Christmas meaning
Based on the wad of flyers in the Advertiser and the amount of LED lights adorning homes in Cranbrook,
Christmas must be coming. However, it seems to me we’re missing something. Other than the Nativity scene in the Tamarack Mall there appears to be a great lack of recognition of the true meaning of Christmas.
I hope I have just not toured the right streets in our city and that there are many symbols of Christ’s birthday out there.
However, if you feel, as I do, something is missing, attend the Christmas services in one of the churches in Cranbrook. Or, if organized religion is not for you, got out to Ft. Steele on a Sunday afternoon and take in thehalf hour service in the Heritage Town. The crackling fire in the pot-belly stove and the simplicity of the old church along with the heartfelt Christmas message will fill that empty spot.
Merry Christmas.
Grant Griffin/Cranbrook
Christmas spirit
Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace, joy, goodwill and family togetherness. It has nothing to do with gift giving — that should traditionally be done either on Boxing Day (St. Stephen’s Day) when the rich gave “boxes” to the poor, mostly food, or at Epiphany, January 6, when the Magi are said to have brought their gifts to the baby Jesus.
Today, Christmas, often starting in November with lawn ornaments and myriads of lights — is very pretty, but expensive, and so soon! — is all rush, rush, rush, buy, buy, buy. Shoppers are encouraged to go deeper and deeper into debt to buy expensive presents which no one really needs and often don’t appreciate. Children are targeted into pestering their parents for toys and other things which will usually last about a week or so before interest wanes and they are discarded. Just think, how many small children prefer empty boxes or pots and pans where they can use their imagination — sadly lacking in most children and adults today.
Puppies and kittens given at this time often lose their appeal as they grow older and their new owners realize how much care and attention they need.
Parties, where we eat and drink too much, abound — and often the results are not pleasant!
However, not all is lost as more people are donating to food banks. Some families are able to harvest their own Christmas trees thereby creating family togetherness.
I had originally titled this “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off,” as I went on to decry the commercialism of almost all our holidays (Holy Days).
Still, I think that it would be good to float in the peace of space and listen to the singing of the stars.
I am not really a pessimist, but loss of understanding and empathy being replaced by greed upsets me.
Have a joyous Christmas.
Judy Winterbottom/Cranbrook
Protecting life
John Horgan, the leader of the NDP in B.C., promises that if his party is elected in next spring’s provincial election, he will stop all trophy hunting of grizzly bears. But he says nothing about the loss of human life occurring as a result of abortions.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information reports that 81,897 abortions were performed across Canada in 2014, 9,196 of those in B.C. I agree that there are times when an abortion is necessary, and the choice to abort is a difficult decision, but these numbers are staggering. Surely, not all of these abortions were warranted.
In Canada, women do not have to provide a reason to obtain an abortion. They are available upon request, paid for by our tax dollars. Choice rules the day in Canada, unfettered in any way by any concern about the unborn, not matter what stage of development in the womb.
However, when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the abortion law as unconstitutional in 1988, they recognized and affirmed that the protection of the fetus is is a crucial factor for parliament to consider in determining what new law should be put in place. As was stated by the then Chief Justice Brian Dickson, the “protection of the fetal interests is also a valid governmental objective. If follows that balancing these interests with the lives and health of women as a major factor is clearly an important governmental objective.” Parliament has ignored this statement. It has done nothing to protect the fetus and provide the balance called for by the Supreme Court of Canada.
A womna’s womb should be a place of warmth, nourishment and protectin for the nestling unborn. Instead, for tens of thousands of unborn babies in Canada it has become a place of peril. A consultant specializing in the care of pregnant women writes: “Life does not begin with birth. When born we are already nine months old … we have a responsibility to learn how to study the life in uteri and how to care for it.”
Striking the right balance in protecting grizzly bears is important, but even more important is striking the right balance in protecting human life when it is most vulnerable.
Lorna Kent/Cranbrook
