Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 18 December 2003 — Page 2

Page 2 • The Muncie Times • December 18, 2003

EDITORIAL

Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa to one and all

Another year is ending, one that will be capped off with celebrations of Christmas on Dec. 25 and Kwanzaa from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. It is an exciting time as we prepare for the end of 2003 and all it brought us, good and bad, and anticipate the advent of 2004. With only a week to go before Christmas, many people are focused on finding that last Christmas and preparing a sumptuous feast to enjoy with family and friends. Merchants are gearing up for soaring sales and profits. We have lost sight of what Christmas is all about-the celebrating the birth the earthly birth of Jesus Christ, who came to promote peace, goodwill and understanding among the inhabitants of this planet. Instead personal indulgences and

conspicuous consumption have become our way of "honoring" the memory of this man of humility and conscience. Kwanzaa, on the other hand, is a non-religious, nonsectarian and noncommercial observance. It traces its roots to African history. It is a time to celebrate the first harvest. It is a time when people, mostly those of African descent, come together in collective gatherings or family settings to observe and learn about such principles as collective economics, self determination and faith. Gifts exchanged during Kwanzaa are simple, usually go to children and encourage to read and grow up as useful and productive members of society. Whether you celebrate

Christmas or Kwanzaa or both, we say Happy Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa to you all. May you have a blessed and safe time between now and the end of the year. However, as you get ready to celebrate these holidays, we hope you will not miss sight of their symbolism and their importance. Christmas should not be a time of selfindulgence, a time of trying to see how many gifts you will collect. It should not be a time to see how much you can eat between Christmas and New Year's Day. And, most importantly, it should not be a time to see how much alcoholic beverages one can put away. There are numerous Christmas parties and celebrations, most of which provide prodigious amounts of all types of alcohol. For

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MUNCIE TIMES STAFF Publisher Bea Moten-Foster Editor John T. Lambkun

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some, that becomes a challenge and an opportunity to languish in alcoholic stupor, staggering from party to party, the holidays becoming nothing than endless hangovers. Year after year, this is the way it has been. Christmas has become so commercialized that most us see it as nothing more than an opportunity to have fun and to have stories to share about what we did, how drunk we got and how we over ate. Yet all is not lost. Kwanzaa and Christmas offer an opportunity to share with our less fortunate community members, those who have no money for gifts, no sumptuous meals to look forward to, no gifts to receive, are homeless and don't know where their next meal will come from. These are the kinds of people that Jesus looked out for and helped. If we want to follow in His footsteps, we could start by eating less and drinking less over the holidays. We could give more to the Salvation Army bell ringers, to Goodwill, to the Muncie Mission and to other charitable organizations that try to bring hope to the

brutish and bleak lives led by some of our lessprivileged compatriots. It is sad that in this land of plenty and promise, poverty and homelessness have not been eliminated. There are still millions of children and adults who go to bed, if they can even find beds, hungry, cold and facing another day of hunger, despair and hopelessness. That should not be. Individually and collectively, we can help to alleviate that situation. If we did a little deeper into our pockets, we can certainly help those wallowing in despair and despondency. We certainly have to help our fellow citizens and residents have a better holiday season by sharing during this season. If we bought one less bottle of booze, one less gift and a little less food and donated that money to groups that help the poor and those down on their luck, we can help make this a better Christmas for all and we will a Iso feel better about ourselves. The Muncie Times publisher, editor and staff wish you Happy Holidays.

Happy Holidays From

All Of Us At The Muncie Times