I’ve been a house parent for about four years when my two sons went to a high school where a third of the population hailed from sometimes as many as 15 other countries. So there were many ways to celebrate the upcoming season, whether it was Advent, St. Nicholas Day, Bodhi Day, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, Winter Solstice and Christmas as well as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and the first weeks of the solar and lunar year.
During Christmas break, many of them could not get back to their home countries, and we were able to host them at our house. And what great kids they were! At these times it was an understatement to say how universal the love and laughter was that filled our house!
I found that all celebrations have much in common. And so from our family here, tucked in the northwoods of Wisconsin, we were able to share heartfelt warmth and love to each of the boys’ classmates and their families from all over the world, along with loads of cookies and small gifts. We all celebrated these things:
•a time for love – for family and friends to come together and to extend our homes to strangersI love that Mary Baker Eddy defined God in broad and sweeping terms that included being all-inclusive!
•a time for quietness, reverence and awe –where those things we deem most sacred to us are honored
•a time for peace – a recognition of our interconnectedness to each other, to our past, to our ancestors and to our future
•and a time for celebration – for new beginnings, fresh starts, and hope – great hope for what life holds in store for all of us
"God is universal; " writes Mary Baker Eddy, "confined to no spot, defined by no dogma, appropriated by no sect. Not more to one than to all, is God demonstrable as divine Life, Truth, and Love; and His people are they that reflect Him - that reflect Love." (Miscellaneous Writings p. 150)
May this upcoming season of light be filled with universal Love!
No comments:
Post a Comment