There was something profoundly sad about Christmas this year, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are as many COVID cases this year as there were this time last year, but the difference is that business are open, parties are raging, and family gatherings are more accepted. The world moves on. Carolers are back on the streets, Santa’s taking pictures again. Social media is ablaze with holiday festivities, and the people who are forced to quarantine are feeling more lonely than they would have last year.
Maybe it’s sad because the numbers this year are close to the same numbers last year, despite the fact that there are effective vaccines that are being administered for free in the United States. People are getting careless about masking and handwashing.
With each passing day, it creeps closer and closer to my circle. I now know people who have gotten it and others who have passed away from it. I’m a pessimist. I’m counting down the days until I get it, and hopefully I won’t pass it onto my elderly relatives. Knock on wood.
Every year during the holidays I think about the homeless. We get to spend our time with family and friends, and all they have are each other. I can’t empathize with how they must feel, watching society’s celebration while being cast aside, unwanted. We don’t really even see them this time of year. I think some part of them knows people don’t want to see them, and the situation with COVID makes things even worse.
Although maybe it’s sad because we believe in an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent God who seems to be letting all of this happen. He’s got a plan, I guess. Maybe our time is up, and this is where the end begins.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.
P.S. I thought I already made a post on my prediction of the imminent end of civilization, but I must have written it somewhere else. I’ll post it up next month, if we’re still around then.
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Sources:
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailycases