Happy 26th of December!

I hope your holidays (Hanukkah, Yule, Kwanza, and/or Christmas) were wonderful and filled with loving family and happiness. And my hope for you, dear reader, is that 2016 is a great year filled with joy shared, and that you've spent the last month (at the very least) being extra kind to others when it counts. (No one can be perfect. Perfect isn't the point. We're human for pity's sake. So, Good When It Counts, is.) For me, that's the reason for the season as it were. I'm not Christian, and Christmas isn't my favorite holiday. Still, I do feel the winter solstice holidays are extremely important--more so and in more ways than we often realize. Oh sure, I hate commercialism. Buybuybuy getgetget shouldn't be the focus but that's often the place where people start. That's fine as long as they get to kindness and generosity. Winter solstice should be about looking out for one another and sharing joy--even if it's only giving a stranger a smile for an instant. None of us knows what that might mean because knowing the important instants when they happen isn't always how the universe works. (And that's why my favorite of all holiday films is It's a Wonderful Life.) Even so, I don't feel that is the biggest reason for the winter solstice holidays. Terry Pratchett summed it up best in one of my favorite novels, Hogfather which was later made into a wonderful film.

That's it right there. So, be human. Whatever your faith (or not) believe in the things that aren't true in order for them to renew and become for another whole year.  We need Justice, Truth, and Mercy more now than ever before.