Today is December 31, the turning point between 2014 and 2015. It has been a wonderful year for me personally but a disastrous year for the world. Crises abound. One feels helpless to change what appears to be a new disorder in the world.
As we think about our personal resolutions, it is also important to think about the world.
My resolutions rarely vary from year to year. Some years I am more successful than others in achieving them. I hope my personal resolutions for 2015 will be successful.
What resolutions can we make for the world that might take to improve the international situation?
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Christmas Carols and Christmas calendar
One of the developments of our contemporary society with its public emphasis on buying for Christmas gifts (I think it has been called the economic stimulus festival), is that Christmas disappears on December 26. The Christmas celebration at a minimum is supposed to encompass the 12 days of Christmas (December 25-January 6) and, in religious tradition, the longer season of December 25 to February 2 (presentation of Jesus in the Temple as an infant).
As has been pointed out by many, Christmas Carols will disappear on December 26. Many take down their trees at the same time.
While we have been hearing Christmas carols and songs for a couple of months, and Hallmark has been showing Christmas films since Halloween (I love these, by the way), tomorrow it will all disappear.
For those of us who are religious, there are perhaps two Christmases to celebrate: the commemoration of the birth of Jesus and the secular end of the year celebrations. For many in our society, there is only the secular festival of family gatherings and gift giving. For our businesses, there is only holiday -- the holiday of spending. I have gotten daily e-mails about the 12 days of Christmas which have been transformed into shoppers' deals in the 12 days leading up to Christmas. This sense of the 12 days is far from the original meaning of the 12 days of Christmas which were the celebration of the days from December 25 to January 6. The latter has historically other meanings as well, since that calendar joins the western and eastern calendars (Christmas is January 7 in the eastern Christian calendar). There is also a myth that the 12 days of Christmas was a symbolic way that Catholics could secretly observe Christmas during the period in England when the Anglican Church suppressed Catholic worship. The term Roman Catholic was invented by the English in order to assert their claim of the Church of England as the Anglo Catholic Church. (The term Roman Catholic does not exist in other languages, where the term Catholic Church is used.)
As has been pointed out by many, Christmas Carols will disappear on December 26. Many take down their trees at the same time.
While we have been hearing Christmas carols and songs for a couple of months, and Hallmark has been showing Christmas films since Halloween (I love these, by the way), tomorrow it will all disappear.
For those of us who are religious, there are perhaps two Christmases to celebrate: the commemoration of the birth of Jesus and the secular end of the year celebrations. For many in our society, there is only the secular festival of family gatherings and gift giving. For our businesses, there is only holiday -- the holiday of spending. I have gotten daily e-mails about the 12 days of Christmas which have been transformed into shoppers' deals in the 12 days leading up to Christmas. This sense of the 12 days is far from the original meaning of the 12 days of Christmas which were the celebration of the days from December 25 to January 6. The latter has historically other meanings as well, since that calendar joins the western and eastern calendars (Christmas is January 7 in the eastern Christian calendar). There is also a myth that the 12 days of Christmas was a symbolic way that Catholics could secretly observe Christmas during the period in England when the Anglican Church suppressed Catholic worship. The term Roman Catholic was invented by the English in order to assert their claim of the Church of England as the Anglo Catholic Church. (The term Roman Catholic does not exist in other languages, where the term Catholic Church is used.)
Friday, December 12, 2014
What has happened to the movies?
I think I have gone to a film theater only about twice this year. As I talk with other friends, most tell me they cannot remember the last time they went to a movie theater.
I look at the films playing via the internet and simply decide I am not interested. I don't want vampires, end of the world films, gruesome happenings film.
These are all reflections of a dark society. I prefer to live in a bright society.
A role of film was always to uplift people's spirits. Even in the height of the depression in the 1930s few films dealt with the grimmer side of life. They always focused on themes to uplift people who were already very depressed.
In the present era of terrorism, shootings by deranged young adults, and global unrest, do we really need end of the world films? Do we need films to feed the destructive tendencies of the mentally unbalanced?
In an attempt to be novel and original, Hollywood has gone to the bizarre, the cruel, and the unthinkable.
Any wonder the Hallmark channel is doing so well?
What kind of people are ordering these films to be made? Where are you when we need you, Louis B. Mayer? Jack Warner? And other moguls who had a sense of what the public needed and wanted.
Movie theaters make their money on the refreshments, not on the films. Film attendance is down and has been down for years. No wonder.
The coming attractions which tend to run up to a half hour are enough to send me running out of the theater. Most of the time I saw to myself: there are 10 films I do not want to see.
If films in the theater are going to survive, they need new energy and a new vision. The current vision is depressing and self-destructive. Wake up!!!!
I look at the films playing via the internet and simply decide I am not interested. I don't want vampires, end of the world films, gruesome happenings film.
These are all reflections of a dark society. I prefer to live in a bright society.
A role of film was always to uplift people's spirits. Even in the height of the depression in the 1930s few films dealt with the grimmer side of life. They always focused on themes to uplift people who were already very depressed.
In the present era of terrorism, shootings by deranged young adults, and global unrest, do we really need end of the world films? Do we need films to feed the destructive tendencies of the mentally unbalanced?
In an attempt to be novel and original, Hollywood has gone to the bizarre, the cruel, and the unthinkable.
Any wonder the Hallmark channel is doing so well?
What kind of people are ordering these films to be made? Where are you when we need you, Louis B. Mayer? Jack Warner? And other moguls who had a sense of what the public needed and wanted.
Movie theaters make their money on the refreshments, not on the films. Film attendance is down and has been down for years. No wonder.
The coming attractions which tend to run up to a half hour are enough to send me running out of the theater. Most of the time I saw to myself: there are 10 films I do not want to see.
If films in the theater are going to survive, they need new energy and a new vision. The current vision is depressing and self-destructive. Wake up!!!!
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