There’s no question this has probably been the strangest Christmas holiday most of us, at least under the age of 60, have experienced. After all, from an historical standpoint, this year has been touted as a year not inappropriately compared to 1929. There are some who are conjecturing that 2009 is going to be a whole lot closer to 1929 than 2008 was.
Let’s hope they’re wrong.
That notwithstanding, I had the most bizarre experience this Christmas when I went to buy some Publix gift certificates for a couple college kids we know. We could have given them any number of things, but one thing that they would appreciate is groceries. Publix is a great grocery store in the southeast and Janet and I thought that there wasn’t going to be a whole lot better, from their standpoint…certainly at this stage in the economy. It was about 6:45 p.m.
As busy as Publix usually is, I walked into Bing Crosby singing White Christmas. There were twice as many Publix employees as there were customers. The Publix employees were garbed in red and green with Santa hats traipsed back. And, stating this as delicately as I possibly can, the few customers who were there were hardly in the mood for Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” or the nostalgia it represented.
I looked over, as I picked up my gift certificates in laurel and mistletoe, and felt the overwhelming compassion this Christmas has delivered for Americans on our continent, and for suffering servants across the globe.
Original writing date: December 23, 2008