Peace on Earth; Goodwill to Everyone
The big headline on the front page of the morning newspaper is about including more people in Christmas, and some people fearing that Christmas is going to be left out. My personal concern about the holiday is that it is too damned expensive. Christmas is one of the many problems of having a diverse population. Diverse beliefs don’t come so much from new people entering the country, but from people becoming more aware of new ways to believe, and questioning the old ways. That makes me one of the problems. I barely tolerate Christmas. One of my brothers does not tolerate it. Our father detested any secularization of Christmas. He was trying to get people to quit having Santa Claus in their churches.
We have learned to practice the acceptance of diversity in the workplace, but how do we get that going in our own family? How about if we pray, we pray in the name of goodness and compassion? At the last two family Thanksgiving dinners we had, I took charge of the prayer of thanksgiving, and thanked The Great Spirit, in Native American fashion. Praying to “goodness and compassion” would not make sense to some of the family, so perhaps “Great Spirit” is the best way to speak to the “Higher Power,” as the 12-steppers are prone to say. Perhaps we could start the prayer with “Dear Higher Power” and close with “in the names of goodness, kindness, and compassion.” This would be prayer that should include everyone.
I have come to accept and practice prayer at Thanksgiving; but, I have been thinking that all prayers should be prayers of giving thanks, or requests for healing. This is just speculation on my part, but wouldn’t thinking and acting along these lines be more inclusive of all of the creations of the Supreme Being or Great Spirit, or Higher Power? Maybe we should not publicly refer to the holiday season as “Christmas.” Christians can call it whatever they want in their own churches.
I have written our holiday-season letter, and have given it the headline, “Peace on Earth; Goodwill to Everyone.”
We have learned to practice the acceptance of diversity in the workplace, but how do we get that going in our own family? How about if we pray, we pray in the name of goodness and compassion? At the last two family Thanksgiving dinners we had, I took charge of the prayer of thanksgiving, and thanked The Great Spirit, in Native American fashion. Praying to “goodness and compassion” would not make sense to some of the family, so perhaps “Great Spirit” is the best way to speak to the “Higher Power,” as the 12-steppers are prone to say. Perhaps we could start the prayer with “Dear Higher Power” and close with “in the names of goodness, kindness, and compassion.” This would be prayer that should include everyone.
I have come to accept and practice prayer at Thanksgiving; but, I have been thinking that all prayers should be prayers of giving thanks, or requests for healing. This is just speculation on my part, but wouldn’t thinking and acting along these lines be more inclusive of all of the creations of the Supreme Being or Great Spirit, or Higher Power? Maybe we should not publicly refer to the holiday season as “Christmas.” Christians can call it whatever they want in their own churches.
I have written our holiday-season letter, and have given it the headline, “Peace on Earth; Goodwill to Everyone.”
posted by Dale at 6:35 AM
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