The Christmas season has come and gone and I have come to a few painful but inescapable realizations. "Christmas Spirit" is a myth. I don't deny that it may have existed at one point, but it has been replaced by rampant materialism and the ubiquitous means to feed that materialism. Starting even before Thanksgiving (a true holiday), advertisers begin flooding the American consciousness with messages indicating sales and holiday must-haves. It begs the question, however, what is a holiday must-have. Me, personally, I think of my health, my family and my friends as the only real requisites for a happy holiday, but according to a radio spot I heard the other day, "nothing is more christmassy then a refridgerator pack of Coke in the Fridge". I don't think I need to elaborate on how horrendously inaccurate that is. I have also learned through haphazard research means that many Christmas customs, including the DAY ON WHICH IT IS HELD, are actually hold overs from the pagan celebrations being practiced by the masses at the time when Christianity began to spread. This was done to more easily assimilate pagan cultures into the Christian faith. In other words, some very smart church leaders said, "I bet if we allow the people to hold onto some of their pagan rituals, then they will be more likely to join us and give us their money."

This brings me to the biggest idea that I have had in recent weeks. Can someone really trust any religion that spends a great deal of time and money on recruiting new followers? I say no. The truths of our world remain the truths of our world whether or not people pay to learn them. I've always felt, and quite strongly too, that absolute truth spreads itself. It is a little naive to think that this will always be the case, but with concepts so important as who we are, where we come from and where we will someday rest, there has to be an answer, and if someone truly knew that answer, I don't think he or she would have trouble getting others to see its validiaty. Either way, I have a very soft, very cute kitten sleeping quietly on my lap right now, and that is all the religion I need to go to bed happy.