It is 5am Christmas morning as I write this entry. I couldn't sleep so I decided to come downstairs, turn on the Christmas tree lights and put on some soft Christmas music. My wife and I tried our best to clean last night, but I could not help but trip over some of the things items left out during our two boys revelry from last night. It is cold and wet, windy and rainy outside, yet there is a warm, quiet and peaceful feeling about this morning at our house. It is in times like these, I really feel part of the Christmas spirit...the peace that I truly believe comes only from our Lord and Savior. No doubt other families have already begun the fun and excitement of opening gifts on Christmas morning. It has been a tradition for me since I was a child and we continue it with my family, to open presents on Christmas Eve. Our mornings were usually spent sleeping in only to be awaken by the desire to get back down to the favorite toy we opened the night before. I could not figure out how we continued to miss Santa's arrival at our house. He seemed to always come while my father drove us around looking at lights after the Christmas eve service at church and my mother never heard Santa while doing the dishes during that time. I figured it was Christmas magic. .
My thoughts are on a gentleman I met at work. He is around 60 who is apparently moving to Thailand to escape the high cost of prescription drugs. He told me it costs him approximately $2,000 per month for his meds here and in Thailand it would cost him about $50. He is packing up his house, getting rid of many things and moving out. He is divorced mentioning his former wife many times in a series of jokes and has told us he has a daughter around 24. He is a graduate of Notre Dame University and has graciously given me many ND souvenirs. The two things you can tell about him when you first meet him are his passion for ND and his education level. Upon asking, he told me he first studied Physics in college but grew disillusioned by it feeling anything Einstein did was a lie. He said he then turned his attention to Philosophy and was a large believer in Frederick Neitche's teachings.
I was a little saddened to hear he would be spending the holidays by himself packing up his belongings and the thought of inviting him over for Christmas dinner had gone through my mind. I have not asked, but get the feeling he is somewhat lonely as he wants to befriend everyone at work. I decided to pursue getting to know him a little more. As I spoke with him I was continually impressed with this knowledge and thoughts. I invited him to join this blog as a contributor. My thought was he would be a great contributor and we could stay connected somehow. I felt he would have some intriguing input not only with his intellect but the fact he was moving to Thailand and it would give it a more worldly prospective. Somewhat hesitantly, the way you ask a professor to "join your ideas", I asked him if him was interested.
The answer I received was to me startling. He smiled looked down and then back up at me. He then began a dissertation of the teachings of Neitche and other philosophers of how all this stuff is just a waste of time. We are not really here, is just our cognitive existence. Our thoughts do not matter and on and on...
Perhaps he is right... I do not purport to be a scholar or a man of great wisdom. Where I am not destitute, I am definitely a modest man of modest means. While college educated, I feel there is much to learn. It would be disingenuous for me to imply that what I know more than anyone and I do not make the claim too. I do however think that all peoples thoughts have an intrinsic value no matter what their education level. This is why this blog was created.
This blog may be worthless to some and on some philosophical level it probably is. The human existence is a wonderful thing. It is full of highs and at times lows, incredible joy and at times unbearable pains. I truly believe God put gave us emotions to at spice to our lives and to grow stronger in faith through them. This blog is intended to be an outlet for those emotions whether they be highs or lows. To remove yourself from emotions of life and the true passions that encompass them is to deny yourself an enriching life I feel. Perhaps then your Christmas's will be shared with the joy of human existence and interaction rather than alone in a hotel room with philosophy books.
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