Friday, December 09, 2005

Oprah said the J-word

Today’s Oprah Winfrey Show (Dec. 9) provided an interesting example of having your Christmas and celebrating it too while doing so inclusively. While some people are afraid the season of good will has been hijacked by the politically correct, Oprah and her mentor Maya Angelou found a way to acknowledge Christmas and share the holiday with all of Oprah’s viewers worldwide. Their emphasis on the spirit of joy and peace of Christmas is quite a traditional emphasis. It also speaks across cultures. The discontent say that the “spirit of Christmas” has been lost in the hustle of buying and the wrapping paper of commercialism. Christmas has always been about gifts. For Christians, the birth of Jesus is a gift. And so Oprah, who has done Christmas shows in the past, today presents a choir singing Joy to the World. Interestingly, earlier in the show, Faith Hill sang I Surrender All, and Oprah explained why this song was important to her. It allowed her tp give up her obsession about whether she’d be cast in The Color Purple. “I gave it up to Jesus,” O said. The J-word: Jesus, joy.