Happy Holidays! Yeah, I said it. [View all]

[Mortos]

Happy Holidays everyone. No matter what you believe I wish you all a time of good cheer, love, family, friendship and joy. This should be a season of hope and wonder, of helping others and lifting spirits, of selflessness and giving, of possibilities and new beginnings.

To my Christian friends, this is the holiday which marks the birth of a savior. A being who brings light and love to the world. His birth brought about the possibility of redemption from sin and a new way to look upon your fellow man. The birth of Christ represents faith, hope and love. I wish you all a season filled with these wonderful things.

To my Pagan friends, happy Yule, Winter Solstice or Saturnalia. This time of year represents the end of a season of darkness and the return of life giving light. It is a time marked with reflection upon the year gone by and the hopes of the year yet to come. Many of the traditions celebrated by Pagans are carried on today in the form of Christmas trees, holly, candles and feasts. I wish you all a season filled with new possibilities, light and hope.

To my Jewish friends, Hanukkah is a holiday of light, hope and miracle, a time to join together with family and friends and enjoy food, games, music and prayer. It is a time to show light, not for those inside your homes, but to those outside. I wish you all a season of miracles, light, good food. I hope you win all the gelt in the pot with your superior dreidel skills and that your oil lasts for 8 days and nights.

To my non-religious friends, this is a time to join together and celebrate life and the individual ability to choose to be a better person. We have the added benefit of being free to pick and choose from other traditions those things which we enjoy most and those which allow us to experience the best that the entire human experience has to offer. Not being bound to a dogma or denomination gives us the freedom to enjoy any of them or none at all. I wish you all a season of happiness and freedom to seek your own path of goodwill towards people and yourselves.

To my Festivus friends, may your aluminum pole be straight, your grievances be aired and your father pinned.

There are over a dozen different celebrations in December. Christian, Pagan, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Zoroastrian, African American, Humanist, Seinfeldian, and of course, capitalism. So when I wish you happy holidays, I am not being disrespectful to any one belief, I am being inclusive to all the wonderful and varied people in my life who enjoy one (or several) traditions.

To all my friends and family, know this; I love each and every one of you regardless of who you are or which path you choose to take. My life is changed by knowing you. I strive to be a better person and treat others with compassion, kindness, and respect and I am self aware enough to know I often fail at this goal. My hope is that each of you, and I, can recognize the innate goodness that exists in every individual and, regardless of which faith or belief system we choose, we will strive to treat each other a little better, a little kinder, and a little more like companions in this journey and less like enemies.

Happy holidays to all of you; family, friends, faithful and faithless. I wish you good tidings and great joy for the end of this year and the new year to come.