Rusty Saber: Take time to bask in season's warm glow

The time has come for the annual Rusty Saber Christmas message; but first, in the spirit of the season, I must right a wrong that I committed, albeit unintended. In writing about the presidential election vote-counting debacle in Florida I apparently defamed the legal profession.

In truth, I did denounce the legal wrangling in Florida over counting or not counting votes. I ranted against the whole thing because the election of the president of the United States was in the hands of lawyers and judges. A reader sent a thoughtful letter stating the belief that my comments were biased against lawyers. The reader is probably right; I should have chosen my words more carefully. Therefore, in the spirit of Christmas, I apologize to lawyers everywhere.

I didn't intend to malign lawyers. I understand that they act in the best interest of their clients. Lawyers didn't descend on Florida on their own, making cases for or against dimpled chads and the like. They represented clients who paid them to be there. I would have ranted and railed if it had been CPAs running around looking for votes by conducting audits on voters, or dentists checking voters' dental records. I should have made my ranting more clear.

Usually when I offend a group, I do it on purpose because I believe they deserve to be offended. Interestingly enough, I once received criticism from a reader who believed that, in a column, I was too deferential to lawyers: I said that when you really need a lawyer, you believe they are wonderful; you never hear a lawyer joke told by someone needing a lawyer. I don't tell lawyer jokes. I might need one someday.

To all lawyers: Merry Christmas!

On with the rest of the Christmas message.

This is being written at the peak of the Christmas shopping season. Actually, the shopping has been temporarily put on hold due to the "Great Blizzard of 2000." I'm at the desk in my office, aka an upstairs bedroom. My feelings about snow are well-documented. I don't like the stuff.

Snow is OK to look at. But when it's necessary to walk in it, to shovel it or drive in it, I'm anti-snow.

Whenever you hear someone dreaming of a white Christmas, it won't be someone who will have to take to the highways for Christmas. No, as far as I'm concerned, a white Christmas is a bah, humbug!

Being Scrooge and the Grinch rolled into one when it comes to snow and Christmas, I must confess that the view outside my window is gorgeous. Why, it looks like, you know, it looks like a Christmas card. It is a gorgeous view because I'm up here and the snow is out there.

By the time this is read, the snow surely will have been cleared away enough to allow the shoppers to return to their task of buying gifts, thereby, fueling the economy. As much as we may abhor the frenzy of crowded stores and streets during the holidays, in order for the economy to thrive, Christmas shoppers must fill the cash registers to the brim.

It isn't just retail merchants who profit from a strong Christmas shopping season; we all benefit when sales spur the economy.

But when we get beyond gift buying and giving, Christmas carols, mistletoe and holly, brightly colored lights, Christmas parties and, yes, visions of a white Christmas, there is that mystical peculiarity called Christmas cheer that somehow creeps into our psyche.

It causes some who rarely have a good word to say about anyone to say a few good words. Even the most sour-faced Grinch among us will momentarily become engulfed by the spirit of the season and offer a few "merry Christmas" wishes. Why, even a crotchety columnist who prides himself on poking away with a Rusty Saber can get caught up in the spirit of Christmas and offer a heartfelt apology to a group he may have offended.

The spirit of Christmas burrows into our souls and extracts the best that is in us. It isn't easy to define Christmas spirit. But don't try to describe it; bask in its warm glow.

May the spirit of Christmas overcome you; then you will truly have a very merry Christmas!

(Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University and a Springfield public relations consultant.)