"Not on MY parade, you don't"

I was in a store check-out line a couple of days ago, and the cashier was talking to a customer whom she obviously knew.  The store worker said, “Well, are you ready for the holidays?”  The shopper’s reply was, “Ready for them to be over!”

Well, Mister Scrooge, to you I say, “Bah!  Humbug!”

Oh, I get it, at least in part.  First off, the shopper may have been a true pagan, to whom Christmas and its surrounding observances have no significance at all.  To some of these folks, Advent is just so much noise.

To others, no matter what their religious orientation, this season is a time of a lot of pressure.  They feel an obligation to purchase gifts, to clean, cook and entertain family.  The crowds in stores where they only want to buy a loaf of bread or light bulb frustrate them.  The holidays are a major disruption.  People view them as a headache.

And for some, these are days of great sorrow.  Occasions that used to be full of family gatherings and special time spent with significant others have eroded into some of the loneliest moments of the year.  And especially for those who are facing the season without certain loved ones for the first time, these days can be devastating.

So, part of what I would say to anyone in this time of year is, “Don’t do anything you don’t want to do!  Don’t let households or family or tradition force you into any activity that you don’t want to undertake.  It is not your job to explain or interpret or justify to anyone how you feel and what your desires might be.”  Do they call you “Scrooge?”  Let them.  Do they say, “You have no seasonal spirit?”  So what? 

Be you.  Don’t complain.  Don’t explain.  Be you.

Now, me, I’m doing it all: gifts and carols and crowded shopping and baking and family gatherings – and church – and I am enjoying every single moment of it.  Don’t try to hurry me through.  I am relishing every moment of it.  And it’ll be past all too soon.

God bless us, every one!