There's A Reason

There’s a reason why we need holidays and special days in our lives.

It doesn’t matter what they are, necessarily. They can be the big ones such as Christmas, Ramadan, Diwali, Passover, Holi, Eid u Fir, Hanukkah, or Easter.

They can be birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, celebrations of life, or whatever is meaningful to you..

We need these kinds of days to remind us that there is hope and light and promise in this world.

In this world in which darkness is all too prevalent - wars, famine, natural disasters, disease, and death, betrayals, corruption, oppression, fractured relationships, and abuse - we can all too easily begin to believe that the darkness is all there is, and that will always be. 

We can become jaded, cynical, and defeated, seeing only the wrong, the twisted, and the despair. It’s so easy to allow it to happen, for darkness to overcome our thoughts and spirits.

But holidays and special days - major or minor - are meant to help reset us, to be a pause button, to start us over again, to help us gain a new perspective, to remind us that the worst things in our world and lives are not the only things in our world and lives. 

Maybe the particular holidays of this week are not your holidays. Maybe even if they are you just just aren’t feeling it this year. That’s okay. We might not always feel every one. Or any of the usual special days that mark milestones and turning points in our lives. 

But we do hope that there will be some days, some significant observances, some special celebrations - whatever they may be - that will remind you of hope, that  will give you pause to reflect and find gratitude. We hope there will be those that will give you moments of joy, renewal, recalibration, forgiveness, and apology. We hope there will be days that will help you see beyond the darkness without denying the realities of the darkness, and help you to shine and feel a light of kindness, warmth, and love. 

In this world and life that clamors for a light to shine into our shadowed places, may you celebrate what helps you to see the power of goodness all around us, in life-giving, abundant, and beautifully surprising ways.