[New blogs posted every weekend. For previous blogs please visit “blog archive” to the lower right of this screen. Click on the small black arrows for a drop down list.]
This time of year is special to many all over the world. Christmas and its glorious colors and sounds (and tastes) is just around the corner. Hanukah has already come and gone for 2010 but it is celebrated at the same general time of year as Christmas, usually the end of November through the first part of December, eight days of celebrating. Kwanzaa begins after Christmas and is spectacular. When I had a small craft business I made fabulous Kwanzaa cards in bright African colors and they sold out. Each year I had to make more and more as the celebration grew and embraced many cultures, not just African Americans! Winter Solstice is celebrated by many Native Americans and Aboriginal people throughout the world. Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day in December. Prior to these huge religious/cultural celebrations our country celebrates Thanksgiving, which is religious for some, not for others, and somewhat launches the remaining celebrations of the year through New Year’s. New Year’s isn’t particularly religious except that I think most religions pray for a new year filled with happiness. Id al-Adha (a.k.a. the Feast of Sacrifice or Day of Sacrifice) occurs during the 12th lunar month of the Islamic year. (This year 11/16 through 11/19.) In other words, Christians do not have a lock on this time of year. Humanity worldwide shares this special time of year with many beliefs and traditions. That’s a lot of celebrating!
Because of these special holidays many say “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas.” I don't believe it’s meant to demean the Christian Christmas celebrations but it simply means let’s all be happy during this special time of year. At this time of year we come together with our families and friends, some of whom we may not see except at this time of year, and it could be during Thanksgiving or the many celebrations we’ve come to love. So much depends on individual work schedules, geographic home locations, cultural traditions, marriages that mingle holiday traditions, and a myriad of other circumstances that sometimes visiting loved ones during this time of year can involve all of the holidays! Some families are so large they have multiple Christmas celebrations or three or four Thanksgivings as they visit family and friends. It is, for the most part, truly a happy time of year for us. They truly are happy holidays. And so we say “Happy Holidays.”
Deeply devout folks sometimes find it hard to accept that other deeply devout folks celebrate at the very same time of year. Dueling holidays? I hope not. I think there is room for all belief systems and we should all be happy we believe in something that makes us better people. Something that forms us and makes us believe in the good around us and people who embrace and respect the lives and differences around us. We are an amazing planet filled with so many different cultures and ideas. At this time of year most of us seek peace and contentment and appreciate the little things that make life worth living. It’s not a time for fanaticism or hatred or picky attitudes about things we don't understand. It’s all good. It’s all about humanity. It’s all about celebrating so much for so many.
So . . . happy holidays one and all. May the Christmas “presence” turn our hearts to mush and may we truly live in the footprints of that little babe born so long ago. The King of Peace. Remember, he loved us all.
www.sharonstrawhandgarner.com
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
