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'Ho-Ho-Ho! Seasons Greetings!' What kind of wish is that?
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T e c h n o f i l e
Season's gleanings: Special wishes for the only kind of gifts that keep on giving


Dec. 22, 2006


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2006, Al Fasoldt

   This is a time for special wishes.
   Real ones. Ones that come from the heart. "Ho-Ho-Ho! Seasons Greetings!"Not the ones on the cards you got from strangers -- the ones that give you greetings for the season.
   You know what I mean.
   Hasn't this bothered you, too?
   How would you feel if it was your birthday and someone gave you a card that said "Greetings for the Kind of Day This Is"? What's wrong with saying how we really feel?
   Instead, we keep our hearts bundled up and say the least offensive thing we can think of.
   "Ho-Ho-Ho! Seasons Greetings!"
   Not the same. But we can change that.
   Start by looking up the word that's at the center of our celebrations. "Holiday" means "holy day."
   Makes sense, right? This is a holy time, for Christians and Jews and many others.
   So when I wish the best to you, I can't hide what I feel in my heart.
   I wish you a life filled with joy and peace. I know, just as you do, that there will be times that seem joyless and stressed. But nothing can take away what lives inside you. That's where real joy thrives. Where real peace finds its resting place.
   Some might say this is nonsense. Cynics see life differently. They don't trust what others feel. They've closed their hearts.
   But that makes them more vulnerable, not less. The best defense against an uncaring world is not to care less. It is to care more.
   And so, on this eve of a special day, a holy day, to Christians, I wish you inner joy and lifelong peace. If I could, I would wrap them in gold-leaf paper and tie them up in bows.
   You don't have to do anything to receive these gifts. There are no coupons to redeem. No rebates. They're yours.
   But once you have them, they change you. They fill you to overflowing, and you end up sharing them. You turn them into gifts more valuable than anything anyone can buy.
   And you discover the real meaning of the "season" -- greetings and all.