Everyone has a different perspective when it comes to Christmas. It’s a very emotional holiday, like all the others that have family and/or friend or combo gatherings involved. After a lot of experience, it has become predictable. Since I no longer host the large family Christmas dinner gathering, my blood pressure issues during the holidays have improved! This is not to say that this is stress free. Au contraire.
Last year, we had our little “human tornado” visit us for the Christmas holiday. For a variety of reasons, it was difficult – very turbulent times – a multi-variate combination of expectations out of alignment, a constantly moving with needs that were moment to moment and at times hard to read (try from the 3 year old perspective), combined with 3-year-old belligerence from an understandably stressed out kiddo, just recovering from an upper-respiratory infection – still on medication for that – and actually, despite the refusal to accept this grandmother as one of his qualified grandmothers, and accept her usual grandmother behavior (love, hugs, reading, spoiling, etc.), he was pretty much a well-behaved kid most of the time except when he was tired or stressed or hungry or did I say tired? All to be expected over a frenzied holiday. All pretty normal. Maybe a bit out of line with bedtimes, and being on a schedule, but considering it was the Christmas holiday – this was not that unusual.
Very much we now realize that the assumption of being a grandparent, therefore your grand kid will love you, just does not prove out. It worked when he was an infant. For some reason, only known to him, that assumption definitely is erroneous now. Somehow, something happened and he decided that one of us was disqualified as a grandmother. I expect to begin a new page called the Grandmother Diaries soon.
So, here we are. December 7th. We could try to be old fashioned. Decorate the tree(s) on Christmas Eve. Truly stick to the old ways – but, somehow, we won’t. That hasn’t been a tradition in our family for eons.
This year, we are not doing it up like last year, when we had the anticipation of having a little guy in the house. This year it’s the old boring adults. We have been through somewhat of a wringer in the last twelve months, that’s for sure. No good days are ever to be taken for granted. Ever. We know the potential for difficult times exists. We know how the Christmas story actually should be observed and celebrated, despite what has happened and is happening now.
I look at my great grandfather’s Civil War discharge papers. He was not with the Confederate Army (we know what those people represented – it’s in the history books). He fought for the Union (equivalent of the side of people who supported The Constitution). In these parts of the US, we see lots of little offshoots of confederates and in this county, we see few people who make themselves known to be Constitutionalists – unless you’re talking second amendment, and then they step up and stretch that to modern day as if it meant the same then as it has played out now (those are the POWMD’s I reference in the next paragraphs).
Everyone these days thinks that this could not possibly happen. I think that they aren’t thinking. What that meant was that times were difficult and that people absolutely went to war within this country because they chose sides and didn’t get along. This time, if a civil war breaks out, we will not have the same outcome. This time, because we have personal weapons of mass destruction available to anyone (seemingly), those who are weaponless and don’t want to fight will be slaughtered by the whipped up frenzied people who want their way or the highway. It would get really ugly really fast. Doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination. In their narrative, Jesus and God are on their side – just ask. They also believe that the Leader in the flesh, is a Prophet. That’s a stretch no matter how you think of it, but this is what they believe. Imagine the entirety of that big mega-church activating themselves as “warriors” because they are defending “The Prophet” – wow, are they taking LSD or something? Could be.
So, What we know is that there are those who now “vape” cannabis and some of them are members of the crowd of those who have guns to fight “the other side” who live within those “alternative narritives” (realities?) – and really do see everyone else as “the enemy” who they will shoot to kill – the anger driving them to this, of course being justified because “He” said so and encourages them – “He” who is seemingly above any laws and can do any whimsical thing that “He” wants – nobody can stop him because the deck is stacked on his side – he apparently has had a lot of outside help – and he has not the intellect to see what is happening – or to think it’s wrong – which is part of the problem – he sees nothing wrong and neither do his supporters, who are acting like Zombies because they want “the power” – can’t see it any other way. He dismisses the people there to support his security – does not see the issues that they see in the same way – Because it’s all about “Him” and as long as “He” is praised (his ego is stroked), and he is not constrained from making his own personal “deals”, “He” is good…until “He” isn’t. Then watch out! “He” will strike out against whoever he perceives has gone against him (even if he was lovey-dovey just days before and they were his best buds). 180, Baby! It’s a crazy person we have at the wheel, our Drunk Uncle Sam, ascertained by most rational people’s observations. We just seem to be running short of rational people on that side of our house. Must be something they inhaled? The madness of crowds, perhaps?
It’s just that that crowd of frenzied supporters – they are the ones who have most of the weapons and once they are unleashed by Him – He will see too it that “they” are annihilated. There you go. Simple as that. And they love love love Him. He love love loves them back. It’s the mutual admiration society.
