It's the Holiday Season, or the Christmas Season or the Hanukkah Season, or whatever you wish to call it. It is, I think, a mite unfortunate that commercialism consumes so much of the season, yet I also admit that I have a real love of receiving presents. It is perhaps because of the conditions of my youth that I too easily confuse presents for love, but that is another story entirely. It is true, however, that more than anything this season, perhaps because of Christianity, but also regardless of religion, gives us an opportunity to express our love more openly and broadly than perhaps we usually do.
Now, every religion implores us to be loving of our fellow beings on this earth. But Christmas, needless to say, is about Christ, who thirty years more or less after his birth began teaching unconditional love as a way of life. I think that unconditional love, as Jesus would have seen it, means that we are blind to race, or skin color, or ethnicity, or sexual orientation, or religious affiliation, (or in this country, I guess it should be said, political affiliation). To Jesus, unconditional love was not about being all gushy, but more about being compassionately truthful, holding people to their best by holding up a mirror to their actions, and by practicing patience, humility, and understanding.
I suspect that this is the way we would all like to be treated by those around us--the basis for the Golden rule (which literally exists in some form in every major faith). That is to say; we all want unconditional love. Practicing unconditional love is not about just those people with whom we are intimate: family, offspring, friends. It is really about seeing the need for love (tough love or soft love or whatever is needed) and taking action. Helping someone in need. Supporting someone who feel bereft of their own inner resources. And as much as anything, unconditional love is about honoring the understanding that everything everywhere in this entire world is connected--though Santa is the only one who seems to be able to live this as a reality.
In the final analysis, as far as unconditional love goes (and we need only Santa to understand this) we receive what we give. And there is no more universal time than the Christmas season to make sure this happens.
Regardless of whether Christmas is your holiday or merely a day of rest for you: peace be with you.
Now, every religion implores us to be loving of our fellow beings on this earth. But Christmas, needless to say, is about Christ, who thirty years more or less after his birth began teaching unconditional love as a way of life. I think that unconditional love, as Jesus would have seen it, means that we are blind to race, or skin color, or ethnicity, or sexual orientation, or religious affiliation, (or in this country, I guess it should be said, political affiliation). To Jesus, unconditional love was not about being all gushy, but more about being compassionately truthful, holding people to their best by holding up a mirror to their actions, and by practicing patience, humility, and understanding.
I suspect that this is the way we would all like to be treated by those around us--the basis for the Golden rule (which literally exists in some form in every major faith). That is to say; we all want unconditional love. Practicing unconditional love is not about just those people with whom we are intimate: family, offspring, friends. It is really about seeing the need for love (tough love or soft love or whatever is needed) and taking action. Helping someone in need. Supporting someone who feel bereft of their own inner resources. And as much as anything, unconditional love is about honoring the understanding that everything everywhere in this entire world is connected--though Santa is the only one who seems to be able to live this as a reality.
In the final analysis, as far as unconditional love goes (and we need only Santa to understand this) we receive what we give. And there is no more universal time than the Christmas season to make sure this happens.
Regardless of whether Christmas is your holiday or merely a day of rest for you: peace be with you.
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