Wary Christmas

In the beginning is the deed - Goethe

Goethe isn’t the name of the newly opened pub that serves german brew.

Handsome is as handsome does. I don’t know if you have heard of that one. Maybe some old guy’s tee shirt could have read that as he was crossing the aisle in a mall.

In any case, if that mantra applies to Dec 25th, then Christmas is as Christmas does. And doing Christmas is every bit as important as saying “Merry C”. Doing Christmas is all about getting what it truly means to deliver ourselves from the cages we have built for ourselves. If that sounds too philosophical, too idealistic, too naive, too fucking theoretical (I am good at critiquing myself) for you to consider, then consider this: our actions save us, deliver us and ultimately make us. Not our words alone. Not our thoughts alone. And not our intentions alone. It is like believing that a good compass in your pocket will take you where you want to go. Even as you park your ass and leave it to the contraption.

In our world, in our senses and in our imagination lie the frontiers that we need to test every hour of every day. This is not a Christmas lecture. This is a call to be. All that we can be.

Today is anyway a Goethe kind of day. So here is what I shall leave you with:

You can’t, if you can’t feel it, if it never
Rises from the soul, and sways
The heart of every single hearer,
With deepest power, in simple ways.
You’ll sit forever, gluing things together,
Cooking up a stew from other’s scraps,
Blowing on a miserable fire,
Made from your heap of dying ash.
Let apes and children praise your art,
If their admiration’s to your taste,
But you’ll never speak from heart to heart,
Unless it rises up from your heart’s space