I'm a lover of Christmas. Coming from poverty and worry, I continue to look for times when something can lift me up. It's not the Christianity. There are too many cruel people who espouse their views of this. I look back to a guy named Marcus Borg who said of Christmas, "I don't know if it happened that way, but I know that it is true." It is the idea. The ideal. We have set aside a time where we are expected to be nice to one another, to feel a sense of peace, to stop judgment and all the things that go with that. I really don't believe there is literal truth, but Christmas makes me feel good. In this episode we have some incredible moments. There is the appearance of a Korean family and a son, sired by Maurice when he was a boy soldier. He has to put aside his innate dislike of "the other" and embrace this newfound family. Fleischman feels he is an
outsider and tries to bring a tree into his house. But his Jewish belief system makes it artificial. Maggie doesn't want to go to her parents and then is deeply hurt when they decide to go on vacation instead of celebrating with her. Shelly is Roman Catholic and misses the rituals she knew as a child. Holling tries to make her happy. Chris narrates the Native American tale of the Raven bringing light, among other things. I couldn't get enough of it.
