A Little Help From My Brother

My older brother and I do not always see eye to eye on everything but when I read an article he had published in his local newspaper I thought I should copy it to my blog. This doea not have a lot to do with running the schools but I'm sure if we all shared the same idea our schools would run much better. He is a Baptist minister and a former Member of Parliament in Canada. This has a lot to do about values. Here it is:

THE VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE
BY REED ELLEY

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

I have to confess that I love Christmas. It brings me so many happy memories of childhood Christmases growing up in small town Ontario. We grew up in the Church and so Christmas held a special meaning for us. It was the traditional celebration of the birth of Jesus. So that meant Christmas Eve Candlelight Services,carolling to shut ins and seniors homes with the youth group,the annual Sunday School Christmas concert where tots to teens put on the show and much more. I remember them all. And it was all done with a backdrop of harsh winter weather and 3 or 4 feet of snow.
And then there were all the special goodies that my mother and indeed my father baked and prepared for Christmas. Whatever happened to Divinity Fudge? And real plum pudding, not that stuff out of some can! And every year,the turkey seemed to be just a little better than the last. I still think the smell of turkey cooking on Christmas Day is the best ever smell!

My parents weren’t wealthy. My father had been in the RCAF during the war and when the war was over he got retraining under a Veterans government program and was able to purchase a house under the Veterans Land Act. But I can’t remember a Christmas where we didn’t receive at least one substantial present from Santa Claus and several from other family members. There were five children in our family and we were all treated equally and well. I know my parents often made personal sacrifices to see that we were taken care of at Christmas.

My parents also instilled in us a belief that we were our brother’s keeper.They were kind and compassionate people. We were taught to care for the poor and those facing personal crisis. Christmas Day dinner was often celebrated with the presence of someone who would have otherwise been alone if they had not been invited to come and share our meal. My father often on his own made up Christmas hampers and took them to families whom he knew had little themselves.
Christmas was not as commercial as it is today. The religious significance was far greater than now. There was none of this insane political correctness where debates erupt over whether it is acceptable to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”. Or if we can have Christmas pageants in public schools or we have to call them “Winter Festivals”. Is it a “Christmas” tree or a “Holiday tree”(thank you President Obama) and can we still sing Christmas carols which mention the name of Jesus for fear of offending someone?
How silly this is! Christmas is as much an important part of our national heritage as Remembrance Day is. And we wouldn’t think of doing away with Remembrance Day, would we? It is important to all of us whether we celebrate the religious significance or not. It reminds us of important values which still need to be emphasized in our society, peace and good will toward all mankind, loving and caring for one another, giving rather getting, hope in the midst of despair, just the sheer magic of Christmas often seen shining in the faces of our children.

So let us celebrate the season and remember the reason for it. Think of giving to the Harvest Home Food Bank or to a charity which helps those in need .Invite someone over to share your Christmas dinner. Because I happen to believe that this is the most wonderful time of the year and I hope you do to! And just because I am so politically incorrect,I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and in the words of Tiny Tim “God bless us,everyone!”

So you can see why I felt it was important to reprint this article from the Chemainus B.C. newspaper. It speaks volumes to how our world should be.