Across a continent and within a nation of over 300 million we should expect, and do indeed find regional variation, including at these year end holidays.
Religious purists may regard the birth of the Christ child as the important central theme of the holiday that bears his name.
Say what you will, Jesus of Nazareth is the man that reset time, for we count the year 2023 not from Genesis / the big bang, but from this apocryphal barn birth.
Commerce to the rescue.
Despite regional variations Christmas gift-giving serves as a unifying social matrix, an overlay of cohesion from coast to coast, and border to border.
With Mardi Gras / Lent the party goes first, before protracted Lenten sacrifice.
At Christmas / New Year's Eve the debauch follows the holiday with the reverent if subordinated overtones.
At each year's end we assess humanity's panorama both in retrospect, and prospect. New Year's resolutions, a formal way to focus our energies on the 366 days ahead.
These holidays help make constructive distinction. Divine perfection need not be achieved to be useful. Striving for improvement is its own reward. "god helps those that help themselves"
The carnage continues in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and too many elsewheres.
And so for those among the privileged, those with food aplenty, and the ability to stroll one's own neighborhood in safety, let us share thanks.
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year
Religious purists may regard the birth of the Christ child as the important central theme of the holiday that bears his name.
Say what you will, Jesus of Nazareth is the man that reset time, for we count the year 2023 not from Genesis / the big bang, but from this apocryphal barn birth.
Commerce to the rescue.
Despite regional variations Christmas gift-giving serves as a unifying social matrix, an overlay of cohesion from coast to coast, and border to border.
With Mardi Gras / Lent the party goes first, before protracted Lenten sacrifice.
At Christmas / New Year's Eve the debauch follows the holiday with the reverent if subordinated overtones.
At each year's end we assess humanity's panorama both in retrospect, and prospect. New Year's resolutions, a formal way to focus our energies on the 366 days ahead.
These holidays help make constructive distinction. Divine perfection need not be achieved to be useful. Striving for improvement is its own reward. "god helps those that help themselves"
The carnage continues in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and too many elsewheres.
And so for those among the privileged, those with food aplenty, and the ability to stroll one's own neighborhood in safety, let us share thanks.
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year