Peace On Earth And Good Will To Men

- jim Young

“Gosh, oh gee, how happy I'd be…” Donald Yetter Gardner

At the beginning of this month I made a decision to avoid making or entering into any political or overly controversial discussions until after Christmas.

For the most part, with a few exceptions, I think I have achieved that goal. And I gotta tell ya - the change of pace has been kinda nice.

But tonight, on Christmas Eve, I want to share some thoughts that, although they are not intended to be political or controversial in nature, they will almost certainly have some political and controversial overtones.

To begin with, you should understand that I am not a Christian. Nor am I a religious man. But I am very Spiritual. I could go into more detail on that, but it would take too much time and it really doesn’t matter.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

I remember my father telling me that the “Golden Rule” was pretty much the sum of the entire Christian bible and I think he was right.

In fact, almost ALL religions have this basic concept as their very foundation.

German terrorist Willy Vaas once expressed it with a little more negative spin when he confessed, “They started doing the same things to me as I used to do to them and I didn’t like it.”

“Don’t do to other people what you wouldn’t like done to yourself.”

The past couple of years we’ve all been challenged with a pandemic that is sometimes referred to as “the Covid”. 

Situations such as this often bring people together, but instead, it seems to have divided us.

“Treat other people the way you would like to be treated.”

This doesn’t mean, “I’ve been vaccinated so you should be too.”

It also doesn’t mean, “I refused the vaccination so you should too.”

What it really means is “I made my own choice and you should too, regardless of whether or not it is the same choice I made.”

This concept can be applied to matters of racism, sexism, ageism, feminism, specism and all the other isms and conflicts that exist in today’s world.

When I was young I would write letters to Santa Claus to let him know what I wanted for Christmas.

On Christmas morning I don’t ever remember Santa bringing me anything that I had asked for and yet I never remember being disappointed. 

Apparently Santa knew even better than I, what I really wanted.

Of course it’s also “important that you manage your expectations.”

When I stopped writing letters to Santa, my Mother insisted that I send her a list of what I wanted every year for Christmas instead.

It took me some time to make the connection.

As I grew into a young man with a family of my own I suggested my Mother should take the money she would spend on me and spend it on her grandchildren or someone else instead. She would have no part of that.

So I started adding to my Christmas list, every year, what I wanted most was “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men” because I didn’t really need anything and hey - wouldn’t that be cool?

“Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men”. What a concept! (With “men” being considered a non-sexual term, of course.)

But how could that be achieved?

“Do to other people what you would like them to do to you,” I think would be a pretty good place to start.

I never really expected my Mother would be able to give me that gift. But after requesting it for several years in a row, one year at Christmas I unwrapped a small framed sign that contained the letters “POEAGWTM”.

It took me a while to realize it was my Mother’s attempt to give me what I asked for, for Christmas.

And I started to wonder if maybe she really could. Why not? I had believed in Santa and his miracles for so many years, why shouldn’t I believe in my Mother with the same kind of commitment?

Is it possible that by sharing this humble little story with you on the internet, that it might go viral and actually be the start of fulfilling my Mother’s gift to me from years ago?

Wouldn’t that be something?

Peace On Earth And Good Will To Men!

God Bless you Mom.

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