On the outside chance that you have just arrived from a long stay in another culture, I state the obvious: this year’s Holiday Season has begun. The pressure and emotions I feel and that I experience from people around me let me know that the rush is well under way. There are festivities and celebrations, large meals and gatherings. We expect extra expectations in December only to have even more materialize as time gets tighter and the days grow shorter. Last week I asked someone who was helping coordinate a meal for a large group how it was going. They replied, “I think it is coming together fine, but I could use a little more kindness.”
A little more kindness. For some reason I paused in that moment and the words touched my heart. I heard what they said as a Holiday wish. And they are not alone; many of us might wish for the same thing if only we thought to articulate it as clearly.
Personally, we are feeling an unease and edginess. Yesterday someone asked, “Where has common courtesy gone?” And more generally, it feels like we are absorbing an attitude from the world and the politics around us. My acupuncturist just got back from a three-month RV trip that took in much of western Canada. As we caught up a little at the beginning of my appointment, without any prompting on my part, he shared that he had made 14 ferry crossings in British Columbia. All were relaxed and friendly. On his first ferry back into the US, he noticed a difference, “There was an edge, people seemed less kind.” And he added, “Nothing was gained from the difference. That ferry didn’t run any better than the other ones. And I know I felt the loss.”
A little more kindness. This may be a good time of year to hear that quiet little phrase as our guide for how we each might make not only a real difference in the world, but our real difference whoever we are, whatever our situation. We don’t have to look beyond ourselves. In fact, it is often a mistake to. Here is where we are the ones we have been waiting for. We are called to make the difference of the kindness we share. It’s not big and complex and beyond our means to do anything. This is where we can begin to walk the walk. When the Dalai Lama was asked to summarize his religion, he said, “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
A little more kindness can help bring to life the holiday spirit you work so hard to create. It can make your holidays more holy. The Dalai Lama said his religion was simple, he didn’t say it would always be easy. Kindness requires ongoing awareness and intention; a personal practice we begin again and again, over and over, remembering to also be gentle and kind with ourselves.
In this month we celebrate Solstice and the return of a little more light in every day; Christmas, the birth of an en-lightened one who preached kindness; and Hannukah. the freedom and safety to care. As we celebrate each day, we live our hope for the world. In the midst of these holidays and Holydays may we practice a little more kindness. Knowing that in so doing, we make the holiday wish we send out every year for Peace on Earth, Good Will to All a little more real and alive! And so may your holidays be kind and good for you!
— Rev. Jim McKinley,
Minister