{"id":26898,"date":"2023-12-24T05:00:41","date_gmt":"2023-12-24T10:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=26898"},"modified":"2023-12-23T22:46:54","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T03:46:54","slug":"a-christmas-wish-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/24\/a-christmas-wish-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"A Christmas Wish 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Christmas Cooking, Sony A7 III, Sony 90mm f\\2.8 macro lens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Christmas Eve is again arrived.\u00a0 And even the busiest among us will, hopefully, put aside the day-to-day struggle and embrace the traditions of the past with friends and family.\u00a0 Of course, those with young children are in the thick of it and have the primary responsibility to transmit all the customs and follow all the protocols for the children.<\/p>\n

But even oldsters like myself are free to join in and contribute to the atmosphere of traditional cheer.\u00a0 In fact, as a bridge to the long-ago times when a richer meaning was attached to the holiday, we ancients can perform a special function.\u00a0 We can give a perspective into Christmas that provides a more satisfying rational than just an excuse for Amazon to sell toys and demented pop singers to screech and gyrate to \u201cAll I Want for Christmas is You.\u201d\u00a0 You can explain that even non-Christians recognize the beauty of the Christmas story and empathize with the holiday\u2019s mandate for all people to share in a truce from preying on each other and try to feel a kindred spirit with all mankind.<\/p>\n

And for Christians it is a celebration of the coming of a new covenant that calls on all men to treat each other as brothers and recognize the divinity of the human soul and the necessity of treating each other with the requisite dignity.<\/p>\n

And just as importantly we can have a great time and make memories that will last a lifetime.\u00a0 I always eat myself into a stupor on Christmas Eve and Day.\u00a0 Camera Girl is a wonderfully good cook who always overdoes holiday meals, especially desserts.\u00a0 And I\u2019m often in danger of eating myself into an early grave.\u00a0 In fact, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if that\u2019s how I eventually go.\u00a0 But as they say, \u201cWhat a way to go!\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be out at a family feast on Christmas Eve and at home with about the same crowd on Christmas Day.\u00a0 This year will be much like the recent past but as always there will be new happy and sad tidings to talk about and we\u2019ll welcome new acquaintances and remember sadly those who are gone.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll tell all the same stories but including to some who have never heard them before.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll talk about the New Year and everyone\u2019s hopes and plans.<\/p>\n

And after everyone has gone home, we\u2019ll finally stagger into bed at some late hour and groan from all the food eaten (at least I will).\u00a0 But the magic will still have performed the miracle.\u00a0 I will feel at peace with the universe for at least the week between Christmas and New Year.\u00a0 After that, the horrors of our fallen world will have a whole year to wear away at my faith in humanity and my stomach lining.\u00a0 But it\u2019s enough to have this holiday and to share it with the people I love and try to regain my equilibrium and pack on a few pounds that I can use as an excuse to keep up with an exercise regimen.<\/p>\n

I hope whatever rituals you follow are joyful and satisfying and provide the mental and spiritual renewal necessary to make it through another year.\u00a0 And as Dickens wrote, \u201cGod bless us all, everyone.\u201d\u00a0 Even you Democrat weirdos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas Eve is again arrived.\u00a0 And even the busiest among us will, hopefully, put aside the day-to-day struggle and embrace the traditions of the past<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,818],"tags":[94],"class_list":["post-26898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-ocf","tag-christmas"],"yoast_head":"\nA Christmas Wish 2023 - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/24\/a-christmas-wish-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Christmas Wish 2023 - 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