As we fete this Christmas under lockdown, dare we hope for a miracle? I say, absolutely.
This holiday season may be one of the most challenging in recent history, but miracles have a way of surprising you when you least expect them, especially when you find time to hope and to give. That is the true gift of the season. And of course, the gifts that Santa Claus will leave for us as he shimmies down the chimney tonight.
Oh, don’t worry about Santa. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Mr. Claus is healthy and safe and immune from COVID.
“Santa is exempt from this because Santa, of all the good qualities, has a lot of good innate immunity,” Fauci told USA TODAY last week.
Miracles are typically associated with the supernatural. The Oxford dictionary defines a miracle as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.” But I believe that human beings are just as capable of pulling off miracles, be they through scientific feats or through simple acts of kindness and generosity.
This is the story and the spirit of Christmas that resonates universally, and that movies are made of — a time to hope and suspend disbelief. To throw cynicism, politics, and parochialism out the window. To believe in possibilities. To dream of a better tomorrow. To give and be grateful and to know that a miracle is just around the corner.
I believe in miracles, of all kinds, supernatural, scientific, humane ones – and that hope and dream keeps me joyous and optimistic this season. It seems Dr. Fauci, who is leading scientific efforts to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, also believes in Santa. His declaration about Santa’s immunity has given millions of children a reason to dream of gifts, that there will be surprise and delight in their stockings tomorrow morning.
Dr. Fauci’s scientific comments and his own vaccination yesterday has given all the adults reason to hope and dream of a new tomorrow. And that is a miracle!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at SEEMA. Wishing you all the best for 2021!
And, yes, happy birthday, Dr. Fauci!
