Happy Christmas forever

Opinion: December 13, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

EDITOR

When I began reading the letter last Sunday’s urging the radio stations in the local area to reconsider the playing of certain holiday songs, I had a sneaking suspicion that “Happy Christmas (War is Over!)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono would be included among the tunes he wishes to “cease and desist.”

I couldn’t imagine a Christmas without it.

Each time I hear this song during the holiday season, I am reminded about the importance of personal reflection and responsibility, not only at the holidays, but throughout the whole year. The lyrics offer a worthwhile and challenging message urging individual and collective peacefulness, as pertinent today as it was almost 40 years ago when it first aired across this nation’s airwaves, “And so this is Christmas, and what have you done; another year over, a new one just begun.” With the continued strife in the Middle East, and as our country prepares to deploy additional service personnel to that region, “War is Over! If You Want It!” might be a refrain worth reconsidering.Along with Yoko Ono, and the late John Lennon, I’m dreaming, and imagining, peace, happiness, love, and understanding this holiday season.

JOHN NOGA

Austintown