Christmas – a time for peace and goodwill towards all men; a time for forgiveness and loving our neighbor, whoever and wherever he may be.
It may prove to be a long list – those we need to forgive; those to whom we extend the spirit of Christmas, the peace and goodwill.
We could start with all those politicians who, through 2006, demonstrated their only interest was in themselves and not those who voted them into office. We could forgive George W Bush and Tony Blair for continuing, not only to propagate a worthless war, but relentlessly insisting they are right and everyone else is wrong. We could forgive Donald Rumsfeld, ex-US Defense Secretary, whose stubborn disregard for life, both American and Iraqi, has produced so many casualties and so much suffering in both nations.
We could forgive all those power-crazed evangelical preachers, spreading their message of hatred and intolerance of other faiths, insisting their brand of Christianity is the only one acceptable to Jesus, while pocketing millions of dollars and living in fancy mansions.
We could forgive the Archbishop of Canterbury for only showing concern for the suffering Christians in the Middle East, while ignoring the many more of other faiths; or, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, who during his Midnight Mass sermon said England is undergoing a “truly radical break” with humanity’s traditions and is “a truly needy land”. He continued, “Our culture represents a truly radical break, not only with Christianity, but with the moral and religious traditions of humanity.”
That’s another way of saying, “I need more converts”. I wonder when he last washed a homeless person’s feet, or socialized with the lame and sick?
Or, Pope Benedict who today deliberately preached on the sanctity of human life while an Italian man with muscular dystrophy, who had been unable to move for nine years and was fed through a tube while fighting for the right to die, was being buried in a civic grave, denied the right to a Catholic funeral because his death was considered by the church to be a “sin”. In his Christmas Eve address Benedict said, “The birth of Christ helps us to understand how much value human life has, the life of every human being, from its first instant to its natural sunset.”
According to the Catholic church, Piergiorgio Welby’s life was of no value whatever. Hypocrites!
We could forgive Pope Benedict, and all those others too numerous to mention, for their selfishness; their greed; their opulence, while many of those they are supposed to serve go in abject poverty; their egomania; their callous disregard for humanity – we could evoke the true spirit of Christmas and forgive them all.
I truly hope you can find it your heart to do so.
I can’t. Not this year.
Maybe next year; or Christmas 2008.
But definitely not this year.
To all Sparrow Chat readers everywhere, whatever your nationality or creed, I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous 2007.
May your God go with you.
Filed under: Spirit of Christmas