My Wish for Christmas: Love for Others, Peace on Earth

Over the past 3 days, I have sent out 60 Holiday Cards. It was quantity over quality. I did not send top of the line $7 cards. I did not send a letter telling my friends and family about our year. I didn’t put personal notes in each card. But I want to believe that in a time when people get bills and solicitations for mail, a holiday card will be nice, special, different. A holiday card will say: someone is thinking of you and hopes you have a nice holiday season. A Happy Channukah, a Blessed Solstice, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Kwanzaa, a Happy New Year. I want my card to have a bit of power behind it – the power of love for my family and friends. Every single card that I sent was for someone who is special to me, and I hope that the card lets them know.

For most of my adult life, I have watched the 1966 cartoon “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” every December. Strangely enough, I do not know the words to any of the songs. You would think, after all these years, I would know more than “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and snatches of \”Welcome Christmas\”, but that’s all I can remember. Still, I just love that cartoon. The idea that Christmas is not about presents and food, but “something more”. The cartoon does not say what that is. It can be love, family, togetherness, peace, grace. Or the birthday of a Savior. It’s really up to you.

And what makes it really funny is that I’m not Christian. Long story, not going there. I’m a Nichiren Buddhist. But I have many Christians in my family – as well as Jews and a follower of Hare Krishna, and they all get my love and respect. So, what is it about Christmas that’s so special? If Thanksgiving is when I give thanks for all the people who have been a part of my life, what does Christmas mean to me? I think it’s one day, a suspension in time, in which we try to put aside our negativity and enmity toward others (especially family) and come together in a positive spirit of love: for family, for mankind. Peace on Earth. Joy to the World. And maybe a bit of pretending. That things are “okay”. Christmas magic. Just for one day. Oh, and presents for the kids.

If you’re about to have a good Christmas, I want you to know, really know, how lucky you are. I would bet that if you’re planning to have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones, there is someone coming who is putting on a good face, so that it can be a happy holiday. One day. Peace on Earth.

In so many parts of the world, there is war. In Gaza and Israel, in Ukraine and Russia. On top of that, there is civil war in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria. There are terrorist wars in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, And drug wars in Colombia and Mexico. So many of these countries are in Africa; our homeland is at war.

And in too many countries, over 30% of our world’s citizens live in extreme poverty, suffering from poor health, malnutrition and lack of clean water: Angola, Burundi, Congo, Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, New Guinea, Rwanda, Somalia, Eswatini, Turkmenistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. So many countries in Africa; our homeland is struggling.

And what of America? The new Islamophobia and anti-Semitism overshadow a rabid hatred of immigrants and asylum seekers, and as always, racism that shows up in our police force on too regular a basis. A divide exists between liberals and conservatives that seems about to burst into violence, and there are way too many mass shootings… and suicides.

If you are a praying person, please pray for those you love to feel loved. And perhaps, pray that you can suspend enmity if necessary. Pray that there is more positivity than negativity. If you can open your heart a bit more, pray that as many people as possible on this earth can have a good day, whatever that may mean for them. Pray that as many people as possible who need love get love. And that they get enough love to choose to do positive things instead of negative things. So that perhaps we will have fewer deaths for one day.

Now, if you can do that, if you can hope that for one day, we can have Peace on Earth, then think beyond that day, and consider what you might do the day afterwards. What can be done to keep it going. What can we do to touch the lives of as many people as possible with love and caring. Compassion and respect.

Many people have the day off for Christmas, and after that, we go back to… well, whatever we had suspended the week before. But the New Year is around the corner, and you get one week to think about how that year can be. How it can be for you. How it can be for the ones you love. And if your heart can be bigger, how it can be for the world.

Kwanzaa is good for that, and I have come to understand how powerful it can be. To reflect. To consider. To open up. To make plans for the future. So, let Christmas be a stake in the ground. A day of believing in miracles, and then a call to go forth and be a miracle in the lives of others. Consider celebrating Kwanzaa. Build a bridge between two holidays that adds meaning, and renewal for the coming year.

Blessed Bodhi Day
Happy Channukah
Happy Solstice and Merry Yuletide
Merry Christmas
Happy Kwanzaa
Solemn Zartosht no-diso
Happy New Year