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Mysoninlaw'soperacompanyrecently commissioned and performed a world pre- mier of the opera, "Silent Night." The opera is based on a true incident that occurred during World War I, the so-called war to end all wars. On a bitter Christmas Eve German, French, and Belgian soldiers decided to have a voluntary cease fire to celebrate Christmas with songs, lit trees, and shared re- moval of bodies from the soggy field that sep- arated them. The cease fire did not last long, but for a few hours the soldiers had a reprieve from the horrors of war, a time to reflect and pray, and a chance to remem- ber there was still a common bond of civility both sides shared. Sometimes it feels like we live in a war zone. We lis- ten to the blitzing of: the ca- cophony of ads proclaiming how you can earn rewards or "points;" the bluster of ab- surd threats to shut down the government each week; the blare of the crime news on our front page; the si- rens' enticements of free shipping; the not so mellow perpetual debates regard- ing marijuana; the ongoing soap opera and saga of state and local public finance; the ballyhooing of the pundits about the GOP presidential hopefuls; the constant tem- per tantrums and saber rat- tling of Iranian leaders; the "what's to worry about" pro- testations of Greek and Ital- ian finance officials; the loud proclamations of economists about our dire future; the angry if unfocused protests by the Occupy folks; the loud complaints about our tax lev- els; the weakly proclaimed victory in Iraq; the "not any more" rhetoric from the Arab League to Syrian leaders; the scholarly arguments about the actual events of the Bib- lical nativity; the bold an- nouncements that there is a new technological gadget we can't do without; the on- going refusal of the military in Egypt to relinquish its power; and the prognostica- tions about the succession in North Korea. It is sometimes difficult to put this season in perspec- tive. It is hard to reflect and not just react. For most people Christ- mas, coming at the end of the year, is a natural time to reflect. It is a time to re- flect on our blessings, our challenges, and to prepare to make improvements in our lives. We can think about family and love, and we can promise to work harder to secure the bonds that unite us. We can think of gifts and giving, knowing that our greatest gifts to oth- ers do not come in a well wrapped package; we can wish for courage to express our love, devotion, and sup- port for others. We can hope for a good year ahead, and we can even muster the re- solve to make changes in our behavior. Children are not so reflec- tive, and they tend to view Christmas with anticipation, not thinking much beyond Christmas morning. I can re- member my brother and I guessing what we might re- ceive from Santa and listen- ing carefully through the long night of Christmas Eve for the hoof steps on our roof. One of us would wake the other to announce San- ta's arrival, and then we would fall back into a rest- less sleep, anticipating the morning's promises. There were always surprises un- der the tree, and my parents' faces constantly reflected their love for us as we ripped ribbon and wrapping paper off of our gifts. For Christians, however, the season reminds us that Christmas is even more than gifts, reflections, resolutions, and family; Christmas cel- ebrates the time when God stepped into our world and invited us to live different lives. Christmas reminds us that God is full of surprises and that we need to be open to them. Christmas is the time when the world was surprised by uninvited joy and grace. One of my favorite Christ- mas stories involved a learned man in England who looked up from his book on a stormy winter's night to see a flock of birds trapped in the snow beneath his win- dow. He knew if the birds could find their way to a nearby shelter they would be spared a death from freez- ing; he also knew that if he attempted to scurry them to safety they would misunder- stand his attempts and just try to keep away from him. Finally he said to himself, "If I could only turn myself into a bird, I could get their attention and lead them to safety." The man suddenly understood what God had done at Christmas. Christians can identify with those birds trapped in the snow; our "snow" is the messy world we have created. Christians believe that Jesus has entered into that world and into each individual who is open to Him, and that the acceptance of His presence in individual lives will make a world of difference. During our Sunday wor- ship services we do not ask for God to be present with us; we acknowledge God has called us to be present with Him. It is a reminder that it was God who invited us to follow him, not us who con- trol God by calling upon His presence and favor. God is a God of surprises, and God's biggest surprise is Christmas. Editor's note: This column was originally published Dec. 24, 2011. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop The Christmas surprise Cartoonist's take The following column was written in response to the letter to the editor of the New York Sun in 1897. "Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? "Virginia O'Hanlon "115 W. 95th St." Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been af- fected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not be- lieve except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devo- tion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virgin- ias. There would be no child- like faith then, no poetry, no ro- mance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither chil- dren nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imag- ine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the ba- by's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, ro- mance, can push aside that cur- tain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory be- yond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is noth- ing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus. Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Vir- ginia, nay, ten times ten thou- sand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. Editorial Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus We can think about family and love, and we can promise to work harder to secure the bonds that unite us. We can think of gifts and giving, knowing that our greatest gifts to others do not come in a well wrapped package; we can wish for courage to express our love, devotion, and support for others. GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Joe Harrop Another year, another fake "War on Christmas" is almost in the books. On Sunday morning, a great many of us will wake up, pad quietly down- stairs, pour some coffee and wish our spouses and children a Merry Christmas. Others among us will light candles, recite prayers, and wish each other a Happy Ha- nukkah. Others won't do anything at all. But what is certain is that government agents won't come tumbling down the chimney. No one will try to stop you from giving your kid that Hatchimal thing — assuming you could find one. Yet, every year, at just around this time, we get hopelessly ex- ercised over whether someone wishing us "Happy Holidays" instead of "Joyeux Noel," is that final signal that the barbarians are at the gates, the last confir- mation that western civilization is about to go tumbling into the abyss. We've spent months star- ing at each other across the battlements. Clinton support- ers. Trump supporters. The de- terminative minority who cast their ballots for Jill Stein. That guy who voted for Gary John- son. None of us agree on any- thing. So we argue about stuff like this. But you'd think, at least, we could agree that it's not how we extend our good wishes to each other during the holidays, rather, it's the authenticity of the senti- ment behind how we say those words that really counts. I am no less in earnest when I wish those whose religious in- clinations are unknown to me "Happy Holidays," than when I tell a Christian friend "Merry Christmas." The warmth behind both is equally genuine. As I am sure it is with everyone else. Because, as I am so vividly reminded at this time of year, not everyone celebrates Christ- mas or even Hanukkah, for that matter. It's not being politically cor- rect. It's just being polite. And, while we're at it, if the biggest beef you have at this time of the year is whether the clerk at Target wishes you "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas," I'm calling shenanigans. When others are sweating the bills and getting food on the table, or, worse, dodging bombs in Aleppo, that is a #FirstWorld- Problem of the highest order. Mere verbiage shouldn't stand in the way of us being de- cent to each other. Our shared humanity should be enough to bring us together — no matter how we celebrate about the holidays or how we ex- tend our good wishes to others. That's particularly true af- ter the brutal and endless cam- paign cycle that we've just gone through. Sadly, we're probably going to spend the next four years ar- guing with each over ...well ... everything. So you'd think we could put down our spears just long enough to get sloppy together on egg nog and wake up as a coun- try wondering what we did at the office party the night before. Because when you think about it, Christmas is maybe one of three times all year when Americans are truly united. The second is the Fourth of July, where we collectively try to convince ourselves that Bud- weiser isn't truly awful. And the third is the Super Bowl, where we join together as one people to proclaim that the Dallas Cowboys are the root of all earthly evil. Yeah ... I know ... Bellichick. I'm a Patriots fan, and even I get that. Still, that's the beauty of the season. For just a couple of days, we can put our differences aside to blast "Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You," by Billy Squier, because, of course. You don't have to be Chris- tian to be overwhelmed by the solemn beauty of a midnight mass. You don't have celebrate the nativity to be held spell- bound by the giddy beauty of twinkling Christmas lights. Nor do you have to be Jew- ish to accept the fundamental truth that a well-done latke is its own kind of miracle. Because when someone looks you in the eye sometime be- tween now and the turn of the New Year, and you feel the warmth radiating off them, that their hope that your all your Christmases (or Hanukkahs or whatever) are bright, is actually physically palpable, that's the spirt of the season right there. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. However you cel- ebrate, or even if you don't, I wish you and yours peace. See you in 2017. An award-winning political journalist, John Micek is the Opinion Editor and Political Columnist for PennLive/The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. Readers may e-mail him at jmicek@pennlive.com. John Micek It's not what you say, it's how you say it John L. Micek OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, December 24, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4