ResQgeek

Our annual family Christmas letter is about to go in the mail this afternoon.  If you are on our mailing list, it should be arriving within a few days.  If you aren't on our mailing list, here is the text of this year's letter:

The year is rapidly drawing to an end, the days are getting shorter, and the weather becoming colder. In the evening, the neighborhood transforms into a fantasyland of twinkling, colorful lights. Holiday music is being played in the stores and on the radio. The signs all point to the imminent arrival of the holiday season.

There probably no emotion more closely associated with the year-end holidays than Joy. We sing “Joy to the World”, and wish each other “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year”. The music and sounds of sleigh bells make us smile, and who doesn’t enjoy the smell of cookies baking? There is joy in gathering with family and friends to celebrate, sharing stories and food, exchanging gifts. And this joy is perhaps most obvious in the reactions of children when they wake up to see what presents wait for them under the tree.

While it would be hard to deny the role joy plays in the season, we sometimes overlook its power to heal. Isn’t this the lesson we learn from the Grinch? The Grinch, in his unhappiness, is deeply jealous of the Whos’ holiday joy. He does everything he can think of to steal their joy, but even when he has taken everything, the Whos remain joyful, singing together in the joy of the holiday.  In the end, this joy touches the Grinch, healing his unhappiness and allowing him to join the celebration.

There is no shortage of reasons why many people might not be inclined to say that this past year has been particularly joyful. You don’t have to look far to find people who are unhappy, angry, frustrated, or in pain. So many people are in need of the healing joy of the holidays. This year, our holiday wish to each and everyone of you is that the Joy of the holiday find a home in your hearts, and that we each make an effort to share that Joy with others, both during the holidays and throughout the year to come. May this Joy bring healing and peace to those who need it.

And in that spirit of joy, we wish every one of you a very Merry Christmas and an especially Happy New Year.  May the joy of the season bring comfort to you and your families, and may the New Year bring good fortune and many blessings to all.

I have been unusually productive this year, and have already finished this year's holiday letter.  Copies have been printed and will probably go in the mail by the end of the week (once we have updated the mailing list and addressed envelopes).  But for those who either are not on the mailing list, or simply are too impatient to wait for the mail to arrive, here is the content of this year's letter:

Another year draws to a close and soon we will be celebrating the year-end holidays again.  It has been another year filled with highs and lows, and we have fond memories of those who shared their joy with us and are deeply thankful for everyone who reached out to support us in our grief at the sudden passing of Sandy’s mother last winter and the death of her Aunt Laura Mae later in the year.  Through all the struggles, we look to this holiday season as a source of hope for a better year to come.

The Christmas story is, fundamentally, a story of hope, a reminder that great things can have the most unlikely origins.  Who would have predicted that a poor child, born far from home, with only a manger to sleep in, would fundamentally change the world?  He transcended his humble origins by challenging us to heed his call to love and serve one another, and his legacy is forever imprinted on the world.

It isn’t hard to find reasons to lose hope in our world today.  One only has to turn on the news or read a newspaper to see that the world is full of strife and struggle.  But Christmas reminds us that change can come from unexpected places.  We need to hold onto hope, allow it to become a motivational force, driving us to work to make the world a better place, one small act of kindness at a time.  It isn’t always easy to hold onto this hope.  It can be so easy to give in to the temptation of cynicism.  But when we choose to hope, a choice that often requires courage in view of the darkness in the world, then we just might find the strength to let the light of our hope shine forth into the world.

When we reach out to each other in kindness, we share our strength, our courage, our hope, making it easier for others to join us in being hopeful.  This sharing could lead to a cascade of hope, pushing back the darkness.  Each act of kindness holds the potential to inspire many more, as hope take root and the kindness is paid forward.  At at each step, the world becomes an ever so slightly better place.

As you celebrate the holiday season with your family and friends, we invite you to make a choice to be hopeful and to share that hope with others.  None of us can change the world alone, but together we can share the load and the world can be a better place.  May each of you have a Merry and Hope- filled Christmas and a very Happy New Year, filled with blessings.

Our holiday letter will be going out in the mail soon, but since many of my readers here are not on our mailing list, I'm continuing my tradition of sharing our seasonal thoughts here as well.

Another year draws to a close, and as we prepare to celebrate the holidays, we find ourselves surrounded by the many and varied images of the season. Among the many enduring images of Christmas is the appearance of the angels to proclaim “Peace on Earth”. We often hear Christmas referred to as a time of joy and happiness, yet according to the angels, this is meant to be a time of peace. But what does this mean?

Clearly, the Christmas message hasn’t brought an end to violence and conflict in the world. We only need to watch the news or read a newspaper to feel overwhelmed by the evident lack of peace in the world today. Even in our own lives, we often find conflict with those around us, even those closest to us, those we love.

So how, then, are we to understand the angelic proclamation? With so much conflict around us, what difference can we make? While the contribution of any individual to the cause of peace might seem to be insignificant, the cumulative impact if all of us were to strive diligently for peace might just change the world. If we are mindful and choose forgiveness over anger and kindness over impatience in our daily lives, we can begin to reduce conflict one interaction at a time. It doesn’t require mighty gestures or grand actions.

