I HAVE been blessed more than most. The Big Man Upstairs, in His eternal and infinite wisdom, opted to give this sinner far more than he ever deserved. In this life, I will never be able to explain why I have been so fortunate, but I appreciate my many blessings every day nonetheless. If you have been as blessed as I have, Thanksgiving just does not cut it as far as offering thanks for all the good fortune I have stumbled upon in my almost 22 years.
I have no problem admitting to you that I get all choked up every time the last sequence in "It's A Wonderful Life" comes on. When George Bailey runs through Bedford Falls wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, it almost brings a tear to the eyes of this too-often jaded Catholic.
I could offer a bunch of platitudes about what Christmas and the holidays mean to me, and those are all nice, but I've done that before. Besides, you have probably heard enough of that by now. Instead, I am going to put my feelings into more practical terms, and express why I am so thankful this holiday season.
The holidays offer an ideal time for reflection because most of us are home with our families, an old year is about to end as a new one begins, and everything is coming full circle. Particularly for fourth-year students, most of who are about to find out what the "real world" truly means, our last Christmas as college students provides a much-needed chance to look back at our time here and our life as a whole. And since it is a flaw inherent to every one of us that we do not take enough time to be thankful, perhaps by example I can lead you to examine your own life for all the blessings you might not think about enough.
I'll start off with my family, immediate and extended. One of the clearest lessons one learns at school, or at least should learn, is the importance of one's family. They are one of the few constants in life from the time you set foot on Grounds until the time you walk the Lawn in May four years later.
Sure, they may infuriate you at times, in the end they are the bedrock of who we are as human beings. There are times over the three-week break that will remind many of us exactly why we no longer live at home - the grass is always greener on the other side, after all. But Christmas is the best time to remind yourself of exactly who are - if you are lucky - the most important people in your life.
After time with family, the holidays are an ideal time to spend with friends, many of whom you may not see very often anymore. I heard it said somewhere before that if you have five lifelong friends, then you have had one hell of a good life. There is a lot of truth to that. I suppose it is just par for the course, but the college years can make it hard to maintain friendships.
If you used to live at school with someone but do not anymore, it takes an extra effort to hang out with them again. You lose touch with high school friends. You lose touch with study abroad friends. You lose touch with friends here at the University. You pick up new friends along the way, of course, but not without the sense that something else was lost.
Christmas is a good time to try to re-establish those relationships - even something as simple as calling up an old friend on Dec. 25 and wishing them a Merry Christmas.
Of course, very little - if any - of this would be possible if we were not fortunate enough to live in the greatest nation on Earth. Heaven knows we have more than our share of problems, and I could not even begin to list them here. But the fact remains that this Christmas, as it has for the past few decades, the United States of America stands alone as the leader of the free world. That sounds clich
Read More
KURTZWEIL: True financial aid must be transparent
By Paul Kurtzweil | 3 days agoThe implications and revelations of the lawsuit should inspire greater transparency at the University in order to ensure that financial aid is properly and equitably distributed.
SULLIVAN: Ramp up physical accessibility on Grounds
By Scarlett Sullivan | 5 days agoThe University must take responsibility for the inaccessibility of Grounds and work to promote accessibility for all students despite misguided laws.
EDITORIAL: Scapegoating students will not stop hazing
By Editorial Board | April 25, 2024Instead of retroactively responding to extreme hazing allegations, we, and especially the University, must begin asking more probing questions about the role of fraternal organizations on Grounds.
