CHRISTMAS WEEK CONTINUED: MERRY CHRISTMAS

Today is Christmas Day in Oz.

Whether you’re Christian or not, whether you’re a believer in the Biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus, Christmas is a special time of the year for most of us.

It is the end of the year, a time to rest and reflect and, most importantly, to spend time with family, loved ones and friends.

That has to be a good thing.

So I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and joyous time with loved ones.

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Each year my daughter, Acacia, and I prepare our family’s Christmas card and I usually post it on Bytes.

This year's card appears below. artwork by Acacia and poem by myself.

Thanks Acacia.

For those who may have eyesight difficulties, the poem and text read:

THE SPIRIT OF 

CHRISTMAS

Santa was puzzled, as he was every year:

“Why is it each time there’s less and less cheer?

They no longer send cards, meet each other as much,

A text message or email is ‘staying in touch’.

Christmas always used to mean so much more

Than decorations and carols in a mall or a store.”

Santa pondered the issue, then it became clear:

It wasn’t confined to this time of the year.

Computers and texts, instead of a call,

Social media and selfies now governed all.

Isolation, distance, less contact’s the way,

Faster, not better, is what happens today.

Christmas once was for family to bless,

Instead it’s become dollars, presents and stress.

Christmas had changed, there was no doubt of that,

But change could also sometimes fall flat.

Had it become a commercial cash cow?

Was it JAH? Just another holiday now?

Then a thought came, causing Santa to smile -

Christmas had begun with the birth of a child.

And just as it had on that night of the star,

Christmas belongs to the young near and far.

To the children the world over and those young at heart,

Continuing the promise of the babe at the start.

To the Archers and Sofias, Ranjit’s, Dengs, Sauls,

The Virginias, Mohamads, Yasmins and Pauls,

Not to adults grown cynical with the passage of age

But to the young and those older but still at that stage.

The thought came to Santa: “All be of good cheer.

As long as there’s children, Christmas and I will be here.”

WE WSH YOU A

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A SAFE, JOYOUS 2024

OTTO & KATE

ACACIA, THOMAS, JESS & ARCHER,

ELLIOT & HELEN

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The card: