What it means to me

Chilly morning, here in the beautiful ugly

Hope you are all well and keeping warm.

It will be Christmas very shortly,
I've been thinking about that,
 what Christmas,
means,
to me.

I have a work colleague,
he's strange,
not a bad egg,
just strange,
needs to talk, be listened to,
we all do,
some of us,
more than others.
I seem to attract people,
who need to talk,
who need to be loved,
I somehow fill a need,
a void,
that is a good thing,
although,
it can occasionally be,
a load,
a burden,
anyway,
enough with the dollar store,
psychology
:-)

This colleague,
he is Jewish and French
(as in, from France)
He wants to know what I think,
about things,
not quite sure why,
but,
he says provocative or controversial things,
and,
waits for my reaction.

This week it was about,
Christmas and how it is,
about the birth of Christ,
hmm.
This can be very controversial,
in
A) a post Catholic society
B) a work place filled with Muslims
etc
of course,I also understand that as a Jew,
Christmas time must be a royal pain in the a..
for him

So, it got me thinking,
while I was explaining,
that to me,
Christmas wasn't much about the birth of Jesus.
Then again...

To me,
Christmas is about family,
about good will to others,
and,
yes, I guess about real 'Christian' principles.
I am not a Christian,
nor anything other than an agnostic,
a total fence sitter,
when it comes to religion.

I hate,
all that has been done in the name,
of religion,
of God,
but,
I am no atheist,
I have no certainty,
about the existence of God,
nor about the lack of one.

I envy people who have faith,
I respect their commitment and belief.
I despise it when people,
try to shove their beliefs down my throat,
and,
I am pretty much always willing to listen,
to peoples beliefs,
but,
if their beliefs involve the disrespect,
of the beliefs of others,
indeed the persecution of others,
hatred instead of love,
ignorance instead of openness,
they lose me.

I'm no saint, but, I do listen

I envy people of faith because,
to me they are positive and romantic,
notions,
and,
I always prefer optimistic viewpoints,
I am not quite an optimist myself,
but,
I do believe,
in the inherent good in people.
I am lucid,
I see bad and ugly,
but,
although I do not bury my head in the sand,
and look away,
I dislike wallowing in ugly,
and,
taking the cynical and complacent route,
everything is bad,
everything sucks,
we are doomed.

I don't believe that,
I refuse to believe that.

So, to me,
Christmas is about taking a break,
smiling at each other,
exchanging good will,
eating,
drinking,
being merry,
charging our batteries,
in the warm embrace of whatever,
is most important to us,
family,
friends,
faith,
and going on fighting the good fight that is,
life

Be well, you all

Later girls,
BB

Author: Bookish Butch

I am a bookish butch in my mid early fifties. I live in Montréal and always have. I used to run a small used bookstore. Reading keeps me sane. My latest jiggie is photography, book project in the works, living the dream View all posts by Bookish Butch