The Wonder of It All | Opinion

By Jill Sunday Bartoli

How beautiful it is to see all of the political signs down, replaced by wreaths, lights, decorated trees and all of the other signs of a celebration of the birth of a role model for the ages. Every year our homes and communities are aglow with festive decorations, and everyone we meet at the grocery store or pharmacy wishes us happy holidays through the protective masks that show they truly care.

This morning I look out at my snow laden sidewalk, literally buried in crystal white, and I cannot help but see the beauty amidst all the shoveling I will have to do.  And I think about how resilient we are as human beings. We come back every year—despite the frustration, grief and agony of our lives—to celebrate rebirth and greet each other with a loving spirit.

The wonder of it all is what it took to get us here, and the power of all of our faith traditions to sustain us through the unparalleled division, anger and fear that we have endured over the past year. The Christian faith celebrates the birth of a radical socialist who told followers to sell all they had and give it to the poor, to care for those in great need, to visit and care for those in prison. I find it odd when politicians use socialism as a dirty word.

It is amazing to me that we humans are still able to keep our sense of wonder and hopefulness. Equally amazing is the strength of our democracy– still young and experimental historically, but capable of bringing us all together in unity and concern for one another.  We know there is a lot of shoveling to do, but together we can do this.