Oh Little Town of Babylon 5...

Christmas time as an adult is a frantic time, spent running around shopping malls and fulfilling social obligations. I often yearn for those Christmas times of my childhood when I could just enjoy the holidays for what they were... holidays!

Now the holiday of "Christmas" has been bastardized* by many throughout the years... but my favorite flavour of Christmas is the non-religious and non-commercial version. It involves spending time with your friends and family and eating lots of food. Gifts are optional, but good will to your fellow human beings is mandatory.

I consider Christmas to be humanity's Babylon 5. It's our last best hope for peace. Simply put, people are most likely to exhibit "good will to fellow human beings" around Christmas time. So if we can't get along during Christmas... we're pretty much screwed. The best positive example of this was the Christmas truce during World War I. So I have some pretty high hopes of the power of Christmas, and I must admit that I am almost always disappointed by reality... Still, the expectation still exists that for a few days every year... we are to not to treat each other like poo. It's a task that is so simple in concept, but so disappointingly difficult to put into practice for many. Good luck to you all, and enjoy your holidays!

* In fairness, Christmas itself is a bastardization of Saturnalia.