Worth Sharing

With a big, heart-felt AMEN from Stepper!

From the Hatrack River site weekly article: Uncle Orson Reviews Everything
by Orson Scott Card
December 29, 2011

(Yes, you're reading it before it's been officially published on the site. No, I didn't get official permission from him to do so. Perhaps you should all comment on how much you enjoyed the article so that I don't get into trouble?)

Thank you, all you crazy people who put up Christmas lights.  The wacky palm trees on Westridge, the whole neighborhoods of globes of lights hanging from all the trees, the little cul-de-sacs that are ablaze with Christmas decorations -- that's right!  Let our celebration be seen from space.  Let astronomers on other worlds try to figure out what astronomical anomaly is causing the fluctuations in the light levels from planet Earth every December.

Thank you also to the people whose decorations use no electricity -- you who put out banners, or sculptures, or statues, or creches, or big air-filled Santas and Frostys.

Thank you to those who put out candles in sand-ballasted paper bags, lighting the road for passersby.  Thank you to those who sing, who play instruments, who broadcast holiday music.  Thank you to those who tell stories, who carry out family traditions, who go visiting the sick, who share with the needy, who bring cheer to the lonely.

Thank you to those who care nothing for Christmas, but are nevertheless patient with those of us to whom it means much: Thank you for your tolerance, for not trying to put a stop to other people's joy.

Thank you to the stores that commercialize Christmas: Imagine this, a great nation whose retail year is powered by a holiday in which people buy gifts for others.  I hope you all made boatloads of money from the generosity of your customers -- stay in business for another year, my friends.

Thank you to those who understand that the lights and decorations and celebrations are not competitive; they are cumulative.  So what if your neighbor's house is flooded with lights, and yours is not?

If all you can afford, or all you wish to display is a simple decoration -- a string of lights wound around your porch railing, a candle in a window, your Christmas tree showing between the open curtains, a simple wreath or ribbon on your door -- then your contribution to the festive season is enough; it is gratefully received; I thank you for it.

If you believe in Christ, then it is the birth of the Messiah we celebrate together.  If you do not believe, but you enjoy the public celebration and gift-giving, the Santa Clausification of the world, the pleasure in the change of seasons, then we celebrate together as Americans fulfilling a long American tradition, and I'm as glad for your contribution as I am for that of fellow Christians.

The next year is one in which history will be made.  Elections, weddings, births and deaths, wars and times of peace and good will, graduations and birthdays, sorrows and disappointments, all will come, as they come every year.

This much we each control: How we will respond to the good and bad things that happen to us, and those that happen to others.

May we hold our tongues when tempted to criticize, and instead celebrate what we approve of.

When we see a need, let us do what is within our power to mend what's wrong or supply what's lacking.

Let our words to those who need us most be filled with love and kindness, gentleness and mercy.  Let us be as courteous to our spouses and children as we are to our employers or to total strangers.

Each day is just a day -- the sun rising, the sun setting, some kind of weather -- until we make it something more, a day that lives in someone's memory, a little brighter because we made it so.  That is within our power, every one of us.

Happy New Year!