I start marking the Christmas season about two weeks before it starts. And I thought it might be worthwhile to get this in before getting caught up in all that goes along with this time of year for those of the Christian faith.
I'm a Christian. Not a good one to be sure. But more often than not I stay within the ballpark of what I learned in Sunday school, Confirmation and on an irregular basis from the pulpit.
I think an honest attempt to "do the right thing" is true of most people who were raised with spiritual values, no matter what faith or denomination originated them.
However much you may want to demonize a particular religion or its followers (either casual or fanatic) there's an appeal to basic humanity at the core of every faith that we can all identify with.
To be honest, I don't think I really "got" what it meant to be a Christian until I saw Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ". For all that film's faults and excesses, I'll always cut Mel some slack for conveying the message that Life and the World can be pretty rough on people sometimes and maybe we just don't have to make things worse.
Aging Rocker, Ronnie Hawkins, was all over Canadian television this week recalling the time John Lennon hung at his farm during his "Bed In For Peace" and "War Is Over" period. And it reminded me of one of the best things Ronnie ever said.
When asked, at the height of the "Rock 'n Roll is a tool of the Devil" days if he believed in God, Ronnie answered, "I believe in God as much as anyone on earth. It's his ground crew I'm not too sure about."
Over the next couple of weeks, there will be lots of debate (as there is every year) about whether we as a whole or somebody else has lost or abandoned the whole "reason for the season". A lot of that will come from people who consider themselves part of the "Ground Crew".
So for them, and maybe all of us, some words to think about before we begin our celebrations…
Enjoy Your Sunday.
