'Tis the season...to rant

I remember when I used to enjoy Christmas. The excitement of decorating the house, putting up the Christmas tree, wrapping presents. The impatient waiting for Christmas morning, when I could finally find out what was in all those gifts with my name on them. The novelty of enjoying a new toy, of playing a new game, trying on new clothes. When did Christmas change?

Now Christmas is mostly a season of stress. I've been trying to get myself in the mood for the holidays, without much luck. I really haven't done any gift shopping, though I did manage to get my wife the digital camera she wants. I forced myself to design this year's Christmas cards, which have now been printed. Last night, I tried to write the annual letter to include in the card, which was a complete bust. I stared at the screen for the better part of an hour, without composing much more than a sentence or two. I simply don't know what I want to say to everyone this year. Wait, that's not true...I kind of know what I want to say, but I couldn't figure out how I want to say it. I'll give it another try tonight, hopefully with better luck. I need to get it done soon, so we can print copies of the letter, stuff the cards and letters into envelopes and get them into the mail.

I dread the shopping I have to do. My wife insists that I do the gift shopping for my family (which is fair), but I don't exactly know what to get many of my relatives. Beyond that is the stress of actually shopping this time of year. The weekend before last, I went to the local big box chain store to pick up a single household item. I stood in line over twenty minutes to pay for my $2.00 item. Then I had to navigate the car through the chaos in the parking lot before I could head home. Anyone willing to bet that the shopping environment has gotten less stressful since then? Didn't think so.

I watch my daughters as the big day approaches, and I envy their excitement. If only I could enjoy the season the way they do. It seems like such a long time since I was able too. Over the weekend I tried to express my dissatisfaction to my wife, but I'm not sure she truly understood what I wanted. I would love to simplify Christmas. Forget the presents (except maybe a couple of small gifts for the children)--What I really want for Christmas is some quiet time for reflection, to think about the past year and plan for the upcoming one. Time to enjoy my family, without worrying about the chores that need to be done. Time to relax, unwind, and forget about my worries, at least for a while.

Probably not going to happen, at least not this year. My holiday is looking to be the usual hectic schedule. Extended family obligations call, and so we run from one place to the next, worried about whether the gifts we bought will be appreciated. I'll probably eat too much food and get too little sleep. And when its all over, I'll have to come back to the seemingly endless stress of my job. Heh, Merry Christmas indeed.

My Christmas Letter for 2004

Its taken me almost three hours to compose, but I've finally got something I like. Here is the text of the letter that will be enclosed in my family's Christmas cards this year:

The holidays are rapidly approaching, and once again we find ourselves running out of time to prepare for the festivities. In the midst of the all theses preparations, its easy to overlook the meaning of the holiday. Christmas should be a celebration of peace and love, a message that remains as timely as ever.

We were reminded of this message last weekend, as we visited the “Hershey's Sweet Lights” holiday exhibit in Hershey, PA. As we drove past the numerous animated light displays, one, in particular, jumped out at us. Its message seemed to be exceptionally timely, and we snapped several pictures of the display. One of those pictures ended up on the front of our Holiday Cards.

“Celebrate our Differences” read the display. While this doesn't seem to be a traditional message for this season, it struck a chord with us. With all the strife in the world today, from the war on terrorism to the political mudslinging of the electoral process, it sometimes seems that we've forgotten the holiday message of love. Our differences have been used to drive wedges between various groups. This troubling trend immediately came to mind when we saw this display.

One of mankind's greatest gifts is our diversity. It is through our differences that we can reach beyond our individual experiences to gain a greater understanding of ourselves and our world. If we had no diversity, if we were all exactly the same, we would lose much of this ability, and we would be left with a much shallower understanding of our place in the world.

In order to benefit from this diversity, we must accept and celebrate it. We don't have to always agree with those who differ from us, we don't have to like them. But we must respect them, and we should listen to them, for we just might learn from them. If we all could share this respect for one another, despite our differences, then there just might be a chance that we could experience a little of the “peace on earth, goodwill toward men” proclaimed by the angels on the first Christmas, so long ago.

May each of you have a joyous holiday season. We hope that everyone finds an opportunity to relax and to reflect on the spirit of the season. May you each find you own ways to celebrate our differences.

This is the picture mentioned in the letter: