One of the best gifts I received this year was at last having time enough to begin to learn Italian. In March and April I lived in Florence, Italy, and since then I've been meeting with an ever-evolving group of amici in Mendocino, all of us studying la lingua italiana.

My friends and I this week had the self-imposed task to relate a holiday story. In perfect Italian. We told tales about a four-story creche in Val d'Aosta; the time one winter a perfect stranger paid well for a sculpture but never took it away; making cookies for a friend, remembering Aunt Helena, and so forth.

My story pretty much is this week's Words on Books. It goes like this:

As they say on Saturday Night Live, only two more days to "Holiday." We all know why this is funny. Hanukkah blends into Christmas blends into New Years blends into Chinese New Year blends into Divali blends into Kwanza blends into Ramadan blends into Tet blends into St. Stephan's Day blends into Boxing Day blends into St. Lucia's Day blends into Solstice. It's one huge all-encompassing "Holiday".

As I've gotten older Christmas Spirit has faded. I used to delight in fragrant pine needles dropping onto the living room rug (along with various ornaments knocked off the tree by children and dogs). I loved the colors and the excitement of Christmas morning, when presents were torn apart (or carefully prised open, depending on the age of the person receiving the present) and the collection of trains, planes, bikes and books could be taken outside and shown off to friends in the neighborhood.

Those were good times.

Christmas long since took over the month of December, and recently it captured November, too. One day last month I sat in a local restaurant and chewed on Jingle Bells along with the pancakes. Later the same day I enjoyed a repeating loop of Christmas carols in the veterinarian's office. The nurse confided she already was tired of Christmas. In November.

In second grade the schoolyard question most difficult to answer was, "Do you believe in God?" If you answered anything but "Yes!" you might get beat up later. One day my mother offered the best answer, one that has served me ever since: "Tell them you haven't made up your mind yet."

There is a flood of books intended to debunk religion, from the purposefully insulting Christopher Hitchens (The Portable Atheist and God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) to Sam Harris' (The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation,) to Richard Dawkins' (The God Delusion,) and so forth.

Richard Dawkins quotes Albert Einstein: "I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. This is a somewhat new kind of religion... What I see in nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility."

When "Holiday" rolls around each year, with its compromises and its difficulties, I return to childhood memories. I'm told the very first time I saw a Christmas tree lit and decorated, early on a Christmas morning, I stood rooted in total awe, mouth open, eyes wide, as children do even today, on TV, in commercials.

Early one Christmas morning when I was about five years old I arose from restless dreams and slipped into the living room of our small apartment in Greenwich Village. All by myself I opened (a better word would be 'destroyed') the dozens of presents artfully placed under the beautiful tree, including those meant for a big party later in the day.

I heard about THAT party every Christmas for years. After all, if you're going to celebrate Christmas, it's nice to know who is supposed to get which present.

The fuss eventually quieted down, but I never lived it down. That particular Christmas morning I discovered a great truth: Not all presents are for me.

Hey, mom and dad, I'm STILL sorry about the party, and so blessed you didn't throttle me that morning. Just one more reason I'll always love you.

Aired Sunday December 23, 2007 at 10:55 am and Wednesday December 26, 2007 at 1:00 pm

Orders/Information:

The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever by Christopher Hitchens. Da Capo Press paperback $17.50. ISBN 0306816083.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens. Twelve hardcover $24.99. ISBN 0446579807.

Publisher Twelve's Mission Statement: "TWELVE was established in August 2005 with the objective of publishing no more than one book per month. We strive to publish the singular book, by authors who have a unique perspective and compelling authority. Works that explain our culture; that illuminate, inspire, provoke, and entertain. We seek to establish communities of conversation surrounding our books. Talented authors deserve attention not only from publishers, but from readers as well. To sell the book is only the beginning of our mission. To build avid audiences of readers who are enriched by these works -- that is our ultimate purpose." www.twelvebooks.com

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris. W. W. Norton paperback $13.95. ISBN 0393327655.

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. Vintage Books paperback (January 2008) $11.00. ISBN 0307278778.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Mariner Books paperback $15.95 (January 2008). ISBN 0618918248.

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design by Christopher Hitchens. Twelve hardcover $24.99. ISBN 0446579807.

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Copyright © 2007. All materials posted here are copyright protected. Please do not copy or distribute without contacting Tony Miksak for written permission.