Sunday musings

So, just a few more days until Christmas and time for a few thoughts and reflections instead of my usual rants and moans about this and that...

One of the things that is common to all majour celebrations regardless of culture or religion is the time available to reflect and consider friends, family and one's life in general and that is a precious commodity in this high speed 24/7 electronic invasive no mental “downtime” society. People have become too immersed in the “commune” life of interdependent consciousness provided by Facebook, Twitter and the like to be able to sit back think alone and quietly it seems.

So this time of reflection is a good thing.

Time for an update.

I have mentioned in earlier blog columns about the three young ladies that I consider my adoptive “daughters” because of the influence they have had on my life since I first met them.

Last week we were fortunate enough to have a thoroughly enjoyable lunch with our “daughter” the realtor here on the Island and later reflected on our good fortune to have had her enter our lives last year,

She is a really great person.

I had news this late fall where another one of my “daughters” is continuing on her life path and is starting to re-enter the work force, but on her own terms – she is an independent and strong willed young lady.

She is a really great person.

I have heard from my third “daughter”, the author that yet two more books are being published and continue to be in awe of her talent and super personality.
Here is a link to her web site - worth a visit- http://allthingsimpossible.com/

She really is a great person.

All three have so enhanced my life, that words fail to express my gratitude towards them.

I am fortunate to have them as my friends and “daughters”.

We had a small gathering the other day and sometimes you forget how nice it is to get together with people and just enjoy the moment, something sadly lacking in many of the Christmas Season's office and home parties as office politics play a huge corrosive role in those.

And that is too bad.

I was able to stand back and observe just how much pleasure people got by being just themselves, because all of the guests were past the age where they needed to impress anyone with their lives or status or “toys”. No, these folks were comfortable in their “skin” and at peace with themselves at this stage in their lives.
My thoughts go out to a friend and his mother in Germany whom I have not seen in many a year but still are close friends and at this, their first Christmas without the family patriarch. A sad and lonesome time and hopefully they will do well.

Here on the Island, where snow hardly if ever falls in my little town, it is somewhat different to drive around at night and see so many houses ablaze with festive lighting and not see any snow on the ground. But, with this being our second Christmas here, it is starting to have its own appeal. And indeed, one experiences a mellowing of spirit unknown when we lived on the Prairie flatlands covered in its many feet of snow and really darn cold temperatures. And yes, here on my Island we are fortunate in that regard.

But I will gladly accept small mercies these days.

So what thoughts/message can we take from this time of the year anyway?

Well, as long as man exists, sadly there will be war, strife and both good and evil. It is part of our makeup unfortunately. But maybe that is part of the meaning of Celebrations like Christmas ( and yes, I know that the occasion is the celebration of the birth of Christ) where if we take the time for reflection and thought, maybe, just maybe, we can become better as an individual and that may slowly change humanity for the better.

And that would be a good thing.

So, a merry Christmas to all – those that believe in the meaning of Christmas and all of the others that accept the message and meaning of the season of “Peace and Goodwill” to all mankind.

My next column will be posted from the Sandwich Islands, so until then,

“A hui huo”

For those interested, the illustration is the work of an emerging Saskatchewan artist, V. Morhart

flatlander52