wellitschristmas

12/18/98

8:57 am

Well, it's Christmas, Anyway -Morgan Young

It's December 18, 1998. Christmas is half a fortnight away. CNN, CSPAN, TNN and all the news acronyms report the ongoing activities of the holiday season. The President faces near certain impeachment. He, we , uh, the United States continues the bombing of Iraq, which started the day before the scheduled impeachment vote. There must be no place like the District of Columbia for Christmas. Closer to home, much too close in fact, Don & Lois face an uncertain future. It's unknown whether their marriage will weather far past these holidays that are upon us. Every one here seems full of multiple emotions. How did this? Why did this? How could you let this? What about your kids? What about each other? What about your future? What about God in all of this? It's a week away from Christmas, alright. That is a certainty. But the perimeter view from here sees much uncertainty. From Don's eyes, this was THE time of year. Everything intensified and magnified...tons of decorations...tons of presents...tons of cheer...tons of good tidings...tons of good will to his fellow man...tons of big warm fuzzy plans for his family. But what must it look like through his tired eyes this year?I imagine it's hard for him to look upon it at all this year. What used to be a grandiose technicolor picture seen through the eyes of a grown-up kid, now appears to be the lifeless black & white reality of a grown up saddled with oppressing responsibilities, drained of emotion. I hasten to say he can't see far beyond the tears and heaviness of his own head. But still, Christmas comes.

What must a Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton holiday look like, today? We forget about Chelsea, a young college co-ed with real emotions, who sees her dad on television every day; or people talking about her father. And, everyone knows who she is. There's no anonymity for the daughter of a president. And Mr. Presidentbehind the title, behind the persona, he's just a guy named Bill, who's rich in bad decisionswho's looking at the gift of impeachment this year. We're so used to the stone-faced, composure filled demeanor of our president. It almost gives him an unreal perception in our minds. Face it, you don't know someone until you see the Real them. Just because we don't see Bill's emotions doesn't mean they don't existI hope. A man who is rich in bad decisionswe opt not to feel for people who have "done themselves in." It's easier for us that way. And there's always someone like this. We are compassionate for a while, but we slowly turn off the "feel" valve. "Why should I feel sorry for So & So? He had it coming!" Yet, how can I deny that if I was appointed my own "special prosecutor," that I couldn't be convicted of a string of bad decisions that has threaded it's way through my lifemaybe not as extreme as those unfurled, heretofore...but maybe so, on some accounts...Sometimes I turn off the emotion to these situations, because I'm really turning off the acknowledgement of loosely related items in my life...present or past...and I don't like them in me anymore than in others.

So, a few paragraphs later, and Christmas is still a week away. Last night I was feeling the stress of holiday related activitiesbeing out of the house every night this week. As I have watched the news and the lives of Don & Lois, my heart has been heavier than a typical December. I fear that the reality is, my heaviness was out of how these events are effecting my happiness this year; not out of sincere compassion.

It's a week away from Christmas...and I feel lucky...or as I'm trying to get used to saying, "Blessed." Everything that may have been bugging me this past week, seems trivial. That now is a good time to gather up the things of my life and take inventoryand be thankful...to enjoy what is within my reach...because tomorrow, I could make a bad decision, or be on the receiving end of someone else's...and Christmas will still be a week away.



	12/18/98 8:57 am Well, it's Christmas, Anyway -Morgan Young It's December 18, 1998. Christmas is half a fortnight away. CNN, CSPAN, TNN and all the news acronyms report the ongoing activities of the holiday season. The President faces near certain impeachment. He, we , uh, the United States continues the bombing of Iraq, which started the day before the scheduled impeachment vote. There must be no place like the District of Columbia for Christmas. Closer to home, much too close in fact, Don & Lois face an uncertain future. It's unknown whether their marriage will weather far past these holidays that are upon us. Every one here seems full of multiple emotions. How did this? Why did this? How could you let this? What about your kids? What about each other? What about your future? What about God in all of this? It's a week away from Christmas, alright. That is a certainty. But the perimeter view from here sees much uncertainty. From Don's eyes, this was THE time of year. Everything intensified and magnified...tons of decorations...tons of presents...tons of cheer...tons of good tidings...tons of good will to his fellow man...tons of big warm fuzzy plans for his family. But what must it look like through his tired eyes this year?I imagine it's hard for him to look upon it at all this year. What used to be a grandiose technicolor picture seen through the eyes of a grown-up kid, now appears to be the lifeless black & white reality of a grown up saddled with oppressing responsibilities, drained of emotion. I hasten to say he can't see far beyond the tears and heaviness of his own head. But still, Christmas comes. What must a Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton holiday look like, today? We forget about Chelsea, a young college co-ed with real emotions, who sees her dad on television every day; or people talking about her father. And, everyone knows who she is. There's no anonymity for the daughter of a president. And Mr. Presidentbehind the title, behind the persona, he's just a guy named Bill, who's rich in bad decisionswho's looking at the gift of impeachment this year. We're so used to the stone-faced, composure filled demeanor of our president. It almost gives him an unreal perception in our minds. Face it, you don't know someone until you see the Real them. Just because we don't see Bill's emotions doesn't mean they don't existI hope. A man who is rich in bad decisionswe opt not to feel for people who have "done themselves in." It's easier for us that way. And there's always someone like this. We are compassionate for a while, but we slowly turn off the "feel" valve. "Why should I feel sorry for So & So? He had it coming!" Yet, how can I deny that if I was appointed my own "special prosecutor," that I couldn't be convicted of a string of bad decisions that has threaded it's way through my lifemaybe not as extreme as those unfurled, heretofore...but maybe so, on some accounts...Sometimes I turn off the emotion to these situations, because I'm really turning off the acknowledgement of loosely related items in my life...present or past...and I don't like them in me anymore than in others. So, a few paragraphs later, and Christmas is still a week away. Last night I was feeling the stress of holiday related activitiesbeing out of the house every night this week. As I have watched the news and the lives of Don & Lois, my heart has been heavier than a typical December. I fear that the reality is, my heaviness was out of how these events are effecting my happiness this year; not out of sincere compassion. It's a week away from Christmas...and I feel lucky...or as I'm trying to get used to saying, "Blessed." Everything that may have been bugging me this past week, seems trivial. That now is a good time to gather up the things of my life and take inventoryand be thankful...to enjoy what is within my reach...because tomorrow, I could make a bad decision, or be on the receiving end of someone else's...and Christmas will still be a week away.