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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 24. 2020
Notes from a B-rate Scrooge
“I’ll be home for Christmas, if only
in my dreams,” has a new meaning
for many families in a pandemic year.
And even I think of Christmas music
a little differently in 2020. Ever since
my teenage years working in a Kroger
deli in Macon during Christmas. I've
been a true “bah humbug” kind of
guy on Christmas tunes. I’ve long
associated Christmas songs with their
seeming Pavlovian effect on shoppers:
“Buy! Buy! Buy!”
Years ago, I felt trapped in the
grocery store for hours at a time with
the same songs on repeat. Hearing
Paul McCartney’s “Simply having a
wonderful Christmas time” for the
seventh time in a day made me want
to disassemble the meat slicer and
sling its metal parts down the chip and
soda aisles with the wild-eyed “Here’s
Johnny” face of an ax-wielding Jack
Nicholson in “The Shining.”
And if I can get through this life
never hearing another “pa rump a pum
pum” again. I will be just fine. In my
mind, the Little Drummer boy needs
to pa rump his rump out of here. I’ll
pass on the pum pums, thank you. It
gets stuck in my head, and I feel like
I need to shake my head as if water is
stuck in my ear. “Leave, you rump a
pum pum!”
I’m also a scrooge when it comes
to shopping. My wife buys most of
the kids’ gifts. I generally don’t know
what to buy for Christmas. And I don’t
want anything. So, can we just leave it
at that, unless we’re talking about a
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
little one who truly believes in Santa?
This is the first thing I think every
time Christmas draws near. Then, oh
no! I really don’t want to feel like
I’ve been a jerk or uncaring. So, how
about I ran out now and spend too
much money on Christmas Hail Mary
attempts? Random gift giving feels
fun to me, but last-minute Christmas
shopping feels like something man
dated in a probation order.
But maybe I just need to let up a
little this year. Gifts are ultimately
gestures. Songs try to capture a feel
ing. I usually don’t really “feel” it
when I hear most Christmas tunes,
but maybe I’m just too scrooge-like.
right? And I feel a little softer in that
regard, not as bah humbug as usual in
2020. It’s been a different kind of year,
no doubt.
I heard one Christmas song the other
night that actually does affect me: “O
Holy Night.” The middle part of that
song, when performed well, is truly
beautiful. I have gotten chills before
listening to that. The melody just hits
me sometimes.
So, perhaps if I’m a Scrooge, I’m
just a B-rate Scrooge.
I’m thinking this Christmas, too,
about empathy. I love seeing the year
ly programs to help needy children
have a Christmas with toys. It’s nice
that over 200 children will laugh and
smile Friday morning thanks to the
work of the sheriff’s office and the
Madison County community.
And I’m thinking about all the peo
ple who are suffering now. It’s intense.
There’s so much suffering in so many
ways. We are so tightly wrapped in our
own worries that we often don’t see
what’s happening in other lives, even
those who are closest to us. It’s easy
to look right past them. Sometimes I
sort of snap out of an extended selfish
period and realize, man, I’ve just been
completely locked in my own wants
and worries and haven’t really put any
effort into actively thinking through
things as others see them, not even
my wife, not even my kids. I can truly
lock myself up in this way.
I don’t want to be locked up like that
this week. I want to let go of all the
Scrooge in me.
Maybe I’ll put on O’Holy Night on
Christmas Eve. Maybe that will do the
trick.. .1 know pa ramp a sure won’t.
Bah humbug!
Merry Christmas.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal. He can be
reached at zach@mainstreetnews.
com.
Letters to the Editor
Mr. Trump has never demonstrated ethical behavior
Dear Editor:
I appreciated Margie Richards’ col
umn in the Dec. 17 edition of the
paper.
I have been befuddled and saddened
by the blind support of the evan
gelical community for the current
Republican Administration too. Mr.
Tramp has never demonstrated the
ethical behavior that I continue to
learn about in church. Our system
of democracy depends on trust and
rales. For this group to continue to
follow someone of such low morali
ty demonstrates a willing ignorance
on their part and throws doubt on
their understanding of leadership and
Christian teachings. Thank you, Ms.
Richards.
Sincerely.
JR Buffalo
Richards wrong on Trump, Biden
Dear Editor:
Margie Richards seems to be a
nice person and a good writer, but
she has got it almost totally back
wards in regards to President Trump
and Joe Biden. She writes as if
Biden can do no wrong, and Trump
is the devil’s disciple. The reverse
is closer to the truth. She ignores or
just doesn’t know that Biden is 100
percent in favor of all abortions,
even late term and wants all the tax
payers to pay for them. This is true
evil. Biden claims to be Catholic,
yet the Catholic Church teaches that
abortion is a very grave sin.
President Trump, however, is a
very strongly opposed to the evils
of abortion. He proved it in his
appearance and speech this year at
the Right-To-Life March. Sixteen
days ago at the national tree light
ing, President Trump said in his
remarks, “For Christians this is a
joyous time to remember God’s
greatest gift to the world. More than
two thousand years ago the angel
Gabriel appeared to Mary. He said,
‘Do not be afraid. You have found
favor with God.’ The angel told her
that you would give birth to a baby
boy, Jesus, who would be called the
Son of the Most High. Nine months
later Christ was bom in the town of
Bethlehem. The Son of God came
into the world in a humble stable.
As Christians everywhere know,
the birth of our Lord and Savior
changed history forever.
“At Christmas we give thanks to
God and that God sent his only Son
to die for us and to offer everlast
ing peace to ah humanity. More
than two millennia after the birth of
Jesus Christ, his teachings continue
to inspire and uplift billions and
billions of people ah over the globe.
