A Holiday Of Miracles

Nice Santa Claus

Holidays are considered by some to be "time off" from work and school. Others view them as occasions to get some "serious stuff" in the forms of gifts or cash. Every person has their own successes and horror stories about holidays. So why do we go to the trouble, not to mention the time and even some expense to celebrate Holidays?

The main reason is because. Now that sounds like something a young child would tell their mother when asked why they did something, or a statement made by a tired parent when questioned as to a rule or law that is being laid down. The "because" of having a holiday, whether civic or religious, is because we are people. We are social creatures and everyone needs to "celebrate" something or sometime in their everyday life. While some may say that they are alone and certainly do not have much "social" interaction, to them a holiday should be a time to give to others, even though they feel that they are alone. There is a difference between alone and being by your- self. While living alone, you have the added plus of making your time whatever you choose it to be and making the most of it is certainly to your credit. Sharing it is by means the most honorable, but even if you choose not to, then spending it in the work of accomplishing something that everyone can benefit from is just as great a goal.

Holidays are days of stepping outside our perverbial "box" and decorating the house with bits and bows that otherwise we would not find appropriate. It is making special meals, thoughfully thinking of fun things to do or places to go, and it is in inviting others over or visiting relatives and friends at their homes. It is also stepping across the treshold of retirement homes, hospitals, and care centers where visitors are cherished and a very valuable commodity. One home in India was visited by a lady who was surprised to see everyone laughing and talking, and it warmed her heart. At another home, the residents mainly sat in wheel chairs, holding their heads in their hands, or staring into space with no particular point of their focus. Asking the attendants why this was the case, she was told that they wait for visitors that never come and the few that do come so rarely that hope falls as the hours go by. This lady was Mother Teresa.

Hope rises eternal when hearts are in their right places. Holidays should always be hopeful times, and certainly heartful times. We can always go out of our normal stance and act silly by handing out heart-shaped cards, or eggs that are colorfully painted. It is a time to read a generations old story at a class of toddlers, or reading a bible tale of where a holiday began to the elderly, because it brings them comfort and joy. It can be something as simple as serving cherry pie to remember a president, or wearing a pointed hat on your head and giving out candy. Sometimes, just joining hands and saying grace before a meal, or placing a penny in the pocket of everyone for good luck marks a Holiday or a special time. These special times, while marked in bigger numbers on a calendar page, are marked with bigger wishes and hopes in a human heart. Holidays are definitely not for everyone. They are a part of everyone and we should make sure that this tradition continues. They are for the popular and the forgotten, they are for the poor and the rich and everyone in between. In fact, money in many cases should not even be included, but replaced with trinkets made from tiny fingers or warm fuzzy slippers from aged well-worn hands.

Holidays are holidays because they are times of being more human than we are on "regular" days. We shine a little brighter, and laugh a little louder. We pray more fervently and we sing, lord help us, with more gusto then usual. Faces shine and hearts beat faster. Smiles are passed around as much as candy and ice cream, and promises to "do it again" should always be kept.

Enjoy holidays and make it your heart's work to bring holidays to everyone you encounter or make contact with. Then holidays will be the sign of a race of people whose color or beliefs all melted together and life was beautiful, even if for a span of 24-hours. Enjoy! Arleen M. Kaptur ©January, 2007

Arleen is the owner of A & J Northwoods, a gourmet food, gift and book shop. She has written numerous articles and stories on living life abundantly and enjoying every day.