by Gordon Cooper
From Broader View Weekly, December 24, 2009
Every other week, as my brother and I consider the many issues that divide us, we usually have several to choose from. Ultimately, one or the other of us will graciously accept the choice of the other and we then proceed to research and opine.
However, this week and this day we decided to “pull in the claws” and deliver a column upon which we both can agree – the season of Christmas.
There can be no denying that this special day is like no other on our calendar. Each year we lament the fact that commercial interests push the envelope of propriety and sanctity further and further out of shape, yet each year we submit to the pull and follow along, if not willingly, at least without much protest. The familiar songs and images greet us in every storefront and the advertisements that interrupt our TV viewing compel us to join in the annual charade.
Why do we get caught up in the flow of house-decorating, gift-giving, card-sending, goody-baking, family-greeting and party-making every year?
Why is this day and this season so special?
The history of mankind reveals our love for, and need for, tradition and ritual. I am sure that is one reason why this day grabs us no matter how hard we may try to resist. But biological or sociological needs tend to only draw us so far. There has to be another reason, a greater pull, a deeper calling that causes us to put up with the struggles of: untangling coils of lights in the bitter cold, finding the perfect gift, addressing and mailing cards to people we neglect 51 weeks out of 52, sweating over countertops and ovens as we cook and bake ourselves into sugar-highs, arranging and squeezing family get-togethers and parties onto calendars and day planners, etc. etc.
I suggest that this day is so very special only because the birth it represents was so special. The incarnation of the Supreme One may or may not have actually occurred upon the 25th day of December. I am not qualified to argue for its validity as the actual date of Christ’s birth – but I am qualified to discuss what I believe.
I believe that His birth changed our world forever, and no matter how commercial the season becomes, He will always outshine the synthetic glitter. There is a soft, still voice that whispers just beneath the clamor and it speaks volumes. It speaks of a Creator who became confined within his creation to redeem a rebellious creature.
I believe this small voice first broke the musty silence of a stable in Bethlehem in the form a baby’s whimper. Now, that voice speaks through the actions of those who reach out toward the less fortunate with gifts of mercy. It is that voice that comes through the sound of pocket change falling into a red kettle.
I believe our political and ideological differences melt away to insignificance as we get caught up in the spirit of this season. The message proclaimed on that Bethlehem hillside of “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward all men” is being repeated today too, as we send the cards and wrap the gifts. It is impossible for us to imagine a time when there will ever be Peace on Earth throughout our whole planet, but each year we should do our part to bring peace and good will to at least a small portion of it.
It is in that hope that I extend my hand to Keith and all our faithful readers. Let us forget our differences and share in the common belief that we are all God’s creatures and, for one day, at least, we are all speaking in one voice.
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”
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