Skip to main content

The Real Spirit of Christmas?

Here in this happy season of enraged shoppers and rude store clerks and Target’s phenomenal credit card security system, there is the real spirit of Christmas.

It goes something like this.

Work with other nations? Why do we need them? We have no need of them. They’re all primitive countries with terrorists and taxes and people of other colors and strange cultures who don’t even observe Christmas. Who can understand a thing they say anyway. Other countries are useless. God bless America.

Obamacare? Good Lord no. We don’t need that. If people are stupid enough to get sick then let them figure out how to get well on their own. I don’t want my tax dollars helping other people. The Bible says help yourself, or something like that.

Stop war. Are you kidding? Wars are great. Some of the best movies ever made in this country are war movies. John Wayne is still a hero here. Did you not ever see “The Longest Day” for God’s sake? And besides, who gives a flip about the Germans, the Japs, the Cong, the Iraqis, the Afghanistans, and all those other people we’ve blown to bits? War is healthy. War makes men out of boys. War is sexy. Just ask a woman. A man in uniform and all of that.

What about gays you say? Christmas is a time to love everyone you say? Well, Phil Robertson answered that for us. God is offended by gays. That’s what the Bible says. Gays are all going to hell. Marriage is only for one man and one woman forever. They get married. They have kids. They fight. They run around on each other. They have it out. That’s what marriage is all about. Marriage was invented by God in the Garden of Eden to be a fairytale story of wonder intended only for heterosexuals. And I mean only. Adam and Eve. Two lovebirds. Crazy about each other. They had some trouble with the fruit and a tree and all of that. But trouble and headaches and confusion is what marriage is all about and it’s a beautiful thing only a man and his wife a woman can know. Not gays. They can’t know these things. They would only ruin marriage.

Poor people? There aren’t any poor people in this country. Just users. Just lazy drug addicts and alcoholics who are selfish and bossy. It’s their own fault if they are poor. Welfare takers. Beggars, all of them. Street corner bums wanting a handout and then driving home in SUVs. I mean, everyone knows that. Giving poor kids free breakfast and lunch at school? Really? How dumb do you think we are? We know that is a liberal plot to take from the hard working people who make Wall Street great. If those stupid poor kids want a free meal let them clean the school bathrooms and wait on the kids whose parents have money. That would be acceptable. Otherwise forget them.

Immigration? Let’s get this straight. Christmas is an American holiday. We started it and we own it and we don’t need foreigners coming in here and messing with our traditions. Jesus was white just like Santa. Both are saviors. Jesus for the Old South; Santa for Macys. What could be more American than that? You can’t sing “White Christmas” while wearing a sombrero, okay? This is our holiday. And by “our” I think you know what I’m talking about.

So go out there in these last beautiful days of this precious season and have a merry time. Drink some American eggnog. That’s ours, too. Have fun wrapping that gift for that person you can’t stand. And don’t forget to write a check at Target.

Jingle Bells all the way! Oh what fun it is when you’re in the right spirit! 

If you know what I mean.

© 2013 Timothy Moody

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

We are Made for Human Connection

There are words from Brandi Carlile’s song, “The Story,” that I might sing, and perhaps you, too. “All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am But these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to” You don’t have to be single or alone to feel the depth of those words. Someone in a longtime marriage or relationship might feel them, too. The voyage through life takes each one of us through an assortment of experiences. Some of them ennoble us. Some crush us. Some lift us beyond ourselves and carry us into the lives of those who need us. And some carry us to those we need. Some experiences are burdens. Others ease and encourage us. Some leave us baffled and unsure. Some build confidence within us and are so affirming that we grow in substance, in courage, in tenderness, and sympathy. As we age, the lines in our faces can represent the hurts we have not yet resolved. Or t

If I had five minutes to evacuate--what would I take with me?

If I was told there was a bomb in my building and I had five minutes to evacuate my apartment I’d grab a grocery bag and quickly toss these items into it: 1. A photo of my grandparents, Mom and Pop and me, when I was 15 years old. I learned what love is made of from them. I learned what it is to be kissed on and hugged in arms so tender they felt like God’s arms. I discovered self worth from those two angels in human flesh. Of all the people in my life, they were the ones who made me feel I counted. Honestly, whatever capacity I have to love others came from them. 2. A sentimental, dog-eared, stars in the margin copy of Pat Conroy’s, “The Prince of Tides.” It is a book I have read three times and often return to for its wisdom. It is a harsh, profoundly tragic novel, the story of a family so broken and tortured by such flawed and wounded people that it is sometimes difficult to turn the next page. And yet it is the story of such Herculean courage and endurance that you want

Remembering Dr. Bill Craig

In Memoriam  Dr. Bill Craig January 1, 2020 In the Hebrew Bible, we see from the life of Moses, and the Psalmist, Isaiah and others , concern for the problem of living rather than the problem of dying.   Their primary interest was not how to escape death, but rather, how to sanctify life. Bill modeled that kind of wisdom.  The brilliant novelist Louis L'Amour, who wrote bestselling books about the American West, what he called “frontier stories,” basically said the same thing. He wrote, “The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.” No one attempted to sanctify life and get more out of the trail than Bill Craig. He was a deep thinker, a gifted veterinarian, a rugged and unbreakable man with the kindest heart and the purest motives.  He was a loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather. Karen, Shalor and Melissa, Kellan, Nolan and Carter, were his world. They meant everything to him. I guess he had faults, but I don’t remember any of them.  There was o