The holiday season is upon us. Regardless of your religious persuasion, or complete and total lack thereof…the time between Thanksgiving and the New Year, marks a sort of wrapping up, and a hopeful eye to the future.
We have a lot to be grateful for in this nation, this state, and most particularly our own, individual places within the big schema. We have plenty of food, and shelter, and enough to share. I have heard it said, that Americans are the most generous people in the world, and I believe it.
Most of us feel very safe. We are concerned about those who are not. And we try to do what we can to make it safe for everyone. If we are the praying type, we are praying for our military men and women whose duty is to put themselves in harms way, to fight for our safety, security and freedom.
We tell our kids that the only things really necessary for a decent life are food, and a warm place to lie down. Beyond that, everything else is a luxury to be appreciated, and to not let the pursuit for more and more stuff take control of their lives, and to never let it get in the way of their most important relationships.
In a letter we wrote to our kids, we told them that Honesty is the most important thing—if they can preserve their integrity they will be able to withstand the most severe challenges that Life may bring.
In our opinion, the virtue that is right next to truthfulness in every aspect of life, is Kindness. Common courtesy and thoughtful consideration make for a pleasant way of being—make a body a joy to be around, every single day—and means they will always be surrounded by loving family and friends, and never be lonely for long. Take care of those around you, and you take care of yourself.
All of us, I think, are disturbed by the idea that the entire national economy hinges on how much we spend for Christmas. That is not what this season is about. I don’t care if you are a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a Pagan, a Buddhist, a Taoist, an Atheist, or an Agnostic, or any other of the many, and multi-faceted ways of spiritual being that there are in the world…spending money is not what it is about. Universally, what the season does represent, is a time to appreciate and honor our neighbors, family, friends, all of those we hold close and cherish. It is a time to help those in need. It is a time to express our gratitude to all of those who touch our lives in small, sometimes insignificant ways, that make things easier…like the UPS driver, and the grocery clerk, and many, many others.
Stay in touch. Our oldest friends and family are the most important to us as we grow older. Remember the power of Love.
Perhaps, more than anything else, this season reminds us that the big wheel of life, and the big mystery of Time, keeps traveling relentlessly onward. One year ends, and another approaches. We don’t know what that year ahead of us will bring. But we have Hope. Hope, the purest expression of what it means to be human, on this Earth.
My hope for all of you is that this holiday season finds you, and all of yours, safe, happy, and hopeful.
