Is the lead-up to the holidays making you feel Grinch-y?  Read how some voices past reflected on their Christmas cynicism.

Unearthing the magic.  Writer Bill Pollett reflects on whether Christmas has any meaning outside of the crass materialism.  “Christmas has largely been reduced to a plastic dollar-store snow globe, filled with toxic liquid and glitter, manufactured by child labour in a third world factory.”  Christmas Thoughts, December 10, 2003.

World peace begins at home.  Greg Ryan  braces himself for the role of peacemaker when his adult daughters come home for the holidays.  “I know that my children love their family, each other, and life, but get them together and an explosion is imminent.”  Hope is Never Too Much of a Good Thing, December 23, 2011.