Editor, The Times:
A few days before Christmas, while wandering in a local store, I overheard a couple of shoppers bemoaning the commercialism of Christmas and the loss of the true meaning of the holiday.
I think if they’d put down their armloads of stuff and looked around the valley, they’d have found bushels of Christmas meaning. It is not for advertisers or manufacturers to tell us what Christmas is all about. That is something we define for ourselves. The food bank fundraiser, the lights strung to delight passersby, random trees along the highway sporting decorations, children excited over their role in the Christmas concert have all added greatly to my deep belief that the coming of Christ is worth celebrating.
I had an extra dose of delight in my life. Not only do I sing with Voices United Community Choir, an activity that makes my Grinch-like heart grow every year, I am also the treasurer of Clearwater United Church, the choir’s sponsor.
Thanks to the generosity of our audience at our show at the Clearwater Community Baptist Church and to the sale of DVDs and CDs of the performance prepared by Ted Weaver, I was able to write a cheque for $545 to the Forest View Place Recreation program.
To quote both Louis Armstrong and Charles Dickens: “What a wonderful world. And God bless us, every one!”
Mary Neathway
Vavenby, B.C.
