On my mind

WHEREAS in some parts of America people have been known to trample over others to buy goods – one day after Thanksgiving where they gave thanks for what they already have - in Carmarthenshire not so many people ended up like a bruised cranberry the following day.

It seems the day after US Thanksgiving, since the late 19th century, was the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season. It was the Philadelphia Police Department which used the name “Black Friday” to describe the traffic jams and crowding in the downtown stores.

So now Christmas has begun - one of the five consumerist holidays of the year. Do you remember when it used to be celebrated as the birthday of JC (not be confused with Jeremy Corbyn, Julius Caesar or Jasper Carrot) and now is synonymous with businesses drooling over the amount of money they make – now the reason for the season.

I am not sure I would want my birthday to be the source of public skirmishes or the context of an ongoing culture war with secularism, political correctness and materialism the main antagonists.

In remembering the First World War the iconic story is that of the crisp, clear morning in 1914 when thousands of British, Belgian and French soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and spent Christmas communicating with their German enemies. This was not just an example of humanity in the horrors of war, and a testament to the power of love and peace, but also a remarkable subversive event when ordinary soldiers let their commanders (words like lions and donkeys come to mind) know they had had enough.

Perhaps we subversively need a red Monday to warn against the relentless consumerism and a blue Tuesday to remember the sadness of a lost heritage.