The true meaning of Christmas

From the song Christmas Shoes, which I'm sure you've heard (and R. hates):

Sir, I want to buy these shoes
for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight
Bridge:
I knew I'd caught a glimpse of heaven's love
As he thanked me and ran out
I knew that God had sent that little boy
To remind me just what Christmas is all about

Soooooo.... extending this all the way out... God gave a little boy's mom a fatal, horrible disease so that he could teach this poor schlub "what Christmas is all about?" Here's an idea: How about, occasionally, you do a little self reflection and figure it out on your own so that no one needs get cancer for you to "remember" what Christmas is all about.

Now, I know the retort will be that either A) I'm overthinking this, or B) the kid's mom had cancer anyway, and God merely sent the boy to remind the guy, no one was the worse off, so no harm no foul.

As to A: I think its pretty hard to overthink the important metaphysical questions of life and our existance, their impact on our lives and actions, and what that means for our future conduct and morals. If thinking too long and hard about morals and how to live life is wrong, well, count me as guilty, I guess. I've done worse, and probably will in the future, and its a guilt I'll willingly take. And recommend to others.

As to B: I guess its possible the boy's mom was sick anyway and not made sick specifically to teach this guy a lesson. As I said, the result is really "no harm, no foul," under that formulation. As to the lesson, the shopkeeper surely seems to have missed the point since he didn't put in his own money or just put the item on "sale." So, we have to assume I guess that God was spending his time specifically lining up these events to teach this solitary man a lesson. I think its more likely the guy did a bit of self-searching in those moments, but whatever. It seems pretty selfish to think God directed this disease-striken mom's kid to the mall to teach this guy a lesson. I have no problem with Objective selfishness, but for a group of people repulsed by the idea of selfishness, its an odd formulation.

I'm just saying.

More News of the Odd coming later this week.