Merry Christmas to all and to all a good year!
I have been hibernating off the grid for a while but I will be back online soon. Everyone should hake a vacation from media during stressful times, I think, but most of us are afraid of "losing touch". I certainly felt that way, but having done it for the past six months or so, I must say I not only did not lose touch with what is happening in the world and among my friends, but I discovered a deeper and more secure connection with things that matter. The news, or what passes for news in the media seems only to repeat itself in ever-blurring spirals. The gloom of exagerated panic that infests the talkers evaporates in the face of reality that is not so gloomy at all.
Yes, I do know of all the unrest in places like the Mideast and of all the economic upheavals, but the sun still rises and sets and people still greet each other with a friendly smile in my world. Will I be helping anyone in those upset places if I share the political panic that has caused their societies to collapse? No. Will I help anyone by remaining content in the place I am, always ready to share a meal and a conversation? Maybe.
And so I will go for the "maybe" and get a head start on my New Year's Resolution: No friends of mine need go hungry or lonely in this coming year. Hospitality is one of the oldest commands for our spiritual health, and it is one of the first practices to fall under suspicion in a spiritually unhealthy world. This is why Christmas, that most hospitable of seasons, has been so viciously attacked by the fear-mongering and hate-worshipping media.
Ah, pass me a cup of mulled wine and tell me what you've been up to, my love, for we live in interesting times.
