THIS YULETIDE FEELS
LIKE CHRISTMAS 1941
Perhaps, like me, you have the feeling Christmas is a bit strange this year. At a time that should be one of hope and celebration, everybody’s a little on edge.
A sense of uncertainty clouds this season, not unlike the cloud that overhung the world in which Joseph and Mary made their fateful trek to Bethlehem. They were taking part in a census to provide the count on which taxes would be extorted by a brutal empire.
In our day, we face the prospect of vaccine passports to number us and regiment our travels and transactions. (But then, as the French say, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”—the more things change, the more they remain the same.)