Opinion

Dec. 26, 2012 — Thoughts of a Merry Christmas were in full swing a few weeks ago. Susanville had celebrated its Uptown Magical Country Christmas, tickets were selling for the Susanville City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular, and local churches were celebrating the Advent season. Unfortunately, all of that was interrupted on Friday, Dec. 14, when news of the Connecticut shootings hit the airwaves and in the course of a few minutes, the “merry” had left our Christmas season.

I’ve been involved with the good, the bad, and the ugly of people’s lives for decades doing church ministry. I’ve not always had answers, but trusted what God said, “He is our refuge and strength, an ever present-help in times of trouble” (Psalms 46:1). As a Christian, I can’t help but think about God’s offer of peace; in our pluralistic world it may not be the answer for everyone, but it’s worth considering.

Dec. 26, 2012 – Ah, here we are again — it’s Christmas Eve, and I’m enjoying it already.

Later this evening all around Susanville and Lassen County, the little ones will be rubbing their eyes — trying to stay awake — hoping they might actually be lucky enough to hear the noisy clatter of reindeer hooves on the slippery rooftop, the heavy footsteps of a jolly, bearded, old saint clad in black boots and a red and white suit or his belly bursting, “Ho, ho, ho!” ringing out across our snow-covered desert. Maybe if they’re really lucky they might even catch a glimpse of this gent and his team sailing across the Christmas moon (that good old Waxing Gibbous) as they lumber off in their present-laden sleigh to visit other homes in Standish or Litchfield or Doyle or Herlong. They know they will have to have been really, really good all year long to even have a chance of meeting Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Still, they’ll rub their eyes hard and wish and wish and wish.

Dec. 26, 2012 — Since “My Turn” this month falls on Christmas Day, I’d been thinking about what to write. It seemed like Christmas wishes were in order, and I wanted to try for something cheerful and upbeat.

Then, last Friday that changed, and I realized there was no way I would be able to get through the rest of December without thinking of 26 families in Newton, Connecticut who would be spending the holidays without their loved ones.

Like most humans, it’s nearly impossible for me to wrap my mind around the level of madness and violence that could cause someone to randomly kill 20 children, and my questions are the ones most of us have. Why and how did this happen? Could it have been prevented? Are tighter gun laws the answer? Should we be looking at our mental health system?

Dec. 18, 2012 — The date I’ve been dreading for decades and decades — Dec. 21, 2012 — is finally upon us. The last gear spinning in the long count Mayan Calendar wheel means the end of this age has arrived, and a new one will begin. According to some folks, we’re all going to wind up in one big festering heap. Yep, don’t look now, but the end of the world finally comes at 11:11 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) this Friday — that’s 3:11 a.m. here in Susanville for all you clock watchers.

Truth be told, I’ve already survived the end of the world a couple of times, and I’m happy to report I’m none the worse for wear. Yet.

Some religious fanantic friends of mine predicted the world would end the summer of 1986, and they headed off for the desert in New Mexico. I don’t know what happened to them because I never saw them again, but I’m pretty sure that I’m still here. Maybe I’m just caught in some inter-dimensional feedback loop, and I don’t know I was actually incinerated 30 something years ago. Nah.