My Childhood Christmas Wish is Still Relevant
Living the “Christmas Spirit” Year-Round
When I was a child, I thought I knew what the “Christmas spirit” was. Had you asked me, I would have said it was a magical force that afflicted people during the last 2 weeks of December. Once afflicted, they became somewhat nicer to strangers than they were for the rest of the year. I looked forward to the Christmas spirit every year. My only complaint was that it didn’t last long enough.
I remember going shopping with my mom in December and observing other shoppers. That was always my favorite part. It wasn’t unusual to overhear one respond to cruelty with, “But it’s Christmas!” The implication was clear. You can act that way during the rest of the year, but you shouldn’t do so now. That was the Christmas spirit in action, and it was a thing of beauty.
It didn’t take long for some questions to surface. Was there something supernatural about this spirit? It never seemed that way to me. It didn’t seem to have much to do with any particular religion. It was more of a cultural artifact.
Suppose for a moment that someone treats others better during the last 2 weeks of December. Does that mean that they might be able to do so at other times? Could they, for example, treat others better during the first 2 weeks of July? If they…
