CHRISTMAS – A Season Of LIGHT and LOVE #13

I don’t remember when I first learned that humans who lived before the time of Jesus often celebrated a winter solstice by having a Festival of Lights to brighten up the cold winter nights. Christians ‘baptized’ it and came up with the story of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem, so we have Christmas. When Christianity became the Roman Empire's official religion in 325 CE, it became an official holiday for the Mediterranean area and grew in importance. The ‘sacred’ writers created a delightful story that’s also enlightening.

So now, we still need a mid-winter celebration of life and light, and I encourage everyone to celebrate that we humans are the light for all of life – from the smallest cell to the most magnificent and largest animal. An activity we all can participate in is to reduce our ‘footprint’ on our planet by using less polluting substances. We are endowed with the intelligence and genius to care for our planet.

And we can work to decrease or eliminate anger, fear, and hatred that hurts our planet and leads to killing and wars. We can start by replacing fear with hope, anger with understanding, boredom with wonder and awe, punishment with knowledge, and anger and hurt with acceptance, compassion, and love.

For six decades, I have written a personal Christmas card to a familiar tune, and I would like to share one of my favorites from several years ago:

     I see Christmas trees, Menorahs, and Lanterns, and other signs too of people’s faith in me and you, and I think to myself, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD.

    I see Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews; they all work for peace and justice too . . . And I think to myself, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD.

    The rules of many religions keep people apart and from speaking from the heart; still, I see people helping people and smiling, too. They’re thinking and saying, “I love you.” And I think to myself, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD.

. . . YES, I THINK TO MYSELF WHAT A CHRISTMASSY WORLD

Now, please be a wonderful life-giving mentor to those around you. And please don’t demand nor preach, but be an exemplar and gentle teacher. And now, please . . . 

Nurture your heart and don’t eat the menu – including the above.