Tag Archives: holiday

A Reason

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Every day, the approaching holiday requires thinking.  It is Advent, and each day of this time we look at the calendar andn receive a piece of chocolate, just for looking at the day, and hopefully, understanding and knowing it.  It is about getting close to the end of the year, when just six days from New Year’s Eve, we celebrate, and, remember the birthday of the most glorious man to be born–Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

It is  not just to have an entire week of holidays, that we celebrate.  It is about a man who found a way to give the gift of life, every single day of his life.  Even if now, we cannot hear his voice, we can, still, have his words remembered and told to us from generation to generation, as all knew, even from the beginnings of time, that he was the One who would make the world a better place to be.  We have history books, and Catechism classes that recount, and retell, and make a real, all of Jesus’ teachings.  And, each day, each birth, there is carried on the glorious ability of Jesus to save and create, at the same time.

So, on Christmas Day, we remember the creation of Jesus, and by association, the creation of a new world–the Christian World.  From the beginning of time till now, we still wish to be as good as he is, finding within ourselves to give gifts, to pass on gifts, from person to person, from family member to family member, and ultimately, to instill in ourselves and our friends and family, the new gifts of life shown to us from Jesus Christ.

Why am I so ardently talking of Jesus?  It is because I come from a background of Christianity.  It was going to school, to Private Catholic Schools, for my entire education that has taught me the value of life, of myself, and of caring.  I am more satisfied with myself, and some would say this is a self-righteous declaration made to justify the validity and worth of a quickly fading Christian World.  It is, and, yet, it is not.  Science and the Scientific Endeavor to discover and create is destroying the old facts of the world, and creating a new world of wealth and power.  Some would say we will one day defeat death and live forever without dying….  But again, that is just a pipe-dream of Science, and, even, of Christians, as well.

So, why not have Science Day, instead of Christmas Day?  Because we value our life, even our life as it exists in bones in the grave.  We are all the same, our DNA 99% of our being, all linked together, and shared in this common ancestry.  We are proud of who we are, of who we will become, and we want to have life, infinitely, forever.  And, this is done through history stories, through science stories, through cultural stories, and through the leadership of the Christian Church.  Am I justified in ranking Religion on par with Government?  No, but it does have almost the same power as the Government, and has just as much reaction from everyone, regardless if it is friendly or not a friendly statement made to the public.  Every nation on earth has a religion, even those who purport to be pure of such subjective leanings.  So, if such a declaration is what defines the modern nation, why is there no such thing as a Science Day?  Science runs on very strict rules of experimentation and mathematical methods of describing the world, and only the most rigorous work ever gets recognition, because, it is what will define the world.  So, where is our respect, to all this work?  It seems almost duplicitous that we have forgotten the wealth of Christianity.  Churches and Cathedrals abound in every nation, even in those who purport to be areligious.  There is a secret code and a secret brotherhood in Christianity, and the following of it, has made it rich, made the world rich, and made the Church rich.  So, does this observation make it necessary that we enshrine Science like Religion has enshrined Jesus and Christians?

I would miss Christmas Day and all the 60 days of Advent before the Day.  I love the richness of having , of feeling, of believing, and of sharing what I can.  The greatest reason to do this, is because of Jesus.  I feel like he does, and I lead, like he does, by example.  This opinion is truly yet another voice in the crowd that gathers to support December 25th.  I gladly throw my voice into the sea, to be part of that humanity, to hopefully live infinitely, forever.

It is apropos, as the Fall season has so many little holidays that just make Autumn fun and memorable, that in going into the stores, I already think of My List…  The Christmas Season List of things I have reason to do, and of things I want to do.  So, happiness comes in red, and gold, and silver, all hung on the evergreen, on the holly, and on the wreath.  I value the richness, and that it feels like the world shares in good faith.  So, just for that one day, we have a reason to live.

We Will Go on a Cruise

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“We will go on a cruise, when we have the time!”  This pronouncement from my mother made me frustrated and even more impatient than my 18-year-old self could actually handle, which is to say, I began to whine.  i must say that the whining did pay off, as within six months we were on a massive ship in the Caribbean visiting 3 or 4 ports of call, including Jamaica.

At eighteen, this is not only a vacation, but on the best adventures.  I was “officially” graduated from Disney rides, and allowed to sip Bloody Mary’s and have a bottle of Corona.  I almost had a room to myself–I shared a cabin with my sister.

Every day was get up late day…  And because the late I preferred was noon–lunchtime, I missed being in the main dining room, which was only open to any public for breakfast.  For lunch, I often wandered into the buffet, as well as one of the cafes on a few of the other decks.  I welcomed getting up late as the feeling that the sun is always shining is absolutely the one feeling I wan, especially if I am on vacation.  This made it possible to run out to the pool deck for the afternoon, if there wasn’t some show or movie on.  My sister and I would share a cocktail, just before meeting our parents and a couple of other friends who had come with our parents.  Sometimes, it was easier to pay for a bottle of Corona and avoid the late afternoon nagging that would come from Mom and Dad…  especially in one of the several bars and lounges that were open.  This happened a few times in our two week cruise, sine the traffic continually changed, sometimes making the outdoor sundecks too crowded.  My sister and I didn’t have the money to go  to the ones with the dress code, but we made an effort to get together with the grown-ups at one of the karaoke bars anyway.

This was one of the best vacations I had ever been on, and I am young, so, you know that if I had the perspective of a more experienced cruiser, that probably this business is a good one.  To always have a water bed to sleep on is one of the luxuries I always thought belonged to the ultra-rich.  To have an experience that is related to having a lot of money and a lot of taste is like an adventure at Disney Land, for adults who love this feeling.

The fun thing about a cruise is that the fun of Disney Land and Disney World doesn’t end.  If you get bored of gambling onboard ship, you can always disembark and on land at one of the ports and go for something fun and interesting.  There are bars and restaurants and sites to see as well.  And you get to see all those buildings that could only be seen in unreal ways.

After that first trip, I have fallen in love with cruising.  It has a cult following that attracts people who like to travel, which in the past, was not as easy as getting aboard ship.  I’ve also been on the road trip…., which requires nerves of steel, if you have them.  You go and you stop and stay at absolutely any time you wish, going as far as you want, but just get back home within three weeks!

As this summer ends, we are getting ready again fro the regular business of school, and the changing of season, again.  After a break like the two months in the summer, it almost seems fun to get out big coats and sets of boots, and start to think about the fun of Halloween and Christmas.  I feel lucky to have “things” despite those people who are minimalists, who want to have very few interior decoration or things to carry  around with them.  I am not so attuned to having luck or no luck decide my life. I am very focused on having “my things” with me, when I get them.  So, in this pack rat style, I now have to clean my room.  I still have university text books, and my favorite doll from childhood.  Things that I own, and with a growing family, I must now decide, “text books” versus “daughter and son.”

I almost feel as if I am letting people cruise through my life…  Experiencing it through these objects that i have collected.  But where else, what else, can I do with these things?  Sometimes some of the things are still very useful.  My sister, in one of her “cleaning moods,” got together with her friends and made a three week yard sale, and made over  a thousand dollars. “On junk.”  At this point, even if people were to cruise through my life, like this, I am more willing to get rid of the junk than to care about being nakedly exposed.

So, welcome, please, and join the cruise.  It is an adventure of things and experiences.  Welcome!  Come All, Come One!  WE will have fun!