And I’m off to the parents’ house for sugar comas and Christmas movies — it has become a tradition in my family to round up all our friends who don’t have family in town and aren’t going home for the holidays to come over, eat a bunch of food and watch a couple of contemporary X-Mas flicks on Christmas Eve. Tonight, I think, it’s gonna be Die Hard and Bad Santa.
And let’s not forget the poor old Deus Sol Invictus on this day — after all, December 25th was his birthday first. (And almost certainly not that of Jesus of Nazareth. Remember the whole bit about “shepherds in their fields”. In December, in the Northern Hemisphere? Not likely, not even in Palestine.) It was the first day of the year when the lengthening of the daylight hours was noticeable to ancients, and it symbolized the triumph of day over night.
Which is what Christmas ought to always be about, whether you’re a Christian or not: the recognition that light still shines in the darkness. This has been a terrible year for me personally and for a lot of people in the world in general. But light still shines. We’ve got a man-sexy new President who may actually believe the stuff he’s selling; and hey, gas prices have gone down substantially, yeah?
The light still shines. And I hope it shines for you and yours this Christmas, and that you have the best Christmas possible.
Good night.
And Merry Dies Natalis Solis Invicti to you too, sir.
Got your message. I spent all day with family yesterday and probably all afternoon today, but we’ll hang out in the next day or so. Expect a call soon.