Lexikay Stokes, Campus Carrier Opinions Editor
With Thanksgiving behind us, we are now in the final stretch until Christmas break. Christmas carols are in full swing, Christmas movie marathons are running and peppermint coffee creamer has hit the shelves. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
It’s a season of giving, one in which store fronts are lined with ringing Salvation Army bells, offering plates at church seem a bit fuller and strangers on the street seem to be friendlier, with more passing smiles and holiday greetings. Although rooted in Christianity, Christmas carries with it a more universal sense of morality, encompassing peace, kindness and grace. No matter your religion, the holiday season can spark within all of us the want to spread Christmas cheer.
With the peaceful facade of the holidays, it becomes increasingly evident that the world we live in outside the season leaves something to be desired. Every day seems to bear bad news, and finding a silver-lining can seem difficult at times. But come December, it feels like the world rallies, even if just for a few weeks. The current political environment can make spending time with family and loved ones feel like walking on thin ice.
It wasn’t too long ago we were sitting around the table for Thanksgiving hoping no one brought up the election. But now, the holiday season is upon us. Those of us in the holiday spirit find ourselves sitting around a fire, drinking hot chocolate, watching Christmas movies, existing in what seems like a blissful ignorance of the world around us, even if just for a few weeks.
It’s understandable to desire a break from the everyday debates of right and wrong, the news updates which make us assess our moral standings and confrontation of the chaos that is so present. Is it moral to ignore all the wrong-doings in our country, all in hopes to maintain a little peace for a season? Is it so bad to want to just hit ‘pause’ and exist for a few weeks in a time where those things fall further down the totem pole behind making a ginger-bread house with your siblings, wrapping presents with your mom and shopping for family and friends?
In an ideal world, we could carry about this peace-filled, gracious mindset into every other season. We could celebrate the new year, and all make a resolution to try and be as good of moral and joyous people as we are in December, every day. The odds of that happening are slim to none. But it’s always nice to dream.
