Seasonal nostalgia

After spending a weekend immersed in the sounds of the holidays, it is hard to get back to the workaday world.  The familiar music evokes the more innocent days of childhood when December was for many of us baby boomers a long buildup to the joys of Christmas morning.  It was a combination of guilt and glee as we tried to balance our reverence for the birth of Christ with our bourgeoning materialism.  This dichotomy still haunts me, although the religious aspect of Christmas has long been erased from my consciousness.  The Messiah by Handel still gives me chills and challenges the easy dismissal of the spiritual aspect of the season.  The inspiration of this music and much of the sacred reparatory of Christmas is inspiring, no matter how it can be analyzed.   As the Divine Mrs. M and I listened to the last strains of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", it was hard to say Bah, Humbug.  The Scrooge in me was hearing the better angels of my nature.  The Flying Spaghetti Monster "Bless us, Everyone".