#230 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday December 24)
Good morning!
To all who celebrate Christmas, may you have a joyous Christmas celebration with family and friends.
I have an early Christmas memory. It was a Cub Scouts event in our elementary school auditorium and Santa came to visit. He came out uproariously pronouncing his “Ho, ho ho!” and shook his prodigious girth (quite obviously the product of a well-placed pillow under his red suit). He had a long white beard, floppy red hat and bag of toys over his shoulder. Each of the kids came up to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.
I noticed that Santa looked, sounded, and walked a lot like Bill Sonnenberg. When it was my turn with Santa, I leaned over and whispered to him that I knew he was. Later I asked him why he played Santa. He explained to me that the Christian kids all got to come meet Santa with their fathers and it was important to their celebration of Christmas together. He volunteered for the part because he didn’t want any Christian parent to have to play Santa and miss out on the opportunity to be with their child that day. My parents always held that words were cheap but actions spoke volumes. This action is just one of the many lessons my father taught me.
One last anecdote… While we did not celebrate Christmas in our Jewish household, my father enjoyed the Christmas season, its spirit of good will, the music, the lights and buying presents for people. One day while driving together, the car in front of us sported a bumper sticker reading “Put Christ Back in Christmas.” His rejoinder to that message was that this person was exactly right. He noted that if all Jews were better Jews, all Christians better Christians and all Muslims better Muslims the world would be a better place. That’s the spirit of the season.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All,
Glenn