Christmas Just Got a Whole Lot Simpler - edited

Not So Simple

Thanks to a surge of a variant of the virus that “simplified” Christmas last year, Christmas 2021 just got a whole lot simpler!

Well, I’ve been grousing for years that Christmas, etc was too much hype.*

What could be simpler?

Couldn’t we just simplify our festivities, and focus on the hope that God so loved us He gave us His Son.?(!)

Last year, I got my wish, and this year, thanks to people for whom the pandemic ended when they said so, December 25 and its run-up are going to be such a relaxing time!

Whoa — am I bitter I finally got what I wanted — again?

Seriously

Well . . . let’s just say I am provoked.

I am provoked because

Our government “officials” often bungled the message of what a pandemic is and underestimated the degree of hesitancy many folks would have to the vaccines.

Several leaders and YouTube gurus politicized common sense protocols that could have kept many people safe who instead suffered from COVID and all its variants, and endured symptoms ranging from mild to fatal, often isolated.

Some Christians rejected precautions that medical and public health facilities recommended. An earnest — educated — soul explained, “I don’t trust the government.” That’s a tension that’s been around for quite awhile. (Romans 13:1-7)

Some Christians contend masking is their choice.

Hence, more than one provocation contributed to our choosing a second “simpler” Christmas. We don’t make choices in a vaccum — a rough translation of John Donne’s observation.

A Better Provocation

Serendipitously, an email — ART & THEOLOGY: Advent-Day 24 — showed me a better way to respond to the fall out in my life from other folks’ choices.

Please, please, please listen to the selection, and sing: For th e Long Night! It is a perfect song for a long night, seasonally and situationally.