CHRISTMAS DINNER, virtually

Love came down on Christmas

Love all lovely, love Divine;

Love came down on Christmas

Star and Angel gave the sign.

--Christine Rosetti

Star

Angel

'Mom, I finished “The Moral landscape" (by Sam Harris ) and all I can say is the church is going to go hell for sure. "

"Moomm, tell him not to say that on Christmas."

"Why can't I say that? The world is too small now for all those religion lines. The earth is my religion. Besides, We’re all going down together when the arctic melts. It’s like the Titanic. We’re fighting over religion just like they did over lifeboats -- all while entire countries are sinking."

"Oh my god, you are so grim. It’s Christmas. Moooooom, telllllllll him to be quiet."

"Just ignore him, teenagers talk like that. Just focus on the Christmas story. It is nice. It is about coming home to what’s in your heart, and beginning anew, and spending time in those sacred places of joy and hope, and laughing, and courage, and empathy. We all have those things in our heart, and so every moment you can come home to those sacred places inside of you, you'll be happy, and be a peaceful force in the world.

So, what is an event calendar?

I’m sorry? An event calendar? We were talking about the meaning of Christmas.

Yeah, I know, Grammy sent us one for Christmas.

You mean an ADVENT calendar.

Oh.

I bet I know. Everyday Joseph would give Mary a gift. COUNTDOWN to the big day. You know, the birth.

""Well, something like that."

"Why was Joseph so nice if it wasn’t even his child? Has anyone ever thought about that?"

"Does the pope wear those red shoes at Christmas? It would be Christmas-y with his white robe. I love those shoes . If I were the Pope I would wear those shoes and that robe and have a Boston Terrier named Holy."

"Who is the Pope exactly?"

"He is a sort of religious emperor, and he looks just like emperor Palpatine. "

"Son, no, he is not."

"You can google it. I saw it on Youtube. They look just alike."

"Who is Palpatine?"

"Wasn’t Tito the emperor here in Slovenia?"

"He wasn’t an emperor, he was a dictator of sort, when Slovenia was part of communist Yugoslavia. He was the leader for the second half of the 20^th century. He was a partisan leader during WWII, leading the resistance against fascist Germany. People still have a lot of respect for him here. Remember in the city museum? and at Franje Partisan Hospital?"

"Tito? I thought his name was Taco."

"Taco? Wouldn’t that be funny if the Buddha’s mother had her birthday and her baby Buddha’s birthday on Thanksgiving. That would be quite a celebration. That means two parties and a dinner. Wow. That would be a lot of work for you mom."

"What is she talking about?"

"She's only five. I think it's OK."

"Well, can you tell me about Adam and Eve? Do they have anything to do with Christmas? I've always wondered."

"Why couldn’t they have named them something interesting like, Aspen and Hyphae? "

"SStoppppp. You are so weird."

"Well, they are a man and a women in the book of Genesis, the first book in the bible. They ate this fruit that was forbidden to them, you know, they weren’t supposed to eat it, and so were kicked out of Eden by God. It’s complex, and only a metaphor. It has to do with original sin, and women as temptresses, and God as somewhat of a punishing God. I’m not sure it has any moral value or really has anything to do with any truth. "

"Truth or consequences maybe."

"What’s a temptress? Is that like women trading diamonds for sex. Like, Isn’t that what "girls trade diamonds for sex means?"

"What? What are you talking about? Where did you see that?"

"In the bookstore yesterday on Slovenska Cesta, in the English section; they had a book of everyday sayings and what they really mean.

There is this saying “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”. Have you heard that? It said that what it really means is that girls will trade sex for diamonds. "

"Is that why you don’t wear your wedding ring anymore mom?"

"Hush. You will confuse your sister. I think what they are trying to say is ……. . . . . . . ."

"I mean, Men get dogs as their best friend, and what, we get diamonds? That hardly seems fair."

"Ok, Ok, let’s get back on target here."

"Let's just leave it at this, Christmas is about love."

And Love, is the only rational act.