Some of us must struggle to stay focused on choosing peace. Others come by these traits more naturally. Becky was one of those who instinctively chose to reach out to others with kindness. She routinely went out of her way to help others, to show kindness, and share love. She provided us with an example of how each of us can help make the message of the angels a reality in our lives. If we each were to be as open to each other as she was, the world would be much closer to embodying the peace proclaimed by the angels.

As we celebrate the holidays with our friends and family, we hope that everyone of us finds ways to spread some peace on earth and goodwill among men. May you each have a very Merry Christmas, and a bountiful New Year.

PS - This letter was written before the tragic events of Dec. 14 in Newtown, CT. Our heart go out to the families as they now face a holiday season overshadowed by the pain of their grief. There are no words that will fill the gaping hole they now have in their families. We hope that their tragedy can spur us all to work to ensure that such tragic violence never happens ever again. That would be the most fitting memorial to the innocent lives that were cut short last week.

We are preparing our Christmas cards, and as usual, we will be including a letter in the cards when they go in the mail. This was probably the hardest holiday letter I've had to write, but we felt like we needed to send one out. For those of you who aren't on our mailing list, here's this year's letter:

As most of you probably have heard by now, 2010 has turned out to be a terribly difficult year for our family. On August 30, our younger daughter and sister, Becky, was killed after being struck by a car while riding her bike. The loss of her sparkling personality and love have left a huge hole in our lives, as we struggle to put together a new life without her.

For those that knew Becky, we hope that the memory of her energy, of her ever-present smile, and her readiness to share a hug will provide you with some measure of comfort, as it does for us. Because she was born on Valentine’s Day, Becky had a natural affinity for that holiday, but in so many ways, her personality also embodied the spirit of the Christmas holiday as well. She loved easily and fully, and was considerate of the needs and feelings of others. She often went out of her way to be kind to others, to make them feel included. There was no such thing as strangers in her world, just friends she hadn’t yet met. Her life was a model of how to love completely, and should stand as an example for each of us.

As we struggle to understand the tragedy that has overwhelmed our family, we have come to recognize the dangers of taking life for granted. None of us are promised tomorrow, so that it is important to make every effort to live our lives to the fullest each and every day. Be sure to treasure the moments you have with those that you love, as they happen. It is the memory of those special moments that will sustain us through the difficult times.

Most years, we try to express a message about the joy, hope, or love embodied in this holiday season. But this year, our holiday spirit is dampened by our sadness. As we move forward, striving to create new memories, it is impossible not to acknowledge our loss and the pain that it has left us with. We are strengthened by the incredible support of our community, friends, and family, and with their help, we hope to find comfort and peace.

We have created an online memorial to Becky, and invite everyone to visit it and share their stories and memories, as well as any favorite photos and videos from her life. Remember Becky and share her love by sharing her hugs. The Becky’s Hugs page is at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beckys-Hugs/147053868666518


We hope that you all have a joyful season of hope and love. May you all find peace and happiness in the new year.

Its taken me almost three hours to compose, but I've finally got something I like. Here is the text of the letter that will be enclosed in my family's Christmas cards this year:

The holidays are rapidly approaching, and once again we find ourselves running out of time to prepare for the festivities. In the midst of the all theses preparations, its easy to overlook the meaning of the holiday. Christmas should be a celebration of peace and love, a message that remains as timely as ever.

We were reminded of this message last weekend, as we visited the “Hershey's Sweet Lights” holiday exhibit in Hershey, PA. As we drove past the numerous animated light displays, one, in particular, jumped out at us. Its message seemed to be exceptionally timely, and we snapped several pictures of the display. One of those pictures ended up on the front of our Holiday Cards.

“Celebrate our Differences” read the display. While this doesn't seem to be a traditional message for this season, it struck a chord with us. With all the strife in the world today, from the war on terrorism to the political mudslinging of the electoral process, it sometimes seems that we've forgotten the holiday message of love. Our differences have been used to drive wedges between various groups. This troubling trend immediately came to mind when we saw this display.

One of mankind's greatest gifts is our diversity. It is through our differences that we can reach beyond our individual experiences to gain a greater understanding of ourselves and our world. If we had no diversity, if we were all exactly the same, we would lose much of this ability, and we would be left with a much shallower understanding of our place in the world.

In order to benefit from this diversity, we must accept and celebrate it. We don't have to always agree with those who differ from us, we don't have to like them. But we must respect them, and we should listen to them, for we just might learn from them. If we all could share this respect for one another, despite our differences, then there just might be a chance that we could experience a little of the “peace on earth, goodwill toward men” proclaimed by the angels on the first Christmas, so long ago.

May each of you have a joyous holiday season. We hope that everyone finds an opportunity to relax and to reflect on the spirit of the season. May you each find you own ways to celebrate our differences.

This is the picture mentioned in the letter: