House of Cards
We send holiday cards. My list includes people I’m only in contact with once a year so I usually include a little handwritten note with some news. Not always; I sometimes run out of steam. So I’ve learned to start at the “A’s one year and the ‘Z’s the next so people at least get a note every other year. I never written the typed holiday epistle with all the events for the entire family for the year like my late sister used to do. I used to read her holiday letter between Christmas and New Year (or some years mid-January) out of guilt. I just don’t believe that my life is that interesting.
Our cards often wish joy and peace to the recipient. Some cards mention Christmas for those I know celebrate the Christian holiday. I don’t believe there is a “war on Christmas” or anything so silly, but if I know you have a decorated fir tree in your living room, you might get a picture of one on your card. The others say “holiday” or “the season” for those I know celebrate Hanukkah, or the Solstice, or those who I just don’t know what or even if they celebrate.
We also like getting cards. The card pictured above, sent to me by the mother of my children and her husband, is the hands-down winner in the holiday card derby this year. OK, there isn’t really a derby, but my wife and I often look at the cards and comment when they come in. “That’s pretty.” “Nice to hear from them.” Some cards actually move us and this card from Kirsten and Ken was one of those.
A Needed Message
“Help.” “Peace” “Forget our differences” It doesn’t matter what you celebrate at this time of year, or if you don’t really celebrate anything, but do reflect on the year past and envision the coming year. That we might be a little kinder, help our fellow humans a little more, and, at a minimum, stop maiming and killing quite so many of us, over lines on a map, or ancient hurt-memories or unshared ideology, well, those hopes resonate.
This time of the year, December, the Winter Solstice, is the time in the Northern Hemisphere when the sun is furthest from us, so we have many of the world’s religions “bringing in the Light.” In the Southern Hemisphere this is the Summer Solstice, the longest day, but many displaced Northerners still celebrate the Light.
I guess Light ain’t a bad thing at any time of solar rotation. Light, is belief in something larger than ourselves, sun, other stars, the blessed diverse ecosystem we’re a part of when we tread upon the Earth, or Divine Spirit encouraging us to see the Light and do what is Right..
Light is the Golden Rule. No, I don’t mean “whoever has the gold, rules;” I mean the “do unto others as you’d have others do unto you,” or as my friend, Rob, somewhat cynically called it, the “be nice to each other concept.”
The “be nice to each other concept” is found in many religions:
- “ You shall love your neighbor as yourself” – Christian, Gospel of Matthew
- “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man” Judaism, Talmud Shabbat
- “Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others that which you wish for yourself.” Islam, The Prophet Mohammed Hadith
- “This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you.” Hinduism, Mahabharata
- “…a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?” Buddhism, Samyutta Nikaya
- “One should treat all beings as he himself would be treated.” Jainism, Agamas Sutrakritanga
- “No one is my enemy, none a stranger and everyone is my friend.” Sikhism, Guru Arjan Dev
- “Do not do to others what you would not like yourself.” Confucianism, Analects
- “The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful.” Taoism, Tao Teh Ching
- “The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form” Shintoism, Shinto
- “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” Baha’i, Udana-Varga
- “Do not do to others what is harmful for yourself” Zoroastrianism, Shayast-na-Shayast
- “Ape shall not kill ape” Caesar, Planet of the Apes
The script of the movie “Planet of the Apes” mocks us. The “Be Nice to Each Other” concept is human-centric in many of the world’s religions. As might be expected, Native American versions are more inclusive:
“All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One.” Black Elk
Even if you’re not prepared to go that far, “Be Nice to People” is a good start. As Kirsten and Ken’s card says:
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