His divine word still fills our hearts
with hope and faith and Christians
everywhere still strive to live by
Jesus’ timeless commandment to his
disciples, ‘Love one another.’”
The Democratic Party Margie
knew when she was in her 20s
is long gone. I used to appreci
ate the Democrats when I was in
high school. Now the Democrats are
the party of atheism, socialism and
abortion. To oversimplify, Tramp
is preaching Christ our Savior —
Biden is preaching kill babies. Good
thing Mary and Joseph weren’t
Democrats.
Sincerely,
Joe Costyn
Hull
No need to pray!
Dear Editor:
I read the Dec. 17 opinion column
by Margie Richards in The Madi
son County Journal entitled “Pray
ing for the walls to crack.” In my
opinion, there is no need to pray for
the walls to crack when they have
been experiencing severe erosion
for the last few decades. When a
nation systematically removes the
cement of God from its walls and
replaces it with the miry clay of
man’s principles, collapse is near.
It is better to look to Party Plat
forms (declared party ideals) than
to contrast candidates when you are
trying to decide how to cast your
vote. Which platform seeks to keep
this nation’s laws, rules and con
duct aligned with the truth (God’s
word) is the important question
that should drive one’s vote choice.
God’s word is clear and true:
•One God
•One type marriage with a pur
pose
•No killing, especially the not-yet
born but fully God-conceived
•God defined gender, male and
female
•Love one another because of the
love of God in you, not because
government or society says this is
the way you must walk and talk
•Teach your children in the ways
of the Lord — this is important
because the length of life of a
nation depends on it
•On and on
If your voter insight comes from
God, you will know in your heart
which platform aligns with God’s
word. If your insight comes from
the deceiver, you are deceived and
will choose to vote based on "What
is in it for me today?”
I could not agree more with Mar
gie’s statements about Christians
(“Evangelicals”) being silent too
long. Silent so long, to the point
where our nation’s walls are bulg
ing and ready to collapse. God’s
law does not fail! If we continue
along the line of choosing man’s
guidance over God’s guidance, this
nation’s wall will fall, and the fall
will be awful for all.
Sincerely,
Phil Dougherty
Madison County
Have a letter you want published?
Email zach@mainstreetnews.com with your letter to the editor. Please include a first and last name,
town of residence and phone number for verification purposes only. There is no word limit, but
long letters may need to be abbreviated due to space limitations.
From the
publisher
mike@
mainstreet
news.com
Mike Buffington
The first gift of
Christmas was a child
There are dozens of smiling faces in the community this
week, faces which mute the cynics and renew the faithless.
Each Christmas, children take on a special glow, a sense
of wild-eyed wonder and anticipation. It is a time they will
long remember, a touchstone for the rest of their lives.
And for the adults, it’s more than just the rash and mad
ness; it’s also a time of wonder, a time we will also recall
in the future.
Where but in the eyes of a child can you see both the
past — little Tommy has granddad's eyes, sister Suzie has
her mother’s hair — and the future — Blake wants to be a
fireman, Jane a doctor.
Tomorrow is a memory of today by the children, young
sters whose innocence is our joy, whose faces light up our
homes and whose wonder keeps tradition alive.
Many cultures believe that it is the old who keep traditions,
who pass down the wisdom of years and the touchstones of
life. But it is the young who are the torchbearers. Without a
new generation to teach, traditions mean very little.
It is that faith in the future and our collective desire to pass
the cultural torch that makes Christmas a special season.
It is a season of faith, not only of religion, but also in our
humanity.
Even with the kitsch and commercialism being blared
around us, and this year the tensions of a pandemic and
bitter political landscape, the fundamental desire for “peace
on earth, good will to men” still rings through.
Our social conventions may sometimes be shallow, but
somehow generation after generation will touch the core of
the Christmas spirit and be renewed.
For some, it is a season of mixed emotions. Amid all the
gaiety, there are the memories of friends and family who are
gone. The music, the smell of a Christmas tree and the annu
al nesting of families bring back the bittersweet thoughts.
For others, it will be the last Christmas together. There are
those who face the inevitable end and even having lived a
good and long life is little consolation to the families who
will miss them. Never has that been more true than today
as a terrible virus works like a scythe among our elderly
threatening a dark and somber winter.
But in the faces of their great-grandchildren who laugh
and play we see the faith that pulls life forward. Without
the laughter of children, there would be an emptiness in
their wake.
And so, the torch is passed and the traditions continue,
someday to be in the hands of those who now play around
the Christmas tree and peek up the chimney.
The past and the future come together at Christmas —
the memories of our own childhoods mixed with the new
memories now being formed by our own children. They will
someday look back at this special time and smile just as we
do at our own childhood memories.
And someday our children’s children will tug at the
Christmas tree ornaments and be amazed by the shimmering
Christmas lights along city streets.
They will sing in church plays and perform in school
concerts.
They will sit on Santa’s knee and promise to be
good so they can get that new bike.
They will look at the nativity set and rearrange
the pieces, always making a special place for the
Baby Jesus.
They will want to watch the tape of Rudolph the
Red Nose Reindeer until they know every line by
heart.
They will ask 1,000 questions about the sleigh
and reindeer.
They will leave milk and cookies because San-
— See “Buffington” on 5A
The Madison
County Journal
(Merged with The Danielsville Monitor
and The Comer News, January 2006)
Phone: 706-367-5233
E-mail: zach@mainstreetnews.com
ZACH MITCHAM, Editor
MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter
MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
FRANK GILLISPIE (deceased), Founder of The Journal.
Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner
of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News
Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633
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- The Official Legal Organ of Madison County, Georgia
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