REFER TO GREY: Contemplations by Robert Greigos © 2007-2024

Last week we had gut-wrenching tragedy. This we week saw obstinate irresponsibility in Washington. Next week we will, no doubt, face something equally disturbing and disruptive. Our lives these days are just not simple. There is no mere putting nose to grindstone and pushing ahead till the weekend when we have time to enjoy family, friends, and possibly nature. No, our physical, emotional, economic, and cultural foundations are being assaulted at every turn of the clock. The pot is roiling and we are in the stew. There is no escape and we have very little voice in the matter.

Tomorrow, in the U.S. and across much of Europe and South America, both Christians and non-Christians will celebrate Christmas. Together, we will celebrate the wish for peace, justice, and compassion for all God's creatures, no matter the species, race, religion, economic status, or political persuasion. We believe that out there somewhere is a trustworthy compelling set of ideas that will allow us all to find sustaining and enriching fellowship with each other in everything we do. That life within that set of ideas will be free of fear, hatred, and jealousy and that each of us will have meaningfully equal opportunity to participate no matter what our handicap or affliction. That those among us who rise to positions of leadership and responsibility will find their greatest satisfactions in the accomplishment of results that strengthen the cooperative bonds of trust between us and help to ensure a productive and sustainable future.

At Christmas, that wish, that dream, bubbles to the surface in all of us, no matter our age or plight. We look for its arrival. We try to practice its ideals. We feel for a few brief days the spirit of its promise. And then, somehow, it slips again from our grasp.

May your heart and mind find at least one more solidly foundational building block this holiday for the future of peace, justice, and compassion we all so gnawingly crave.