The nature of personal beliefs is that they are, well, personal. When someone extends a friendly seasonal greeting and its not worded in a way that reflects your own personal beliefs, its still a gesture of kindness and most likely not a deliberate affront to your belief system. For those who believe that were all just as God made us, it seems a little acceptance of the ways of others should be common sense in light of that belief. If hearing someone wish you happy holidays makes you bristle with resentment, youre missing the point. They want you to be happy, so being offended because they word it differently than you would is a bit silly. Many years ago someone coined a phrase about not looking a gift horse in the mouth, and the phrase endured because the sentiment it embodies is still true today. Why quibble about the semantics of a message when the message itself is one of good intent? Kindness counts, in all its forms, and that spirit is part of the holiday season when most of us think more of sharing and giving. Walking through this modern world, its fairly easy to be offended by the words or actions of others, and so it seems we should search for ways to look for the kindness and good intentions of others as a way to stay positive and optimistic in the holiday season. And if someone should reply to your well-intentioned greeting with a modern version of bah humbug, remember that this is often the season of loss for many of the less fortunate. Holidays can be potent reminders of those who are no longer with us, or of the fact that we ourselves may be struggling while the rest of the world seems to be festive and carefree. Now is the best time to be more forgiving, less judgmental and more accepting of those around us. Its the perfect way to let the Christmas spirit shine in the world. vox/xpress/2014/11/23/7271135/flowchart-holiday-persecuted
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 00:55:27 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015