Snow Beauty Christmas

NOTE: This is really from last night, but it didn't post. Therefore, I'm posting it now. Enjoy.

I was out for a walk an hour ago. And I must say, snow at night is truly beautiful. The way the light of passing cars illuminates all the snowflakes, it's breathtaking. I'm not one for nature beauty rants, but go out and look sometime. Trust me.

While speaking of beauty, I've come to a sort of resolution involving Christmas and how I, too, can see it's beauty.

We all know how I feel about Christmas. Happy Gift Giving Day, anyone?

But after seeing several signs to the tune of "Put Christ back in Christmas" I've realized something. For me, it's the exact opposite solution that would resolve this. Not to offend anyone, but hasn't Christ already been taken out of Christmas? It's a pretty well-regarded fact that Jesus was not born on December 25th, let alone in the winter¹. Therefore, the religious element of Christmas, the part that I've been fighting for since I started my angry "gift giving day" satire, has not ground to stand on.

Then there's the general movement of Christmas away from being a religious holiday at all. I would call this consumerism run wild. Christmas, in a way, has become a gimic for the advancement of business. The liberals want to destroy Christmas? Give me a break.

And yet, there's something truly, simply beautiful about Christmas. Whether it's the weather (wow, great pun...), the general spirit, or the return to a sort of childish (in a good way) joy, Christmas can truly bring out the best in us. There's no doubt it's a beautiful time of year, a time of year that has been celebrated by humans since time memorial. Since far before the "birth" of Christ.

And I have to admit, when I see some of my classmates brimming with joy at the Christmas season and I introspect on myself being a, well, scrooge, I wonder if I'm missing something. And now I think I know what it is/was that I am/was missing: this general spirit of love. That's all that Christmas is really about. Strip away the religion and the consumerism, and what you have is the very heart of Christmas: love.

I can live with that. In fact, I can be god damn merry about that! :)

¹ "Based on the accounts in the gospels of the shepherds' activities, the time of year depicted for Jesus' birth could be spring or summer. However, as early as 354, Roman Christians celebrated it following the December solstice in an attempt to replace the Roman pagan festival of Saturnalia." -- wikipedia.com