I seem to remember hearing someplace that Christmas was just a minor holiday until the Church decided it needed a winter holiday to distract pagans and recent converts from their old holidays. In that sense, Christmas is itself a contrived holiday.

But in another sense, NONE of them are contrived. Whether you're celebrating Yule, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hannukah, Ramadan or Diwali, you are celebrating a winter holiday. The fact that so many cultures have them, even cultures with little contact with one another, suggests that there's an intrinsic need for a holiday at this time of year. Given that midwinter is a time of shortages and hardships for much of the world, that would not a big surprise.

If it really didn't matter, your dream would come true.

Dare to dream!

I delivered my third presentation for Kwanzaa this winter. We had a really good Kwanzaa this year. Even the mayor was a speaker, and she shared the city's progress in revitalization efforts Now I've done Creativity, Purpose, and Self-Determination. What's wrong with a new holiday? Dr. Karenga was originally motivated by finding a way to cope with the Watts Riots. These virtues can be enjoyed by anyone--not just Blacks; for example, the mayor and I are white.