The end-of-the-year holidays in the States typically include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. These holidays are based on the assumption that most people are at least nominal Christians. Many (perhaps most) cultures have holidays based on days seen as the end of one year and the start of another.
In one way or another, the change of seasons provides the impetus for end-of- and start-of-year celebrations, including family gatherings and gift exchanges. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve/Day. In the Jewish community, Hanukkah (or or “Chanukah”) is the celebrated day. In one way or another, most cultures celebrate what is seen as the end of one year and the start of another.
The celebrations are supposed to be joyous. In the U.S. (and much of the Western world), the holidays are primarily Christmas and New Years. The celebrations are an affirmation of life: we (humans) survived another year…. I think that Matthew Arnold got it right in Dover Beach when he commented on the “eternal note of sadness” he hears in the ebb and flow of the tide. We (humans, and especially educated humans) who no longer have the sense of certainty that comes from the belief that “God is in heaven and all’s right with the world.”
Midwinter festivities have long been celebrated. Our ancient ancestors presumably felt the need to encourage the sun to return to its full summertime glory. It is not by accident our major holidays coincide with the seasons. We feast and give thanks after the fall harvest, we light candles to dispel sadness and fear at Christmas and New Year’s Day. We express joy at Easter without fully recognizing that “He is risen” is as much about the return of the sun in spring as it is about the birth and ministry of Jesus.
I am definitely not saying that religion in general or Christianity in particular “got it wrong.” If anything, they got it right. The religious impulse is as old as humanity. Over the centuries, different “tribes” of humans expressed that impulse in different ways. Jonathan Swift got it right: our religious arguments are like arguing about whether it is better to open soft-boiled eggs at the big end or the little end.
We celebrate the end-of-year holidays to avoid hearing the “eternal note of sadness” Matthew Arnold wrote about. The holiday celebrations let us believe, at least briefly, that everything will be OK and there’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s basically what John Lennon said: “Whatever gets you through the night, it’s alright….” We do well to sing and dance—or at least to appreciate the singing and dancing of others.
The first time I encountered the expression, May you live in interesting times, it was attributed to Robert Kennedy, who had supposedly called it an “Ancient Chinese curse.” The idea is/was that the kinds of events that make times interesting are usually unpleasant: wars, famines, earthquakes, serious storms, and so on. A headline to the effect of “Neighbors fight to the death over a petunia patch” will create more interest than one stating, “Neighbors cooperate to raise petunias.” An old saying in the newspaper industry (and radio, TV and Internet news as well) is, If it bleeds, it leads.
When Joan Baez recorded that song, the fear was that the testing of nuclear weapons was releasing so much radioactivity into the atmosphere that living things (including humans) would be adversely affected. We don’t yet know, of course, the degree to which living things might have been (or are being) influenced by the radioactivity, but—so far, at least—we haven’t had any major biological disasters (that we know of). The current fears about the climate are based primarily on what has been global climate change” or Global Warming And it certainly seems as though our climate has been . . . → Read More: What Have We Done to the Rain?
A long time ago, a singer named Al Wilson made a song calledThe Snake popular. The song is basically a metaphor for the deceptive appearance of evil. Snakes, of course, aren’t really evil. They mainly go after things we (humans) are glad to have them keep under control (such as rodents). They have, however, inherited an evil reputation.
For one reason or another the ancient writers of the Old Testament, had Satan (the “Father of Lies”) appear to the first humans (Adam and Eve) as a snake to tempt them to eat the “Forbidden Fruit.” Snakes were, of course, falsely . . . → Read More: A Snake in the Grass
When I was young, many of the adults I knew would praise good deeds by saying that those who did them would receive “stars in their crowns.” The basic concept is that, although good deeds may not be rewarded in this life, they would be rewarded in the next. For a very long time now, most cultures have presupposed a life after death that would provide rewards or punishments depending on the way we lived our current life: the wicked will be punished, and the righteous will be rewarded.
The belief is understandable. Very few people are content with the . . . → Read More: Stars in Your Crown
The saying, “May you live in interesting times,” has often been attributed to Robert Kennedy, who referred to it as an “ancient Chinese curse.” The saying has an extensive history. (See “Quote Investigator” for details.) Regardless of the saying’s history, war, rumors of war, and civil unrest are more “interesting” than times of peace and prosperity. At present (April 2019), we have a lot of civil unrest, not only in the States, but also in many places around the world. We also have wars (and rumors of wars) in many parts of the world. In fact, we have pretty much . . . → Read More: Living in Interesting Times
Have you noticed how many TV ads close with the sentence, “Ask your doctor if X is right for you…”? When I was young, most TV ads were for cigarettes. Brand X was smooth, Brand Y was mild, and (most famously) more doctors smoke Brand Z. These days, most TV advertising is for pharmaceutical products, fast food, or automobiles.
Everyone needs to eat, of course, and the availability of fast, convenient food serves a need. Most people also need a car and will buy a new one when the old wears out or has otherwise lose its “shine.” While in . . . → Read More: Ask Your Doctor….
Benjamin Franklin is often given credit for the saying, “Honesty is the best policy,” but the saying is actually older than Ben. The original language was, “Our grosse conceipts, who think honestie the best policie,” and the originator of that phrase was an English politician named Sir Edwin Sandys. I suspect, however, that the actual origins are even older than that, as the desire and need for honesty in relationships are as old as humanity. It has long been believed that the Devil (Satan) is the Father of lies, and it’s easy to see why that’s so. No one likes . . . → Read More: Honesty Really Is the Best Policy
Ignorance is bliss is a common saying for good reason: We have to think about things to worry about them, and most of the time we are preoccupied with our day-to-day activities while we remain ignorant about major problems that may be just around the corner. A related saying, The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t, suggests that we can adjust to an uncomfortable familiar, whereas a new situation might cause worse problems.
One of the things about democracies is that people get to elect those in charge of governance with regularity. With every election, the . . . → Read More: Ignorance and Bliss
Reincarnation makes perfect sense from the standpoint of human learning. We need “do overs” to get it right. Most of us in the West (modern world), have a “one and done” view of life. We are born, grow up, grow old, and die. Then we (our souls) go either to heaven or hell, depending, or we just cease to exist. Throughout history, most people have rejected the concept of simply ceasing to exist. They want something more, so they establish religions and rituals that they think will give them a wonderful “afterlife” if they follow the right rules of behavior . . . → Read More: Reincarnation
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