One thing I absolutely loathe about the holidays are the
television commercials.
That's right, folks.
Worried about what to give your loved one for Christmas? Why,
just wrap up that Lexus with a big bow and your spouse will go
crazy over it. How about renting an entire movie theater for your
wife to show her old home movies of your wedding before you give
her that huge diamond ring? How many kids will be leaving out
cheese instead of cookies for Santa after viewing that commercial
where the smart, darling child did just that and received a
living room full of extravagant presents?
I don't really mind conspicuous consumption by individuals
because it's none of my business. I just get annoyed when it's
associated with my favorite holy day. Every year, I have to
struggle against my Scrooge persona and this year is no
different. However, even though secularism has once again reared
its ugly head, it took the message of my pastor to put things in
proper perspective.
Father Peter J. Bryne, pastor of Immaculate Conception here in
Stapleton, spoke of the meaning of Advent a few weeks ago in his
homily. He reminded us that it is a period of spiritual
preparation for the celebration of Christmas and that one of the
best ways to do this is to practice forgiveness. This means
ridding ourselves of old grudges and bitterness. Truer words were
never spoken.
This past election has left half the nation nursing a grudge
that, if not healed, will wreak havoc on us all for the next four
years. Even as the president-elect is setting up his new
administration, the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are
stirring up rumblings within the minority community. Threats of
boycotts and demonstrations on Inauguration Day are getting
louder and louder.
For those of you who still believe that certain voters were
"disenfranchised" on Nov. 7, I'd like to try and
mitigate that notion with a few simple facts.
This entire mess started because of the alleged confusion with a
punch ballot in Palm Beach County. Angry residents cried that
there was no way that "Nazi admirer" Pat Buchanan could
have received 3,000 votes in a Jewish-dominated community with so
many Holocaust survivors in residence. Therefore, they alleged
that these votes were intended for Al Gore.
But what if there had been no error and everybody had actually
voted correctly? Why wasn't it widely broadcast that in that same
county, the Reform Party candidate for state Senate, Deseree
Clabo, received 11,751 votes? Palm Beach County is the center of
the Reform Party in Florida, so why is it that inconceivable that
their presidential nominee would receive a few thousand votes?
But, alas, troublemakers were afoot and even before Election
night had ended, hired telemarketeers were busy stirring up a
frenzy of discontent by alerting minority voters of possible
fraud by Republicans.
Another charge made by Jesse Jackson is that police roadblocks
were set up in Dade County to intimidate minority voters from
going to the polls. My husband grew up in Dade and recalls that
those roadblocks were more routine than not. The Miami Dade
police routinely set up these blockades whenever traffic is heavy
to increase their ticket quota, not to impede the voting process.
He, himself, once got a ticket on his way to the polls for having
an expired inspection sticker on his car and he and many others
ticketed are white.
The New York Times ran this tearful story about a young
African-American and first-time voter whose registration was
misplaced and therefore she was denied the opportunity to vote.
What the paper never bothered to investigate is that hundreds of
thousands of motor-voter registrations in New York never made it
to the polling districts either. My daughter, who had voted last
year in our same district, had to vote via paper ballot because
her registration card was missing. Was her vote counted? Who
knows?
An Irish-American co-worker of my husband went to vote in
Massapequa and found that his registration in his new district
was not listed and he had to go to his old neighborhood to vote.
It took several hours, but he took the time and effort to make
use of the opportunity to vote. We'll never know if his vote was
counted, either, will we?
The fact is, no election is ever perfectly counted. Mistakes
occur and the system does need updating. Still, it is unfortunate
that there are opportunists and mischief-makers picking at old
wounds and grudges to satisfy their own agenda. There are already
plenty of actual incidents of racial inequality that do require
investigation and indictments. Why manufacture chaos through
innuendo and false suppositions?
This holiday season presents all of us, regardless of one's
individual religion, with an opportunity to let go of our
resentments and bitterness because holding on to them is
self-destructive. Releasing these corrosive emotions is immensely
rewarding and liberating and I highly recommend it.
In 1997, I swallowed my pride and reached out to my estranged
sisters, even though I had been the one wounded and maligned.
Later that year, we were all united at the deathbed of our oldest
sister and it was wonderful to have that burden of resentment
lifted so that we could grieve together and be reunited in peace.
Are there relatives and friends in your lives you haven't spoken
to for years because you feel you are right and they are wrong?
Are you furious about the election results and are vowing never
to consider Bush your legitimate president? Are you angry at the
thought of Hillary Rodham Clinton serving as senator for the next
six years and outraged at her $8-million book advance? Let it go.
Free yourself of that heavy load of festering anger. Forgive them
all.
It's good for your health and essential for your soul. 'Tis
indeed the season for us to be united in the common bond of our
humanity.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all.