Opinion: With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world
Dec 25, 2023, 4:00 AM | Updated: Dec 26, 2023, 9:22 am
The Milky Way and Mt. Rainier illuminated by the moon. Astrophotographers, like Seattle's Bryan Mills, seek out the darkest places on Earth to capture the galaxy. Some worry that satellite light pollution will eventually make photos like these impossible. (Photo by Bryan Mills, (Cascadia Obscura Photography))
(Photo by Bryan Mills, (Cascadia Obscura Photography)
For 30 years, I’ve written a Christmas Day story for one news outlet or another from Macon, GA to Washington, D.C. My main goal was to get people to pause and appreciate the holiday.
That’s apparently what American author Max Ehrmann did when he wrote a poem in 1921. It was distributed in a Christmas card in 1933,
There is no mention of Christmas in the writing, but you’ll understand why I found it appropriate for today when you read it.
So as you get ready for a holiday meal, pause for a moment and look outside. It’s raining in the Seattle area today, but that, of course, IS a Northwest Christmas.
Here is some of Ehrmann’s poem:
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story…
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time…
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Bonneville Seattle and MyNorthwest.
