Holiday Cheer

It is a heritage tradition so richly
splendid, embroidered by faith
in the divine, sacrifice in the
embrace of all humanity, a tapestry
of exquisitely psalmodic chant and the
sumptuous colour and architectural
design of nature's green festooned
with gold and silver, velvet maroons
and brilliant lights, rivalling the
glorious sparkle of the firmament.

Children are entranced by the
bewitching glitter, sparkle and sound;
in their millions, soft voices raised in
familiar yearly refrains, awaiting the
presence of a familiar, kindly stranger,
just visiting, leaving behind for their
discovery symbols of his sweet regard.

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Repeated ad infinitum over the
millennia, the tradition remains ever
new, a true excitement of the senses,
and for many a joyous affirmation
of belief in the miracle of life and
happiness, if but for the space of
that short, scintillating season.

Yet hope, like nature's timeless
returns of the seasons, does spring
eternal. And when life seems bleakly
and uncompromisingly miserable,
the days short and dark and inclement,
to some, comfort is born. Belief has
that saving aptitude to blot despair.

The season's brief grace, however,
it is well to acknowledge, plunges
those without recourse to sharing
belief, friends and family, just a
trifle deeper into their lonely lives
of fortitude and endurance. Until such
time as the will no longer endures.