Friday, December 14, 2007

Seoul Mates

My neck of the woods is preparing for a "winter storm warning" this weekend. That, in combination with the holiday season, has me pining for my all-time favorite "Christmas Episode" of any TV show ever. The Northern Exposure episode titled "Seoul Mates" with the original air date of December 16, 1991 takes the prize for me. And I know I'm not the only one with such affections for this episode. It won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Writing at the 1992 Emmy's. While I am a big fan of Northern Exposure (the writing, in general, was excellent) even still, that particular episode stands out. It was a grand showcase of all the cultural differences and quirky character traits and how the writers revealed the deepest truths of the character's souls in the most beautiful ways. And how, by the end of that episode, love and grace permeate every nook of Cicely, Alaska. (I get choked up just thinking about Holling singing Ave Maria and that song usually doesn't conjure such emotion for me)

Remembering Northern Exposure and that episode, has extra weight for me today as I'm going to a Christmas Party tonight given by the director of the clinic I support. One of the things I do love about working in a hospital is the unique blend of cultures that naturally display two primal forces in human life- the desire to heal and be healed. In the midst of that, my clinic co-workers will celebrate the spirit of this season together...coming from different religious beliefs, different age groups, different countries of origin, different opinions and reasons for attending the party. Some of us know each other well, and some of us have never met the others in person. I have no doubt that it will be a lovely gathering and that the peace of the season will prevail in the hearts of us all.

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