The Christmas Crash

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas and are not experiencing what I call the Christmas Crash. That’s the letdown that occurs when the frenzy of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are over, a brief window in time that people spend months preparing for. And all of a sudden it’s over, wrapping paper strewn around the living room, people groaning over how much they’ve overeaten or overspent (usually both). 

This is a strange Christmas, I think. There are two wars of uncertain outcome, a transition of power in Washington, and a very scary economy. Not a lot of peace on earth or in people’s hearts this year. Christmas always makes me think about the past, the people who have come and gone in my life, so it’s always a little melancholy. Yet today I’m thinking about the future and trying to feel good about it. I’m anxious for ‘09 to get here so we can start to face the challenges ahead.

And I remind myself that the birth of Christ was the birth of hope in the world, brought to us in human form so that we would know it was a gift for all humankind. 

Edward Grinnan is Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of GUIDEPOSTS Publications.