Sitting with a multitude of faiths

Its the summer solstice here today, and I often get a much more spiritual feeling about this occasion than about the christmas festival.
There's a connection to the rhythms of the earth and the skies, and feeling a part of that, however small.
Christmas is nice because it's time to pause and take an audit of everything that's good in life, and what we have to be grateful for, but I'm afraid that unlike my childhood, the story of the baby in Bethlehem leaves me cold.
I used to love reading Luke's gospel - the most poetic and fairytale-like version of events, and while I still enjoy indulging in the story, I've lost a connection to it.
It doesn't make sense - a child who's brought to life solely to die prematurely, a supposedly loving father who would allow his son to die in pain and torture to save our souls. The big guy's supposed to be god - why can't he just snap his fingers and do it? No matter how you explain his motives he doesn't come off well, and well, I don't think I'd like to be associated with such a cold deity.
And then you see the connections - the virgin birth myths in history (Egyptian, Greek and Buddhist lore for example), the sacrificed son myths in history (eg Viking and Judaic history) and and you see that the Christmas story is just another version of a very ancient myth. Who knows why we cling to these stories and patterns?
When it all comes down to it every faith, every religion is just us trying to give ourselves an explanation of our presence here on earth. No one knows who is right or who is wrong, so as long as we harm no one and promote the well being of ourselves and others maybe it's enough just to sit with the multitude of faiths and let them be.
However you interpret it, however you celebrate it, I hope this Christmas season brings you peace and contentment, love and warmth, and a feeling of being part of something greater than you alone.

Rollercoaster sugars and asthmatic aircon

Must be getting near Christmas.
The volume on the xbox is near stadium level indicating that there's more than one delinquent in the house, the aircon is crapping itself due to freakish hot weather and I witnessed a guy in a business suit try to convince a drunk bloke to get up from the footpath at 7.45am this morning, despite the drunk bloke seeming to be quite happy where he was in the middle of Grenfell St, thanks very much. The seemingly forced helping was awkward to watch as I sat at the traffic lights.
On other fronts the usually reasonably healthy eating patterns have given way to rollercoaster blood sugar levels resulting from eating too many sweets and leftovers, the urge to dress in anything resembling a businesslike way has gone for a burton and fairylights have taken on a major role in my enjoyment of everyday life.
Yep, must be getting near Christmas. Its noice!