For those with a taste for nostalgia, you can watch Alvin and his buddies (and Dave) sing this old song HERE.

For lovers of liberty who do not celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, it is still a time for family and enjoying time and traditions. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and our Brit (English, Welsh, Scot, and Irish) a Happy Christmas.

And we urge everyone to count our blessings. And though it is not Thanksgiving (Canadian or American), to thank God for those blessings. And also think about and thank those, now and in the past, who have given us so much.

But the traditional religious Christmas is a time to look forward. No doubt that is one reason that people back in the period of AD 300 to AD 600 chose to celebrate it on either 25 December or 6 January (the Twelfth Night). The Christ who came to this miserable little ball of mud and a pretty pitiful group of people (even if originally God’s creatures and His creation) did not remain a Child in a manger in a dirty, rude stable or cave. He both became a powerful Teacher and preacher proclaiming that ALL are created free and can live free, and the Man Who gave His life for all. To save us from our own folly, our own stupidity, He gave His life.

So for those who view Christmas through religious ideas and eyes, remember that it is but the necessary precedent to that day on a hill outside “the camp” (Jerusalem). Which was but a preface to the Sunday three days later when He was victorious over evil and death.

We too need to look forward to freedom from the evils and the ills that beset this planet and which we are taking with us into the universe. And need to remember that while liberty does allow evil people to do evil things, its real purpose is to allow us to be the best we can. To live in peace and prosperity and respecting one another. Not agreeing with one another, not endorsing or praising behavior that we find reprehensible, but remembering that liberty comes with responsibility, and even without human masters, every man and woman ever living has a Master to which they will answer. A Master who loves us, wants the best for us, and was willing to die for those whom He created. Not a vengeful old guy up in the clouds, seeking to push us into sin and punish us.

A final thought: it is not enough to “think of and pray for” those in chains, whether their own or made by others, or the result of loss and injury. Those who love liberty, including those who love the Creator, must also act in the cause of liberty and freedom, and in the cause of liberty and justice.

Merry, merry Christmas to you.