Well, I hope everyone had a happy holiday season. As I write this, I'm on my way to St. George, UT to spend New Year's with my family. Don't ask how I'm going to get this on my website from my iPod; you wouldn't like the answer. But as I have several hours ahead of me and I have no book, I figured I'd pass the time by writing. Why not?
To write this post, I'm using an iPhone app called, appropriately enough, "Text Editor." If I feel like the experience was enjoyable enough, I'll write my review at the end of this post. So you have that to look forward to, at least.
The subject of today's post is Christmas. Yeah, yeah, it's a little late. But the point I want to make is valid at any season. As I was preparing for the holiday, it was often brought up to my mine that many people "forget about the spirit of Christmas." Eventually, though, I realized that another person's "true spirit of Christmas" might be completely different from mine. Does that make I any less valid? Absolutely not. I hold a traditional view of Christmas and do my best to celebrate as such, but what's the difference between my celebration, and the celebration of, say, an Atheist, or a Bhuddist? If they have their own reasons for observing the holiday, and I persecute them (mentally, at least) for it, how is that any different from me mentally abusing someone for our differences in politics, religion, or race? I would never be openly condescending to someone for those differences, and I do try to be aware of my internal opinions, and make sure they're unoffensive, as well.
What it really comes down to, though, is we do have somethig in common. We all celebrate SOMETHING during the end-of-the-year-Holidays. Even if the actual holiday is different, we're still all coming together to be with family, friends and loved-ones. Who cares if our motives are different? We're still overcoming barriers and obstacles to take another step toward true peace.
The story of Christmas during World War I comes to mind. During the horrors and tragedy that were the Great War, there was still a point where man's inhumanity towards man lost the battle with man's inner desire to be at peace. In the middle of the German's shelling of the British and French on Christmas Eve, the sounds of war abruptly stopped, and the melody of the German Christmas hymn Stille Nacht ("Silent Night" in English-speaking corners of the globe) drifted over no-man's-land to the trenches on the other side. For one night, the war was forgotten. People who would resume killing each other the following day allowed themselves, for one brief moment, to remember the Christmases from their past, and celebrate the true spirit of their Christmas. In the years that followed, those that returned to their homes and families would never be able to celebrate the holiday without remembering that amazing moment. I'm 90% sure football was played...
With this event as a precedent, how can we point at another's celebration of Christmas, and say "No, you're wrong. You can't do it that way"? What audacity! While no man may be an island, we will all be alone until we can stop reviling what separates us, and start building on what connects us. We are all members of the Human family, and dysfunctional though we may be, we still can bury the hatchet when we all show up for Uncle Ron's funeral. We just need to remember that singing Christmas carols over a minefield is just the FIRST step towards true peace. The thing about the first step is that is has to be followed by a second step, then a third step. If we can spend one afternoon with our family without bringing up old arguements, that's only overcoming the first obstacle. There are still many more barriers to face before we can sit down to lunch or afternoon tea without it ending in a screaming match.
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So there's your Christmas message from the guy who brought/is bringing you Thoughts From a Car and The Bad Movie Review. Strictly speaking, the thougts are being recorded from a car, so I say "Valid!!" And now, it's my review of the Text Editor app: typing on an iPhone/Touch sucks when it's consumed in large quantities. However, Text Editor seems to work as well as a word processor could with such an interface. There's a whole Office-type suite available in the App Store, but I didn't want to drop $50+ on something I might never use. The $1-5 that I spent on this (I don't remember too accurately, but it was no more than $5, I'm sure) was easy to stomach, so that's another point in its favor. It also has some good "sharing" functionality, but I have not as yet tested it. It's supposed to be able to connect to a Google Documents account and download/upload seamlessly, so I'll try that when I have an Internet connection. It's also supposed to be able to be accessed directly from a computer on the same network through a web portal, so I'll try that, too. I'll update the review when I have some experience with it.
(EDIT: Once we got to southern Utah, I found out that the house was set up for wireless internet, so I'm finishing this from a basement couch in front of a 40" flat panel Sharp TV. Awesome sauce. Anywho, connecting to the text files directly my computer worked about as easily as you could imagine. I didn't try the Google Documents route, because an easier, more direct way worked perfectly. Maybe later I'll try going to GDocuments, and write another note. Until that time, though, I heartily endorse this product by whoever-the-hell wrote the app.)
So, until next time, keep both hands on the wheel, keep your eyes on the road, and stay safe. But never forget to enjoy the journey; that's the difference between a trip and an adventure.
