The beauty of light

We stood in a circle, holding hands. I looked around at the faces of students, professors, staff and visitors. At that moment some of them looked radiant. Others looked stressed, tired, sad, or preoccupied. As the silent prayer began I looked down and focused on the center of the circle as I often do, to "center" myself by concentrating on that space where I imagine our energies converge.

First I noticed a patch of light flickering on the carpet, smack dab in the middle of the circle, coming from a window above us, fading in and out, wavering as clouds passed overhead.  I thought, "How nice is that? Sunshine is entering our circle".

 
Then I recognized the shape of the shadow within the distorted rectangle of light and I smiled.  I looked around at others to see if they had noticed it too, but their eyes were closed as they prayed.

Once a week we gather in a circle, hold hands, voice our joys and concerns, then say a prayer before sharing a meal together.  Some people, especially those who are not Quaker, might think this is a strange or uncomfortable thing to do with one's coworkers. I find it comforting. I feel at home. Peacefully at home. We are a group of people sharing the content of our lives with each other, not just sharing space as we do our jobs.

The people who work and study here are very intelligent, well-traveled, insightful, extremely caring individuals.  They each have their causes and passions that drive them to do good works, here in the seminary and out in the world. They have jolly laughs and endearing quirks.  They live simply and give extravagantly. They care about each other deeply.

The way they interact with one another, the way they interact with the world beyond the seminary, inspires me. It warms me to be in their presence. I can feel their light around me.  It is changing me.

I came here to work, exhausted, bitter, resentful and resigned. I felt I had struggled but lost my foothold on that rocky cliff called "career".

But while working in the light of those who study and work here, I feel I am being transformed, as light that shines through a gray dark window is transformed. Once again I feel I am doing good, honest work.  I feel I have a purpose and I am valued in many ways.  I enjoy my work and my coworkers again. Because of this, and because I'm exposed to so many faithful and spiritual others, my faith in "something greater" is being restored. 

I feel like the light from those around me is shining through a gray, dark window within me and it is being transformed.  It's a faint shadow, just a symbol, but somehow it offers hope and comfort.

 

It's the Most (un)Wonderful Time of the Year

I find it ironic that some people are so offended by the use of "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"; they seem almost militant in their determination to accept "Merry Christmas" as the only appropriate greeting during the holiday season. This confuses me because Christmas is supposed to be about love, peace and giving.  "Christ Mass" is supposed to commemorate the birth of a man who is identified throughout the Gospels as teaching love, acceptance, inclusiveness and humbleness. Forcing "Merry Christmas" on every person, no matter what their background and beliefs, seems just the opposite.  I'm not sure how this kind of disrespect fits into Christ's "Love thy neighbor" teachings.

Many also complain when others use "Xmas" as an abbreviation, assuming they are somehow trying to "X out" or eliminate the "reason for the season." Each year I post an annual Holiday message in my Facebook status to spread the word to those who don't yet know:

"No one is excluding Christmas or Christ when they offer a "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", and no one is "striking Christ out of Christmas" when they use the term "Xmas". The word "Holidays" comes from the term "Holy Days", which includes Christmas and religious holidays (many that were around before the first Christmas). The term "Xmas" includes the symbol X for the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, often translated as "Christ"."

Another blogger explains, "The Greek chi which has a sacred history of being an abbreviation for "Christ" Thus, "Xmas" is short for "Christmas." Christ, therefore, has not been taken out of Christmas nor is this a secular, anti-Christian attack on Christmas. Abbreviating Christmas does not make one less a Christian or anti-Christmas anymore than abbreviating any other word. The chi is a reminder that Christmas is about the incarnation of God who condescended himself as a man in order to save mankind."



This silliness is just one of the reasons I don't like the Christmas season, a season that is supposed to be about loving and giving but has become about spending, rushing, exhaustion, complaining, over doing, greed, conflict and extreme commercialism. Again ironically, those who complain the loudest about "putting Christ back in Christmas", the "war over Christmas" and emphasizing Christmas over "holidays" are often the same ones who brag the loudest about their Black Friday buying sprees and their endless Christmas activities that really have nothing to do with Christ's birthday.

Even before Halloween the Christmas countdown begins. While many of us are trying to prepare for Thanksgiving others are preparing their strategies for Black Friday, which now starts on Thanksgiving Day at some stores.  The day's focus can no longer be just about family time and the feast of thanks giving. Store employees are now forced to work on a day that used to be set aside for family time because of this two-day period that is focused on mass consumption. It's all about store ads and coupons, pre-dawn camp-outs in front of stores, and the race to pick up an item before another shopper does. The news is filled with fights breaking out between shoppers. Yet the news is also filled with rants about the so-called "War on Christmas". 


I read a really great article in Sojourners Magazine (http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/12/10/theres-war-christmas-just-not-one-you-think) about the "War on Christmas". Here are some quotes:

"The real “war on Christmas” is when we are more worried about saving a buck than we are about the millions of people in this world without access to clean water or medicine or that there are 22,000 homeless children in New York City alone."

"The real “war on Christmas” is when Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas; however, it would take only $20 billion to ensure that all people in the world could have access to clean water for a year."

"The real “war on Christmas” is when Americans buy products because they are cheap without thinking twice about the person who made it, their working conditions, their pay, or even their age. (Yes, that’s right their age. In some countries it is legal to employ children.)"

"The real “war on Christmas” is when Christians support the overspending and mass consumption propagated by our “spend, spend, spend” culture."

"This so-called “war” is something that Christians every year are participating in but point the judgmental fingers at others."



I totally agree.  The over consumption, the greed, that "spend, spend, spend" culture sickens me, and that's why I don't like Christmas, or least what Christmas has become. Also I don't like feeling pressured to buy things I and others don't need and we can't afford.  I don't like feeling pressured to spend valuable time putting up decorations that I'm going to take down a few weeks or a month later. I don't like losing a meaningful holiday -- Thanksgiving -- to an ever expanding Christmas season.

What others do and what others think about Christmas is none of my business--as long as they don't force their views on me and try to control my thoughts and actions.  As soon as others start pressuring me to act or react in a way that suits them, without regard to my beliefs, then I have issues. Others can do what they want but for me I will continue to try to be inclusive and respectful of believers and non-believers, of Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and those who believe otherwise -- citizens of  the good ol' US of A and citizens of the world who should have the same rights as I have to celebrate our respective religious beliefs. That's just who I am. So Happy Holidays everyone.