I started writing, thinking that this will be a brief post.. just to wish you all Eid Mubarak, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Prosperous New Year...I know it is still a few days away, but you see, I am going to be away from Christmas Day, all the way through to after the New Year.. (You may recall the dilemma I was in, trying to decide where to go for the Holidays (A Christmas get-away.. the forbidden destination).. Well.. it is going to be Rome!..) Anyway.. I digress...
I was suddenly struck by the irony of it all.. In the year when violence in the name of religion has reached astronomical levels, the most important religious festivals for two of the World's great religions fall within the same week... This will not happen again until 2039.. not for another 33 years that Eid Al-Adha and Christmas will be this close..
Wouldn't it be great if humanity, somehow, managed to utilise this coming year to shed its increasing tendency for self-destruction, and be able to embrace peace for everyone?..
Wouldn't it be great if, this time next year, we were to celebrate the end of all violence across the globe??..
Wouldn't be great if, this time next year, we were able to declare our Earth a Planet free from tyranny and injustice??.. A Planet were all Nations live in harmony and mutual respect??.. A Planet free from all nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction??...
Pipe-dreams, I know.. but hey, what's life without dreams?!.. and what better time to have great dreams than at the run-up to Christmas and Eid Al-Adha?...
Well, I will put my proposals for saving the Planet on hold until I come back from Rome.. I shall report on this trip when I come back..
Take care, all of you.. and don't get up to any mischief while I am away!...
Picture by SB: Winter Scene
7 comments:
Dear Syrian Brit
I wish you the happiest of times with your family while in Rome. I know that you don't drink, but come on just this once (you can blame it on me). A candlelight Italian dinner with just one bottle of the sparkling Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene will put matters in the right perspective for what remains of this year and the one to come.
Dear Syrian Brit:
Wish you a joyful trip, may God bless you and your family during this simultaneous holidays!
Bil salameh to you all ... and next year it will have to be Vienna, right? :) Have a wonderful holiday, and may your dreams for humanity get closer to reality.
Dear Syrian Brit,
kl sana wa anta and all the family salmen. Have a nice Eid and enjoy Rome. Send us photos of the trip.
salamat from everyone here to F., H.,O. and D.
Amr
Wishing you and your loved ones a great holiday season and a very happy 2007!
May 2007 brings us all Health, Wealth, Happiness and much needed Peace on earth.
Thank you all for your kind words...
Abu Fares, although it is strictly against my principles, I might just consider your advice!!.. When the Angels come to punish me in the Everafter, I will blame it on you!..
Dubai Jazz and Summer, I wish you both and your families and loved ones all the best for the New Year..
RIme, I certainly hope to visit Vienna soon.. Next Christmas would be too long to wait, and I will, almost certainly, be working!.. Thanks for the good wishes...
Amr,
Thank you for your kind words.. F, as well as H, O, and D are all well, and send our best wishes (albeit belatedly!..) to you all for a Happy and Blessed Eid, and a Happy and Prosperous New Year..
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