THE GRINCH TOLD THE TRUTH!

I almost did nothing about Anne Lamott’s essay on holiday kitsch. It was so real I could defend myself only by shutting my eyes and remaining unresponsible. She has fingered the instrument of our wounding, and named the pus and flagrant soft tissue. She has described the slow-motion surgery upon our sensibilities that has passed for politics, for worship and for narcotizing comfort these last 14 years. From her diagnosis, concerning the enthralling power of kitsch, the narcissistic refuge it provides, and its idolatrous essence, her solution seems to me the only hope: “I have learned that the solution is to stay present, tell the truth and feel my feelings and rage my rage and cry. Then there is hope, of relief, of feeling cleansed and renewed. . . .” Her solution continues into struggling for peace and justice, for community and a better world.

I want to thank Anne Lamott for saying what is so, and saying it so well.

DAVID DEBUS, LA JOLLA