Embrace the spirit of the holiday season

As we enter into Christmas week, the holiday season is peaking. And as many gather with family and friends around the Christmas tree, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it truly is a joyous holiday season. Because this time of year is of special importance to many peoples and faiths.

From the day the baby Jesus arrived in his unique incarnation as God-made-man, to the menorah that miraculously burned for eight days in the ruined Temple of Jerusalem, to the celebration of family, community and culture that is Kwanzaa.

And during occasions that are often diminished by commercialization, it is time to stress the simple joys of the season; the common thread running through December holidays is a focus on togetherness with loved ones and celebrating the joys of life. Because in times often clouded by uncertainty and fear of what might loom ahead, these few weeks in December offer opportunities to appreciate the truly valuable elements in life.

Things not found in our paychecks, stock portfolios and television sets, or even under our decorated trees, but in our relationships with each other and in our capacity to love and cherish love. That could be the love of our families, our neighbors, or love expressed through stretching out a helping hand to those less fortunate and reconciling with those whom we have wronged or have wronged us during the year. It is a time to put our petty cares aside and embrace all that is joyous in our lives.

And while it may seem an overly romanticized notion of the holidays in a world pocked with injustice, inhumanity and bloodshed, those small acts of kindness that the power of the season, and the true meaning behind it, can bring out in us shouldn’t be left unacted upon.

All of the world’s wickedness can be outdone only by the good.

While it is especially easy, these days, to ruminate on all that is bad in the world, do take the time to remember and reflect on the fact that there is plenty of good in the world, too. Plenty of good that each and every one of us can do for each other today and tomorrow.

So as you gather between now and the new year, remember not your material wants but the reasons we gather in the warmth of our homes and share these times with those we care about most — not for the gifts off our wish lists, but for the love of each other and the gifts that life brings.

Merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah and happy holidays to all.

A version of this editorial was first published by the short-lived Long Beach Register in 2013