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In the northern hemisphere, December is the month of natural darkness, the days shorten and the nights lengthen, until on the Winter Solstice we have the longest night of the year. Is it any wonder that people have celebrated light and the sun gods, establishing the reassurance that the natural light would return?

The early Romans celebrated “Natalis Solis Invicti,” the Birthday of the Invincible Sun God, Mithras on December 25 and in the fourth century the Catholic Church decided to place the celebration of Jesus’s birth on the same day to give the Roman converts a festival. And of course we know that Santa Claus, Christmas Trees, holly wreaths, and Yule Logs all come from pagan rituals to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

The Jews celebrate Hanukah in honor of the rededication of the Jerusalem temple after the Maccabees’s triumph over the Syrians in 164 B.C.E. This celebration includes the lighting of the menorah, which continued to burn for eight days consuming only one jar of oil which should have only lasted for one day. Hanukah was established to commemorate this miracle and is a time of thanksgiving and spiritual rededication.

Muslims began the celebration of Ramadan after the battle of Badr in Ramadan on March 15, 624. The date for this holy month is calculated on the Muslim calendar and this year began November 17. It is a time of atonement, or the reconciliation for God and man and includes daily fasting and nightly feasting.

In 1966, Dr. Maulena Karenga with his family and friends begin the first Kwanzaa, which intertwines African traditions with American customs and is celebrated from December 26 through January 1. It includes the lighting of seven candles to remind the family of the spiritual principles (Umoja, unity; Kujichagulia, self-determination; Ujima, collective work and responsibility; Ujamaa, cooperative economics; Nia, purpose; Kuumba, creativity; and Imani, faith) which are to light the individual’s journey for the coming year.

Each of these celebrations are designed to assist the individual on their spiritual path. All are designed to create the atmosphere for people to choose to bring forward good by choosing God, Yahweh, Allah, the Goddess and Spiritual Principles. I notice that each of us is capable of both extreme good and evil. We all have Mother Teresa (the personification of love) and Hitler (the personification of hatred) within us. We have supported both extremes in our world, giving birth to Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and the Dali Lama as well as Pol Pot, Stalin, and Osama bin Laden.

The Christian Bible states, “...I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” We, individually and collectively, choose each moment how we will act and react to events, situations and the people in our world. In this time of worldly upheaval we must be very conscious in our choices. Can we act against terrorism and not fall into hatred and prejudice? Can we remain true to our country’s spiritual principles of freedom and justice for all, and include the world? Can we pray for peace and good will for humankind and then act with a peaceful heart?

I believe we can, if we each set it as our intention to be the compassion we desire. The Dali Lama has written that compassion “denotes a feeling of connection with others, reflecting its origins in empathy. . .when we act out of concern for others, the peace this creates in our own hearts brings peace to everyone we associate with. We bring peace to the family, peace to our friends, to the workplace, to the community, and so to the world.” All religious traditions teach this, let us all practice what we teach.

From my heart to yours, Rev. Kris

Sunday:
Pre-Service Meditation • 10:30 am Celebration Service • 11 am
PEACE Meditations • 6 pm

Wednesday:
Healing Service for a mid-week lift.
Need help with an issue
in your life. 7:30pm Coffee afterwards