Happy Holidays
to All,
And to All a
Good Life!
2010
Message
“Mankind
is our business. The common welfare is our business; charity, mercy, forbearance,
and benevolence, are all our business. The dealings of our trade are but
a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of our business!” paraphrased
from Dicken’s Christmas Carol
Christmas
is both a religious and secular celebration, but even at the secular level,
it can bring out the best in us. The Christmas stories that resonate
the most for me are Dicken's Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life &
Miracle on 34th Street. In each story, there is a change of heart
among some in each story, to be more compassionate, understanding,
hopeful and grateful. So, I am often re-inspired this time of year
to be more considerate and thankful. Of couse, fo those who have
a deeper faith in the religious significance of Christmas, it is also a
reminder of compassion and forgiveness. Since, we soon will start
a new year, some of us with well intentioned resolutions, one resolution
can be about how we can personally practice in our lives, that which is
most meaningful about the Christmas Season. So, aside from my annual
resolution to be more punctual, I will also consider how else I can be
better person.
Best wishes
for the year ahead !
Bill
Gazitano & Shawn
Merritt
Thoughts
about Christmas -2009
It has been
said that there is a war on Christmas and using greetings like Happy Holidays,
etc. are nonsense. At this time of year, it would be nice if we could
put our differences aside and not get into a good - bad / us or them argument
over Christmas.
To me, Christmas
is both a secular and a religious Holiday. It is steeped in traditions
that came from pagan practices long before Christ was born. It has
secular symbols as well as the religious. While Christmas celebrates
the birth of Christ, we also know it coincides with Winter Solstice, from
which we derived a lot of the customs that have become associated with
Christmas. We also know that it is likely that Christ was born some
other time of year. It is commercial and good for the
economy. It is also spiritual and invokes in us a tendency to care
for others.
So, I agree
that substituting generic greetings takes away from the tradition and the
meaning of the Holiday. I would like us feel free to celebrate and
honor all traditions of this time of year. We can practice being
people of good will by celebrating our diversity. So, I often Merry
Christmas and Happy Holidays when in doubt of another’s traditions and
beliefs, because Merry Christmas is said with the intention of wishing
the other person well, regardless of whether Christmas is a part of their
tradition. I could list all the Holidays in my greeting as
well, if you have the time to listen. There are a lot of them.
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanza
Happy Davoli
Day
Happy Ramadhan
Happy Winter
Solstice
and there may
be more!
So, best wishes
to all and to all a good life.
2008
Message
“I have always
thought of Christmas time as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable,
pleasant time,
when men and
women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely.
And though
it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket,
I believe
that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”
Chas. Dickens
2007 Greeting
All we do for Christmas morning
Can be done so joyfully
If we find the peace within us
To make every moment sing