Holiday season a time for reflection

  The smell of fresh pine, sweet cinnamon, and refreshing, orange zest permits the imagination to journey through the frosty, silver winters of the past and present.  And all matters of the heart are subject to reasonable perspective with high hopes of a new, good year.

Meanwhile, there exists an unspoken population who observe the holiday season with dissimilar esteem. The holiday season can resurface tender memories of an absent loved one, render hopelessness caused by adversity, and harvest displeasures shaped by a fruitless year. In a world of bright red and white sweaters with matching earmuffs, scarfs and mittens is a well-blended longing, lonely heart.  Often misunderstood, this populace is characterized by society as cruel, cold-hearted crudes who loathe harmony and merriment.  And silence is a valuable solace to them whose invisible pain is never heard.  

These are two very different interpretations of the holiday season. Each view derives from the interpretation of our experiences.  Some see the holiday season as a time of peace on Earth and goodwill towards all men.  Others take the holiday season as time of quiet self-reflection and condolence.  While neither interpretation of the season is unbecoming, both interpretations have frequent contact in the common workplace, local supermarket, places of worship, and in our very own homes. Peace, goodwill; self-reflection and condolence are healthy in every growing environment when they plunge us in a positive direction.  And fortunately when all sentiments are respected, we gain the opportunity to experience the true color of the season. 

As we observe the holiday season together, let’s do so in peace and goodwill with self-reflection and condolence. A new year delivers new opportunities for everyone whose heart is unremoved by the disappointments or failures of the previous year.  It is never too late to make a new friend, embark on a new adventure, acquire a new trade, or learn a new hobby. And there is no time better than a new year to apologize to a friend, rejuvenate old relationships, improve poor thinking, or adjust a negative course of action. We all have a path we must choose in the New Year that may require us to give more than we receive.  And if the path we all have chosen leads to love, a wholesome life, genuine equality, and incorruptible justice, then we all have chosen the true path for ourselves and those after us.