What is the western holiday season really about, at least in the US? This is the sixth year I've been overseas during the holidays, but from what I can remember, to many it's about celebrating the birth of Jesus and Christianity; others celebrate Hanukah or Kwanzaa or other holidays I don't know about. To others it's about spending exorbitant amounts of money for gifts, consumerism which people don't need, under the umbrella of stimulating the economy. Although I identify with my Jewish roots, I'm not dogmatic. Rather I look at what any spiritual belief might offer.
I recently read, Eight Core Christian Values by Brian Edgar, Director of Theology and Public policy for the Evangelical Alliance. I've been trying to determine what Christian values are because many people who I've met don't really live by these. In this piece Edgar states the following as core values:
· Grace – a subversive value! Giving people more than they deserve.
· Hope – not a guarantee of immunity from harm but a conviction that a spirit is always present
· Faith - the means to real depth in relationships of all kinds
· Love – means to love the unlovely
· Justice – for all (not ‘just-me’). A concept biased in favour of the disadvantaged.
· Joy – impossible to legislate for this but an essential social value
· Service – meaning is found in service rather than self-centredness
· Peace– not just the absence of fighting but positive well-being
These values make a lot of sense to me but how many of us can truly state that we might embrace these not only during the holiday season but every day? We are far from perfect as human beings, we are walking contradictions; everyone has lied, cheated and hurt others and rationalized, some more than others. I experience untruths everyday because it is easy to say whatever you want to anybody as long as one is not put in a bad light. It can be difficult to take responsibility for one's actions if one hasn't grown up in an environment in which parents, friends, relatives, schools and other societal institutions ask for accountability.
I've always been most drawn to "Service ", which I feel encompasses many of the other values, e.g. love, justice, peace. Especially as I've aged and have more life experience, serving has become more essential to my daily intake of oxygen. At times it becomes difficult to let my ego and things go, but I find when I do this there is more peace in my life.
I would also want to add "kindness", "respect for others" to the above list. There are probably other values which I'm leaving off, which might come from other religions. The point is that we think more about others, no matter what their life circumstances. We can't all be born into affluent, functional families. The majority of the world is not; we are all just trying to get by. But if we can lend a hand, make it part of our being the world will become a better place.
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