Christmas 1998: December 21, 1998 issue of New Thinking

December 21, 1998 New Thinking:
Christmas 1998

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December 21, 1998

Christmas 1998

By Gerry McGovern

The thing that strikes me as I write this Christmas greeting is that it is the third one I’ve done for this publication. The Internet is getting a few years behind it and before we know it it will have grown up and we will have grown older with it.

One of these days the Internet will have changed and maybe left us behind. Those of us who thought we had a handle on it might find ourselves thinking about the past. We need to be careful, very careful, not to fall into a groove in a grooveless environment.

Having said that, it surprises me sometimes that, despite all the frenetic activity that we find ourselves being caught up in, that a lot of things do remain the same. Christmas is a time of goodwill, and whether we believe in Christianity or not, most of us can partake in the human spirit of generosity. Indeed, it is a sign of that very generosity that non-Christians so readily partake. The Internet has not changed Christmas. Instead, Christmas has just soaked the Internet in, like it soaks everything else in.

In time, will the Internet and cyberspace change the very nature of what we are? Will what it means to be human be essentially different in 2020? Will we be celebrating Christmas in 2020?

I believe that humanity is on an inevitable journey to search out new spaces and to create new things, and to do what can be done simply because it can. We have always had one leg in the land of the imagination and cyberspace will be no alien haunt.

I believe that, on balance, humanity is good. That, on balance, someone will do you a good turn, rather than a bad one. Survival, ego, greed and fear are strong drivers, but so too is generosity, co-operation and love.

Think of New York city for a moment. It has a police force and laws, but no law or police force could enforce that frenetic harmony and energy that New York has. 12 million people rub shoulder to shoulder, some fall off, but most weave themselves into the city, creating their own bit of space, allowing others space. A city is a truly co-operative venture.

I drive into work every morning, and oh but Dublin traffic is awful. The price of prosperity is traffic jams and a rush hour that lasts all day. Drivers are frustrated. However, I can say from experience that nine times out of ten a Dublin driver will let you out into the flow even though they are not obliged to.

These are simple events that happen to me every morning. Someone lets me into a lane; a few minutes later I let someone else into a lane. Someone slows to allow someone else cross the road. Simple acts of decency.

Simple acts of decency do not make headline news. We have Saddam and we have impeachment, but in these Winter days let us not forget these simple acts of decency. At Christmas, we celebrate what is good about life. We cherish children and we give presents.

Long may the spirit of Christmas survive!

(The next issue of New Thinking will be on
January 4, 1999.)

Gerry McGovern

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Simple acts of decency do not make headline news.