Peace On Earth, Can It Be

Last night, Husband and I attended a fancy schmancy holiday party at a swanky restaurant in an affluent suburb.

Businessmen, bankers, brokers and surgeons pulled up in luxury vehicles that disgorged well preserved women in designer bodies. Diamonds dangled from lobes and wrists, and danced in the tanned hollows of slender laughing throats.

The staff at this establishment was excellent; solicitious without fawning, respectful but not obsequious. It very obvious that years in the service industry had given them an impeccable sense of the well to do.

They like to tell themselves that they are just like everyone else, but they want to be treated just a little bit better.

I felt a little foolish as we pulled up to the valet in our aging mini van. I opened the door before the valet had a chance, and he smiled as if he knew that I was unaccostomed to such amenities. But it was a kind smile; one of solidarity. He was not contemptuous of my counterfeit finery.

When I left the house dressed in a shimmering blouse and floaty skirt with satin pumps that were the exact same shade of bronze as my blouse and that I had actually capered upon finding after a weeks long search, I had felt very sophisticated indeed.

As we entered the restaurant and I was confronted by the effortless glamour of the truly refined, I began to feel like a cheap immitation; so much paste and glass in a setting that was undeniably glittering, but one that would ultimately dull and flake, revealing the true nature of what lies beneath.

But in our cozy little private room, the company was good, the food was delicious and the wine was flowing freely, thanks to the generosity of Husband's boss, our benefactor for the evening.

Soon enough, I forgot about my discomfort and began to enjoy myself. And as I looked around the room I realized that there were many different segments of humanity represented there. There was Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Agnostic, Atheist, and probably several others of which I was unaware.

People hugged each other in greeting, they asked about children and loved ones. They laughed and talked and genuinely enjoyed one another's company away from the chaos and stress of the work environment.

And tonight as throughout the year, they are kind and respectful of one another and the very different beliefs held by these people with whom they spend so much time, day in and day out, year after year after year.

Some of these people are fabulously rich. Some are firmly middle class. Some struggle.

And yet, they manage to live in peace with one another. In a small little company, one that is largely insignificant in the larger scope of world affairs, diversity has brought people together instead of driving them apart.

Hmmm.

It's a salient reminder that all that other crap just doesn't matter...the have and the have nots, the believe and the believe nots. Especially this time of year. What matters is Peace. Harmony. Kindness. Love. Fellowship. Humanity.

That sounds sappy, I suppose. But I really believe that.

Maybe that's why this has always been one of my very favorite holiday carols: