Ababy, a mother and a father. They are at the heart of the Christmas season. And, yet, as Mary Eberstadt points out in her book 'How the West Really Lost God,' a nuclear family might seem strange to many people who did not grow up in one. And the celebration of a baby might hold a painful reminder to a person unable to have children for whatever reason. Eberstadt's point is that we should acknowledge how reality contrasts with our ideals.
The Hamas surprise attack on Israeli citizens was selected as the year's most important international story by religion-beat journalists, in part because it led to 'spikes in Islamophobia and antisemitism' when Israel launched its massive counterattack on Gaza. Members of the Religion News Association echoed that decision when voting to select the top 2023 religion story in America.
Christmas is not about gifts, shiny baubles or things that will be quickly discarded to the pending garage sales of yore. It’s not the gadgets and gizmos – it’s the memories and true spirit of the holidays.
30 YEARS AGO
Dear Santa, Jordan want’s a Bike and a teddy bears, radio, and tapes that he can listen to on the radio, paint brush, roller blades and clothe for he can dress right and for his dad he would like a cd and cd’s for his mom a gown for she can sleep.
Dear Doctors: My husband and I help my aunt with doctor visits. She has a persistent wound on her foot and was diagnosed with cellulitis. She has confused it with cellulite and isn’t taking it seriously. Can you offer some information so we can help her understand what’s going on?
DEAR HARRIETTE: I always had a contentious relationship with my aunt. I found her to be harsh, sometimes mean and often unreliable. She has been dead for years.
Like all the Republican candidates for president, Nikki Haley is trying to find the secret formula for running against Donald Trump. The most recent Fox News national poll -- in which the former president is leading Ron DeSantis by 57 points and Haley by 60 – shows that no one has discovered the formula yet.
ASK THE DOCTORS
DEAR HARRIETTE: I’m reaching out to you as a concerned parent grappling with a situation involving my teenage daughter. We recently switched our daughter from a private high school in town to the public school. Unfortunately, it seems she’s having difficulty making friends. I’ve observed her struggling to connect with her peers, and it’s disheartening to see her feeling isolated. As a parent, I want to support her during this transition, but I’m unsure about the best way to approach the situation. How can I help my daughter with the challenges of making new friends in a high school environment? I want to ensure her well-being and help her build positive social connections. -- Isolated in High School DEAR ISOLATED IN HIGH SCHOOL: Change is tough at any age. Going from a sheltered environment into a more diverse one is bound to be challenging. Your daughter is going to have to navigate her way and establish her own identity. What may help her is to join school clubs that interest her. If she gets busy doing things, she will naturally interact with other students and begin to build relationships. Remind her that meeting people and getting to know them is often time-consuming. She needs to have patience. When people get to know her, the assumptions that some of them may have made about who she is based on where she used to go to school will subside. Teenagers are skeptical and judgmental when they first meet new people. Strongly encourage her to become active in school projects.
Watching coverage of The Three Equivocating Presidents on TV – that is, the recent House Committee on Education hearing that featured testimony from three lofty academics – I found myself marveling that such a trio of seeming nonentities had been put in charge of prestige universities in the first place. Never mind the Ivy League, I told a friend. The athletic director at the University of Arkansas would have explained himself far better. Of course, that fellow faces hostile public inquisitions all the time.