One hears so much dogma these days, about all sorts of things: From Creationism to Climate Change, people make statements about what they WANT to believe, rather than what’s really going on (usually because they don’t want to FACE the facts).
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I have seen 65 Christmases and remember 61 of them, and yet every year at this time, I find myself deeply moved and filled with an upwelling of hope and joy that is quite unquenchable, and is as intense right now as it was when I was a little boy, looking up into the stars of the holy night, half expecting to see Jesus and half expecting to see Santa on his sleigh.
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When we celebrate Christmas, we remember that Jesus was (supposedly) born in the winter, but this is not the best time to emerge from the womb. The season in which babies are born can have a dramatic and persistent effect on how their biological clocks function. The imprinting effect, which was found in baby mice, may help explain the fact that people born in winter months have a higher risk of a number of neurological disorders including seasonal affective disorder (winter depression), bipolar depression and schizophrenia.
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This is the season for classical music! Listening to Mozart may (or may not) increase your intelligence, but one thing we know for sure: Playing that lovely music in the fields helps bananas to grow and Japan (where beautiful fruits and vegetables command high prices) is taking advantage of this fact.
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