Kwanzaa Etc.

Happy Kwanzaa!

Yesterday our daughter reminded us that it was going to be Kwanzaa today. I don't even know whether people say "Happy Kwanzaa" to each other or whether there is another phrase. It is a unique holiday celebrated since 1966 in the US and mostly, but not exclusively, by African Americans here and around the world.

Kwanzaa is a rather new invention, yet it already feels like a tradition here, with holiday stamps at the post office etc.! We often forget that Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan and all other holidays - at some point - were simply invented by people with a goal to unite in celebration of higher ideas. The more the merrier! Most people celebrate several kinds of holidays at once, or reinvent their own family version that is meaningful to them. My son's best friend was Jewish, so he got to celebrate Hanukkah in addition to Christmas. As far as kids go - it is all about the presents - and there are endless discussions whether Hanukkah - with a present a day for seven days - or a one-time showering on Christmas Eve - is "better". "Both" is the best as far as they were concerned - they had it made.

The rituals differ but the fundamental ideas of holy days all seem quite similar in spirit. So, to all the people in the world - Happy Holy Days!!! and Happy New Year!!! May we all live up to higher ideas and evolve into the peaceful beings we already are, but keep forgetting.

Christmas - Awe and Humility

Merry Christmas!

Such nice traditions surround Christmas - and so many controversies. Sometimes it seems that if we all just celebrated things we were sure about - like the longest, most silent night of the year, and our planet's return to the sun - we could all unite in simple yet meaningful celebrations. Reverent celebrations of celestial events would not only unite the world in agreement, but also be quite educational for our children. Focus on our Earth and its place in the universe, with a constant awareness of the universe as a whole, would maybe make us a bit more responsible regarding our planet as well. Awareness of the vastness within which we exist leaves us in awe and humble silence. Much like the lives of people like Jesus, whose birth we celebrate on Christmas, can and should leave us in awe and humble silence.

Awe and humble silence leads to compassion - for others, for animals and plants, and for the Earth itself. Let us unite in this awe, silence and humility - and love and respect one another.

Silent Night, Joy, Love, And Laughter

Here is a beautiful version of Silent Night sung by the St. Thomas Boys Choir (Thomanerchor). May Peace be with you this Holiday Season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4puLybRGSAw

I prepared this post last night. Then this morning I learned that, while we were still having breakfast here in California, my mother had just sung this song to her children and grandchildren in Germany on Christmas Eve, in that silent and sacred moment of remembering the reason for the season, before the opening of all the presents and all the accompanying joy, love and laughter.