Celebrate! Celebrate!

Dance to the Music ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXI6CdTVJ-0&feature=related

Celebrate - Three Dog Night

Happy Hannukah!
Are we still allowed to say that or will it produce a court battle from the ACLU?

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We were being extremely hopeful that our Cleveland excursions were complete except for routine annual checkups. Renee’s internal ring of fire dashed our hopes. The surgeon wants us to travel back north in January and see him and a gastroenterologist and perform some tests. A stabbing pain in the left side of her gut was the clincher. This is not the direction we wanted to be headed in 2010 but we’ll continue forward. What would we do with all that free time away from doctors and hospitals anyway?

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Last night was the first night of Chanukkah (according to Jewish convention you may never spell it the same way twice), the devout Jewish ritual celebrating the miracle of burning oil. Yes, the oil crisis can also be blamed on the Jews and we have over five thousand years of spent candles to prove it. For those of you unfamiliar with this annual custom, it is appropriate for you to give me a gift per night for eight straight nights. Apparently you did not do your shopping early because you’ve already missed last night. I’m deeply disappointed that you have chosen to ignore this time honored tradition. You are probably concentrating all of your efforts on that Christian holiday that also falls in December. You know the one that gets all the press. What’s it called again? I always forget because the evil doers of the world have homogenized it so much by substituting the word holiday. Merry Holiday!

There will always be those who attempt to secularize religious observations but heathens are a greedy lot. They have figured out how to denounce the existence of a higher power but they want it both ways and wish to share in the gift exchange portion of the program. They also wish to participate in all of the festivities without a nod to the history of how these days have evolved into special occasions – suffering, hardship, persecution and martyrdom. History shows us that ignoring history is a dangerous thing.

In our household we choose to celebrate both the Old and the New Testaments. We celebrate thousands of years of both Jewish and Christian principles handed down through the ages. I joke about gifts but recognize the foundations upon which the gift giving was built upon, the base upon which is stacked all of our celebration. I do not fear the words “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays,” I know better. I know from whence they came.

Carry forward the traditions of your faith whatever it may be, tell the stories of miracles past. Bring families and friends together and spread the spirit that elevates us at this time of year. It is all good. Oh, and don’t forget to sing – even pagans can’t deny the power of melody and song.

Celebrate the season because when January comes around it is back to the grind and to health worries and to doctors and tests and hospitals and everything else that drains the spirit.

Celebrate any way you know how. Celebrate strong and hard so that it becomes part of your essence. Celebrate until it usurps any negativity. Celebrate so that it carries you through until next December.

Celebrate - ‘Tis the Season.

And don't forget to dance to the music!