when the Happy Meals are so unhealthy. Parents are saying that they are forced to buy the meals for their children because the children continue to demand the toys.

Why do the parents find it so difficult to say no? They know they will be throwing the toy out in a matter of days in any case. Why not buy their children something healthier, and tell them they can't have that toy? I know that my argument might carry more weight if I had children of my own, but I do not believe it is that difficult to refuse a child something. If you simply give the child everything they ask for, you either have issues with refusing anyone, or you do not pay enough attention to your child to care.

However, despite all the mess that people have created, the younger generations are breaking through the landslide of B.S. and are learning what Christmas is supposed to be about. How to spend their Christmas in a way that leaves them feeling better about themselves and others. They volunteer with food drives, shelters, gift drives, clothing drives. Some help out with Out of the Cold. Other's try Pay it Forward. Some go and shovel a neighbor's driveway. A small gesture, and many of their neighbors could have shovelled their own driveway, but it makes them feel better about themselves and everyone else feels better too. Their neighbor feels grateful that they don't have to do it, the youth next door saved them time. The neighbor is in a better mood and will therefore treat others better. It's an amazing chain effect.

So many people worry about expensive gifts. They don't have to be expensive. If the person you are giving the gift to worries that you will give them a cheap gift, I think they need to be reminded why you are giving them a gift. A gift is a sign of friendship. It's a way to make up after an argument or disagreement. It's a way to let someone know you care and are there to be friends with them.

If you want to make a gift extra special, make it yourself. You want to give someone a necklace with a fancy symbol on it? Then buy the chain, and use wire or pilecleaner or craftpaper to build whatever you want to decorate the necklace with. If you don't want to make something, then find a gift that is special in some way. Something that reminds you both of a favourite joke, maybe a gift that has images from a vacation you took together. Think outside the box you might get from the toy store.

We all have seen the movies that retell the story and meaning of Christmas. We all have seen the pagents, plays and skits that tell us of children and old men who learn the meaning of Christmas. If you are not sure about the meaning of Christmas, then set some time aside to talk with a friend or two and talk about what it might be. Debate it. Once you figure out what you believe the true meaning of Christmas is, I would say act on it.

I wish everyone safe travels in these days of celebration. God bless you and yours, and have a Merry Christmas!

Samuel Tyler

Why does it rain?

Everyone wants to have a happy ending for their life. Everyone wants to live their days out in peace and love, in Eden. In Utopia.

I live in Canada. Much like the United States, Canada is seen to be a land of freedom and peace. For those who come from the corners of the world, burned and scarred by the wars, famine, disasters, suffering and misery, Canada is a utopia. It is a peaceful place for refugees to raise their families safely. Without fear of them going through what they went through. A place for them to make a life for themselves, to be successful.

Even in Canada, there are tears. Even in this Utopia in the North, strong and free, rain still falls. People still die. Hearts are still broken. Love is still hard to find.

Why do we put up with this? We have it in our power to make the world a better place. So many countries look to Canada to lead the rest of the world in the struggle to bring world peace. Organizations, citizens, refugees, and the entire world looks to us for an example. They are angry, disappointed that Canada is doing nothing. Why? Are we not one of the safest countries? Do we not have enough food to feed all the hungry in Africa? Do we not have shelter and safety from the storms that reach our shores?

This utopia, this Canada we live in, is broken. We try to portray this image, this aura of safety. But we are as hurting as the rest of you. We might not have child soldiers, but our children are just as scarred by divorce, by inter-marital fighting. We still have hungry, sick, dying, drunks, homeless, drug addicts. We are no better than the rest of the world. We have more churches than the Vatican has scandal rumours. Yet the faith in any god, in anything, is nigh none-existent. We don't believe in Jesus, Buddha, Yahweh, the Hindu pantheon, the Aesir, the Olympians, the Titans, not even money, power, family, love.

Canada may have all the material gain that the world wishes for, but our souls, minds and hearts are as empty as so many of the stomachs of children in India, China, Indonesia, Africa, Asia. We are as sickened by the rot as the people of New Orleans were by the floods, as were the people of Haiti.

Like hollow logs, we appear solid, and as long as you don't push to hard, that illusion will hold. The moment you lean on it, it splinters and disintegrates beneath your fingers. Our sorrow, our depression, our weakness is no less then your own. Like so many, we have closed up our hearts, we have set boundaries. And now we are drowning behind the walls of our hearts. We are killing ourselves in the most painful manner possible.

Why? Because we have lost hope. We are not told what the ones we love think of us. A girl will not tell a guy she loves him. Nor will a guy say to a girl that he wants to spend his life with her. He will not say that when he is with her, he feels like a child again. He feels that nothing will harm either of you. If something tries, he has faith that you will weather the storm. He will not tell her how special he feels that she notices him. Guys are supposed to be heartless, tough, logical and unwise beings. We aren't supposed to have feelings, we aren't supposed to feel like children. We aren't supposed to have faith in anything other than our physical strength. We are not supposed to be human.

Girls are supposed to be sexually active. To sleep with many guys, and cause many heartbreaks. They must be thin, and expensively dressed. They must act masculine and feminine at the same time in order to make women equal to men.

Why do we torture ourselves so? Why must tears fall so plentily that the rivers swell and flood our lives, and wash away the flimsy foundations we had?

"Why does it rain, rain, rain down on Utopia?" (Within Temptation, 'Utopia') Why does it hurt so?