Another Reason For The Season
The holidays are upon us. We are all scurrying around between work and activities and the extra pressures of preparing for the respective traditions we participate in during this time of year.
As some of you know, I'm just the type of geek who ponders the meanings of many things and who always looks for what might be learned from life. In this case, I thought of how interestingly the various world religions celebrate their most festive holidays. It may not seem like they have much to do with each other. I mean what do Hindu holidays celebrating the birth of Krishna have to do with Christian holidays celebrating the birth of Jesus? How do I tie the Muslim Ramadan to the Jewish Hanukkah? Oh, and then there's that chubby elf with a big beard and that red suit of his. Well, we'll leave the elf alone on this one.
To me, if there is anything to be learned from these holidays and if there is any similarity among them, it is that good people long ago did noteworthy things which brought forth reverence from their peers and ultimately, generations worth of believers. To me, they represent the very models of our deepest appreciation for those who choose to live differently than the rest of us; those who are brave enough to stand against the evils of the world on their terms.
Let's face it, we all "want" to be unique. As a matter of fact, I dare say if I asked you if you were one of the masses or unique, your answer would be "unique." We all fancy ourselves that way. Yet few of us "act" or live that way. Most of us get up every morning, get the kids off to school, make our usual commute down the same roads to the same job every day. Most of us leave that job, head home at the end of the day with everyone else whose headed home. Most of us try not to make any waves. Most of us, live less than "unique" lives. Nothing wrong with that by the way. Life is life. We gotta keep food on the table.
Having said that, I believe that is exactly why these holidays are so special to many of us. We get to project those holiday traditions as unique and milestone moments in our lives. We are inspired by the people for whom the holidays are held. We revel in their uniqueness and for just a moment, leave the humdrum lives we tend to live and touch something bigger than ourselves. We are attracted to those people who didn't live by the rules and changed the world.
Whether you believe in any of the deities of the world religions or don't, that is not my business. It is irrelevant because whether you believe or don't we can all gain inspiration from the world's respective holidays, and as Americans and westerners, especially at this time of year.
We can all aspire to be a little more unique than we normally are, to stand a little stronger in our convictions than we normally do, and to consider making a greater impact on the world than just wondering "what's in it for me." We have the power to make this a better place to live if we are just courageous enough to try.
Thanks as always for taking a moment to read one of my crazy posts. Hope your holidays are going great my friends. As always, I believe in you, you just have to believe in yourself.
As some of you know, I'm just the type of geek who ponders the meanings of many things and who always looks for what might be learned from life. In this case, I thought of how interestingly the various world religions celebrate their most festive holidays. It may not seem like they have much to do with each other. I mean what do Hindu holidays celebrating the birth of Krishna have to do with Christian holidays celebrating the birth of Jesus? How do I tie the Muslim Ramadan to the Jewish Hanukkah? Oh, and then there's that chubby elf with a big beard and that red suit of his. Well, we'll leave the elf alone on this one.
To me, if there is anything to be learned from these holidays and if there is any similarity among them, it is that good people long ago did noteworthy things which brought forth reverence from their peers and ultimately, generations worth of believers. To me, they represent the very models of our deepest appreciation for those who choose to live differently than the rest of us; those who are brave enough to stand against the evils of the world on their terms.
Let's face it, we all "want" to be unique. As a matter of fact, I dare say if I asked you if you were one of the masses or unique, your answer would be "unique." We all fancy ourselves that way. Yet few of us "act" or live that way. Most of us get up every morning, get the kids off to school, make our usual commute down the same roads to the same job every day. Most of us leave that job, head home at the end of the day with everyone else whose headed home. Most of us try not to make any waves. Most of us, live less than "unique" lives. Nothing wrong with that by the way. Life is life. We gotta keep food on the table.
Having said that, I believe that is exactly why these holidays are so special to many of us. We get to project those holiday traditions as unique and milestone moments in our lives. We are inspired by the people for whom the holidays are held. We revel in their uniqueness and for just a moment, leave the humdrum lives we tend to live and touch something bigger than ourselves. We are attracted to those people who didn't live by the rules and changed the world.
Whether you believe in any of the deities of the world religions or don't, that is not my business. It is irrelevant because whether you believe or don't we can all gain inspiration from the world's respective holidays, and as Americans and westerners, especially at this time of year.
We can all aspire to be a little more unique than we normally are, to stand a little stronger in our convictions than we normally do, and to consider making a greater impact on the world than just wondering "what's in it for me." We have the power to make this a better place to live if we are just courageous enough to try.
Thanks as always for taking a moment to read one of my crazy posts. Hope your holidays are going great my friends. As always, I believe in you, you just have to believe in yourself.
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